Stories from Monday, April 15, 2019

Farm Bureau Financial Services and the Iowa State Patrol are teaming up to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and promote safe driving behaviors across the state. This announcement comes at the start of Distracted Driving Awareness Month (April)...

On April 11 at approximately 3:10 p.m., in the 800 block of Vestal in Storm Lake, a vehicle driven by Cecilia Vargas Vera of Storm Lake, was involved in an accident with a vehicle driven by Mary Jane Rodriguez of Storm Lake. The two vehicles collided causing total damages estimated at $1200...

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate asks Iowans who receive a “No Activity in 4 Years” mailing from his office to respond quickly. This will avoid having their voter registration status changed to inactive. The “No Activity” notices are being sent to voters who have not voted in any election and have not updated their voter registration information in the past four years. The purpose of the mailing is to ensure Iowa’s voter rolls are up-to-date...

Fonda Chief of Police and EMT Alex Leu gives a demonstrate April 6 on the Lucas Device. The Lucas Device will mechanically do compressions for the EMS crew while CPR is in progress. The Lucas Device was granted to the Fonda Ambulance service to use from the Calhoun County EMS, as Fonda covers part of Northwest Calhoun County. ...

Storm Lake St. Mary’s, Schaller St. Joseph and Early Sacred Heart Parishes have released their worship schedules for the Holy Week/Easter Masses. The public is welcome to attend any of the services. This information is also available at www.stormlakecatholic.com on the home page...

Storm Lake St. Mary’s School sixth and seventh grade students celebrated their culmination from the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program Wednesday morning through the Storm Lake Public Safety Department. The students completed coursework with School Resource Officer Keegan Svendsen in the past several weeks, learning how to make good choices...

As a result of Compass Pointe closing on Monday, April 15, Seasons Center for Behavioral Health will temporarily extend substance use disorder service hours to accommodate the increase in clients in need of services. “Over the past few days, we have been looking closely at how we can best accommodate clients coming from Compass Pointe and our agency has identified a few solutions that will make it as seamless as possible,” said Kim Scorza, CEO/President of Seasons Center...

Seven-time Olympic medalist Shannon Miller has been announced as the keynote speaker for the 15th Annual Lakes Health Conference in Okoboji. “Going for the Gold” is the health conference theme for 2019. Programs will take place June 6-7 at the Arrowwood Resort and Convention Center...

Spencer Hospital nurses Melissa Brent, Colleen Hart and Jolie Threlkeld have been selected as three of Iowa’s 100 Great Nurses for 2019 and will be honored at a May 5th celebration in Des Moines. The 100 Great Iowa Nurses program identifies 100 outstanding nurses every year whose courage, competence, and commitment to patients and the nursing profession stand out above all others. ...

Holy superhero fatigue, Batman, “Shazam!” is actually good. OK, so it’s basically “Big” with superheroes and villains instead of businesspeople and girlfriends, but director David F. Sandberg has infused his film with so much heart and charm that it hardly matters. Even the deficiencies, like the sluggish beginning and the random, ridiculous villains, fade away under a haze of goodwill because unlike so many big spectacle action pics with sequels in mind, “Shazam!” actually sticks the landing...

Meet Grass Fed Mule... the Miles Davis inspired indie folk and bluegrass quartet from St. Louis, Missouri. If somone looking for something different, here it is - in concert at Byron’s in Pomeroy, Sunday, April 21. Showtime is 5 p.m. Drawing energy from their river town roots in bluegrass, old-time, blues, indie folk and jazz, the band’s upbeat shows flood the ears with strong vocal harmonies and instrumental finesse, featuring sounds of claw hammer banjo, harmonica and mandolin...

Closing out the 59th Mainstage Season at Spencer Community Theatre, the sunny and funny tale “Mamma Mia” unfolds. On a Greek island paradise, on the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago...

The Iowa Food Group meat processing plant in Cherokee, in production since early February, has reportedly shut down after informing employees Tuesday morning. The story being told by employees is that they were informed Tuesday morning that a major investor (or investors) had pulled out and the plant was being shut down because of that lost revenue. ...

Students from all over Iowa came together at Buena Vista University on Wednesday for the inaugural Agriculture Student Expo, an event dedicated to ag programs at BVU. Matt Meiners, director for BVU’s new Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Resource Management, shared two important takeaways from the day’s events...

A Clay County Sheriff’s deputy conducted an investigation of a 52-year-old homeless man Recently which resulted in a felony sex offender registration violation charge. The deputy arrested David Wekony after conducting a sex offender investigation and determining Wekony had allegedly been residing in Clay County since approximately March 22 and had failed to register his relevant information with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office within five business days as is required...

The Mid-America Business Conditions Index in February hit its highest level since September, signaling solid economic growth over the next three to six months for nine Midwest and Plains states, according to a report issued Friday. The index rose to 57.9 last month from 56.0 in January, the report said. The September figure was 57.5...

The Spencer ADA Council is offering advice to local businesses in the form of a website and training video aimed at increasing accessibility for persons with disabilities. “By leveling the playing field, it gives all people the opportunity to participate,” ADA Council member Stevie Shively said. ...

On the afternoon of Thursday, April 11, at approximately 1:30 p.m. the Storm Lake Police Department was notified by the Iowa Department of Human Services of a possible child abuse which had occurred. Police conducted an investigation and allege that a 6 year old boy and 7 year old boy in Storm Lake had been physically assaulted by Serafin Ayala Lopez, age 39 of Storm Lake at their residence when he struck them with a belt...

Former Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball player, Royce White, has taken on the cause to help decrease the stigma that society continues to place on mental health issues. Royce will talk about receiving his mental health diagnosis as a high school student, his commitment to transforming how mental health is addressed in our conversations, and ideas to support the mental health needs of our friends, family, and neighbors...

Non-profit agencies who would like to operate a food both for the Star Spangled Spectacular should register by May 15, 2019 with Food Booth organizer Jennifer Hecht. Booths may be operated July 3 and/or July 4 for the guests of the Spectacular. Applications are available on the event website at www.starspangledspectacular.net. Spaces are limited...

An enthusiastic crowd took part in the latest installment of “Nerdy Night,” a new program at the Witter Art Gallery in Storm Lake. The participants created plants with personalities - inspired by the Mandrake from Harry Potter stories. Next up will be making River Song Diaries inspired by the Dr continues Who characters, Thursday, April 18, 5-6 p.m. ...

Homebound Storm Lake senior citizens rely on volunteer drivers to get their meals, and there just aren’t enough of those volunteers to go around. Jan Hallengren, site manager at the Storm Lake Senior Center, said that about 30 people currently depend on the home-delivered meals...

April is National Donate Life Month to increase awareness about the importance of organ donations. Buena Vista Regional Medical Center encourages everyone to consider organ donation. This year Donate Life Month is just a little more personal due to a family with strong ties to the hospital...

Three Storm Lake fire Department members - all first-generation or second-generation immigrants - shared their stories during the latest installment of the “Paying It Forward” series of events at Our Place Multicultural Center. The series honors locals from immigrant families who are making significant contributions to their communities...

All indications are for a stellar fishing season coming up on Storm Lake. Iowa DNR crews have been busy over the past several nights netting walleye on Storm Lake, collecting eggs to use in raising fish for stocking around the state. “We started Sunday night and the fish were extremely active with the warming water. Things have cooled down since then, but the fish are still moving - the spawn is definitely on,” says Ben Wallace, Iowa DNR Fisheries Director, who is heading up the local crew...

The new racing season at the Buena Vista Raceway is fast approaching, May 22 is opening night, and the Raceway saw some growth during the 2018 season that manager Joey Ciechanowski hopes will carry on to this season. “It went well last year. Our car count went up from 60 to around 70 every week,” he said. “We had a lot of good crowds.”...