Stories from Friday, June 7, 2019

Eating healthy can be a struggle—one that Amanda Walljasper-Tate, owner of The Daily Apple, knows well. At a young age 19 years ago, she used to drink six to eight cans of diet soda each day. She lived off of processed foods and struggled with chronic back pain, hormonal imbalances and depression...

A giant version of a Connect Four-type game is the latest addition at the Tropical Sno in Storm Lake, going with the oversize chair added earlier. The seasonal business is open for summer, serving up refreshing treats in downtown Storm Lake. / Photo contributed...

The Clay County Fair announces an opening act change for the Michael W. Smith concert on Sept. 10. Due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict, We Are Messengers will not be able to perform at the Clay County Fair this year. In their place, Tauren Wells will now open for Michael W. Smith as part of the SRG Concert Series in the Sleep Number Grandstand at the 2019 Clay County Fair at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept 10...

A new exhibit is opening on June 18th at the Clay County Heritage Center, “Conflict, Tension and Prosperity: The Cold War Experience.” This exhibit will remain open for an entire year with artifacts and information switching out at the beginning of 2020...

Sir Elton John gave actor Taron Egerton some unlikely advice for portraying him in “Rocketman”: Don’t do an impression. Sing the songs the way you want. It was a freeing, if unusual, bit of direction for a project about himself that John had been trying to make for seven years. ...

The second concert in the new Lighthouse Series at Storm Lake’s Awaysis Park features IV Play. The Mankato-based troupe has a strong following in the midwest, and should attract plenty of fans, according to Lee Dutfield of Storm Lake United. The band introduced themselves in 1999, playing most of their dates in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota...

In an ongoing effort to continually better serve their students, St. Mary’s High School added a Heritage Language Learners Spanish course for native Spanish speakers to fine tune their overall Spanish communication skills. St. Mary’s Spanish Educator Anne Dahlhauser said when she arrived at St. ...

After a year and half without a meeting, the Buena Vista County Trails Advisory Council will resume work with a meeting Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. BVTAC was established in 2012 by the Board of Supervisors for the purpose of establishing a county-wide trails network connecting all cities and other attractions in the county. ...

When 4-year-old Little Lucy hears her Grammy and Papa use phrases she doesn't know, sometimes her imagination runs wild. Educator and Okoboji author Mari Miller used the premise of Lucy's struggles to understand the "seemingly nonsensical sayings" she encountered from older family members as a launching point to inspire intergenerational dialogue in the new children's book, "A Lick and a Promise."...

This dog is a best friend of both man and therapist alike

A northwest Iowa man has been sentenced in a second county for an insurance scheme. Clay County District Court records say 41-year-old Scott Leininger pleaded guilty last week to theft. He was given a suspended prison sentence of five years and placed on probation for five years...

Storm Lake city officials will host a pair of meetings for downtown property owners in continuing discussion of snow removal and parking concerns. The meetings will be held Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 7 a.m. at City Hall for anyone wanting to ask questions or express an opinion...

Updates from the Storm Lake Police Department, the Buena Vista County Sheriff's Office and the Storm Lake Fire Department.

Mike Copeland and Samantha Rasmussen, co-owners of The Turn Around, wanted to give back to there dancers and dance families by having scholarships for various grade levels. At the end of the dance year, they asked head dance teachers to nominate dancers from their classes for these awards. ...

March 19, 1958 - June 1, 2019

February 5, 1944 - June 1, 2019

August 8, 1925 - May 31, 2019

Clay Central-Everly students gathered with teachers, school staff and members of the community for one final farewell to the high school in Everly Monday. Four students and two teachers shared memories, words of wisdom and encouragement as students prepared to say goodbye before joining a new school district next fall during the “What it Means to be a Maverick” program. ...

Twenty-five-year-old Jaci Hermstad is taking her battle with a rare form of Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS, to New York City. Friends, medical personnel and flight staff surrounded Hermstad and her family as they departed from Spencer Municipal Airport by medical flight Wednesday morning. ...

Now that summer break has officially arrived, the Storm Lake Community School District is reflecting on the growth, success and achievements in the 2018-19 school year. (There was even a “trip” to Mars!) Check out some of the highlights: Growth in the classroom...

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced this week that Storm Lake Elementary is among six additional schools that will receive $50,000 grants each to transform themselves into models of innovative computer science instruction. The grants are part of a joint project of the Iowa Department of Education and the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. This increases the total number of schools participating in the Computer Science is Elementary Project to 12 across the state...

Storm Lake’s “Moon Tree” will play a role in the Science Center of Iowa’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landing. Dan Hoy, a retired production expert with Pioneer Seeds, has been traveling the state to find Iowa connections with the moon landing, on behalf of the Science Center, to tie into the celebration. He learned of the tree located in Storm Lake’s Living Heritage Tree Museum, at Sunset Park...

This 10-part series, a collaborative effort of the newspapers of Rust Publishing, NWIA, examines the myriad issues surrounding the mental health care crisis in Iowa. Reporters and editors from the Spencer Daily Reporter, Storm Lake Pilot-Tribune and Dickinson County News have contributed to the report.

Hopes for creating a new recreation center in Storm Lake remain in limbo, as city officials try to determine what rests below the surface of the potential site in the campus/Scout Park area. The city had planned to do soil boring tests earlier this year, but a lingering winter freeze set back their efforts. Since then, concerns have come up with locating water lines and a sanitary sewer force main below ground...

ALTA - The races at the Buena Vista Raceway were finally underway on Wednesday night after the previous week was rained out. This week featured the popular nickel toss for the kids along with the Air Source One-Sport Mod Special. In the Plowboys Smoked Meats sports compact feature: 1. Kaytee Devries of Spencer; 2. Corey Nammany of Alta; 3. Jay Devries of Spencer; 4. Jade Lange of Humboldt; 5. Josh Hanson of Albert City...

HOLSTEIN - The Raptor baseball team broke through on Wednesday night as they got their name in the win column for the first time in the 2019 season after a 13-3 win over River Valley in five innings. “We played well in all facets of the game,” RV Coach Shannon Tesch said. “I liked our aggressive approach at the plate. Definitely a positive night to build on.”...

BATTLE CREEK/GALVA - The Ridge View softball team got back out on the diamond on Tuesday night in a Western Valley Conference contest against the OA-BCIG Falcons. The Raptors jumped out to an early lead and used it to take a 9-3 decision. “The coaches were happy with how well the kids continue to hit the ball and put it into play. Even our outs were hit hard,” RV Coach Scott Phelps said. “The defense continues to improve.”...

OKOBOJI/MANSON - Sioux Central baseball came close with a late rally on Tuesday night against Okoboji. The Rebels fell a run short of coming from behind, falling in a 7-6 decision. Okoboji scored a run in the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead. ...

SPIRIT LAKE/MANSON - The Rebel softball team found it to be a rough going on Tuesday night when they traveled to take on the Spirit Lake Indians. Sioux Central’s offense disappeared and the pitching control went out the window in a 12-0 loss in four innings...

ALTA - The early season woes continue for the Alta-Aurelia baseball team on Tuesday night as they got behind the eight-ball against Pocahontas Area. A-A picked up their fourth loss of the year after dropping a 16-5 decision to PAC. “We have to continue finding ways to get better every day. ...

ALTA - The Warrior softball team got off to a fast start on Tuesday night and left little doubt against Pocahontas Area. Alta-Aurelia took a 12-0 contest in just three innings over the Indians for their seventh win of the year. A-A plated 11 runs in the bottom of the first to take control of the game. They scored once in the bottom of the third to close the game early...

ARMSTRONG - The Newell-Fonda softball team kept up the offensive hot streak on Tuesday night in a non-conference tilt against North Union. For the fourth straight game, the Mustangs put up 12 runs to take a 12-1 decision over NU. “The girls did a nice job piecing together timely hits in the first and sixth innings to get us some runs to start and finish the game,” N-F Coach Courtney Darrow said. ...

STORM LAKE - The Panthers of St. Mary’s returned home on Wednesday night for a baseball game against Pocahontas Area and struggled to find their footing. The Panthers dropped a 15-0 contest to the Indians in five innings. PAC struck twice in the top of the first before adding three more in the second to go up 5-0. The Indians scored once in the third and then four times in the fourth to make it a 10-0 game. Five more runs in the top of the fifth concluded the night’s scoring...

FONDA - The Storm Lake and Newell-Fonda baseball teams went to battle on Tuesday night in a non-conference matchup for both teams. The green and white flexed their muscle, took advantage of Mustang miscues, and played solid defense for a 13-2 decision over the Mustangs...

STORM LAKE - The Storm Lake softball team needed a big play on Tuesday night in the late stages of their game against the Cherokee Braves. It had been seven years since the green and white bested the Braves on the softball diamond, and thanks to junior Skylar Cole, they snapped the drought with a 5-4 win after her walk-off home run...

HARCOURT/STORM LAKE - The St. Mary’s Panthers softball team hit the road on Tuesday night to take on Southeast Valley in a Twin Lakes Conference contest and simply forgot to show up. The Jaguars were able to take a 10-0 contest in five innings over the Panthers to keep them searching for their first win...

FONDA - It was a wild affair on Wednesday night when Alta-Aurelia and Newell-Fonda stepped out onto the baseball field. The momentum went back and forth like a pendulum, but in the end, the Warriors got the final out when they needed to to take an 8-7 decision over the Mustangs...

FONDA - It was an early season showdown on Wednesday night between two of the frontrunners for the Twin Lakes Conference as Alta-Aurelia visited Newell-Fonda. Neither starting pitcher gave up much to the other team, but the Mustangs’ speed on the bases proved to be too much for the Warriors, N-F taking a 7-1 decision...