Stories from Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Jean Bridson, age 95, of Storm Lake, died on Saturday, June 15, at the Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, June 22, at 11 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the Fairview Cemetery in Terril. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service at the church. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements...

Ronald Joseph Keenan was born December 9, 1933 in Fonda Iowa and passed away June 14 in Des Moines. Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, June 20 at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Storm Lake. ...

On the afternoon of Friday, June 14, at approximately 4:32 p.m. a Storm Lake Police Officer while on patrol observed a person driving a vehicle in the 800 block of East Milwaukee Avenue whose driving privileges allegedly had been barred by the State of Iowa...

Misty Gray, SW Iowa State Library Consultant, conducted a training for the library directors and trustees of Buena Vista County, on Thursday, June 13 at the Alta Community Library. Misty was formerly the Storm Lake Library Director. In attendance were directors and trustees from Albert City, Alta, Newell, Storm Lake, Sioux Rapids, Linn Grove, and Rembrandt...

Members of the District 3 Amateur Radio Group will be participating in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, June 22 – 23, at 210 Sale Barn Road, Storm Lake. Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend...

The 100th birthday party for Newell American Legion will be on June 15 at Newell Park from 2 p.m.to 6 a.m. A climbing wall from the National Guard will be there along with inflatables as well as a corn hole game. Music will be preformed by Col. R.K. Welander...

A wide variety of non-profit agencies will be hosting food booths throughout the Storm Lake park system July 3 and 4 for those attending the Star Spangled Spectacular events. Only non-profits may operate concessions in the park system as part of the venue. All proceeds from the sale of food and drink benefit the associated local charities. The concession offerings and their approximate locations will be:...

Mike and Arnie Stark and Wayne and Ruth Stark of Storm Lake are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter and granddaughter, Sally. Stark of Storm Lake to Bruce Robbins, the son of Joyce Rohbins and the late Donald Robbins of Alta. Sally is a 2008 graduate of Storm Lake High School and a 2012 graduate of Coe College with degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing. ...

Friday, June 21st marks the 60th wedding anniversary of Vee and Bill Tutt of rural Storm Lake. Your wishes may be sent to 5602 105th Avenue, Storm Lake 50588. They are the parents of Randy (Storm Lake), Roxi Dreeszen (Spirit Lake), Greg (Keller, TX) and Steve (Tulsa, OK). /Photo submitted...

Brea Baumhover from Buena Vista County, was awarded the Persinger-Asmus-Ferrin Family 4-H Scholarship through the Iowa 4-H Foundation at the recognition ceremony Sunday, June 3 in Ames. The Iowa 4-H Foundation has announced the recipients of over 100 Iowa 4-H scholarships valued at over $115,000. ...

Kendall Snyder from Buena Vista County, was awarded the Northwest Iowa 4-H Scholarship through the Iowa 4-H Foundation at the recognition ceremony Sunday, June 2 in Ames. The Iowa 4-H Foundation has announced the recipients of over 100 Iowa 4-H scholarships valued at over $115,000. ...

Storm Lake High School will add a May term next school year for the first time, Storm Lake Superintendent of Schools Stacey Cole recently announced to the teaching staff. May Term is used to provide some unique educational opportunities for students, and a chance for educators to propose short-term “passion courses.” The terms will also include a senior seminar designed to ensure that students about to graduate are prepared for college...

On May 22 the MMCRU physics class (Robert Russel, Daymion George and Lucas Sanchez) competed in a Milk Jug Boat Race at ValleyFair Amusement Park. This was the culmination of a semester long project of gathering milk jugs, designing, planning, and finally building with the help of Mr. ...

Patrons, past inductees and the general public milled about the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Museum Thursday afternoon during the new facility’s grand opening. Tours took a brief pause as a red ribbon was stretched across the entry of the display area, and officials with the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association said — and sang — a few words. ...

OST is pleased to present its opening musical of the summer: “The Honky Tonk Angels,” created by Ted Swindley, who also was the mind behind fan favorite “Always ... Patsy Cline.” This production runs through Sunday, June 16 and is generously sponsored by the Pearson Art Foundation...

Popular brother-sister entertainment duo Poppin’ Penelope and Amazing Arthur will be returning to the Storm Lake Star Spangled Spectacular for 2019. They will be entertaining Wednesday, July 3 from 5-9 p.m. at the Sunset Park Bandshell and from 1-5 p.m. Thursday, July 4 in Sleepy Hollow. Arthur is a premier comedy magician, and children’s entertainer and Poppin’ Penelope is a hit with the children, creating artistry with balloons for hours on end...

After two meetings for downtown property owners, Storm Lake City officials are planning changes to downtown parking. Proposed is a 3-6 a.m. year-around no parking zone on Lake Avenue, which the city council members favored unanimously at their meeting Monday night, as well as changing parking on Railroad Street from parallel to diagonal to provide a few more spaces...

After receiving her first Antisense Oligonecleotide, also called ASO, infusion on Monday, June 10, the family of 25-year-old Jaci Hermstad reported no adverse side effects. “Jaci did great after the first ‘jacifusen,’” her mother Lori Hermstad said. ...

Hundreds of people, young and old, made their way to the Jones family’s dairy farm in rural Milford for their Breakfast on the Farm event. In addition to breakfast, attendees had the opportunity get up close and personal with a number of animals, tour the facility and view the milk-making process from the cows to the tanker. ...

A picture perfect postcard. That is what Le Mars native, Mitchell Zenk, has created to pay homage to his hometown. Zenk was selected from several local artists to be the individual to encapsulate the spirit of Le Mars in a downtown mural. “He was able to highlight significant historical aspects of Le Mars creatively within the mural while connecting them to current life,” said Rich Ziettlow, sesquicentennial committee co-chair...

The Buena Vista County Fair is preparing to welcome attendees once again with a new and exciting line-up of events, activities, contests and carnival rides. New this year, attendees can look forward to the comeback of Bulls & Barrels, a Barnyard to Blue Ribbon Bike Ride, and a contest that combines craft beer brewing and a good old barbecue...

The Storm Lake community has started the summer season without either of its signature fountains on the lakefront. The in-water fountain off Awaysis Beach has been plagued with issues since it was installed, and again failed last year. The fountain at the Kolb Memorial Gardens next to the Great Lawn had yet to be filled this season, also with mechanical issues...

The Storm Lake City Council approved over $64,000 in funding for a new public courtesy dock at Buoys Bar & Grill/Storm Lake Marina, quickly and with no dissent, during the council meeting Monday. The city is required to maintain the site under an agreement with the state DNR...

The Building and Trades class at Storm Lake High School will join with Habitat for Humanity for the coming school year. Students and their instructor will build a duplex for the Habitat program and two families who are waiting for homes they can call their own...

With a new plan in hand for an Early Childhood Center, the Storm Lake Board of Education is split about when to take that proposal to the voters for a second attempt to attain funding. After narrowly failing with a $29 million plan for a preschool-first grade plan in a bond election last December, the district has opted for a three-phase project starting with kindergarten only - 10 classroom plus the gym, media center and music spaces that would serve the whole complex. ...

A Storm Lake native has been named interim director of the Iowa Department of Human Servies. DHS Director Jerry Foxhoven says he resigned Monday at the request of Gov. Kim Reynolds, as Reynolds indicated she wishes to take the department in a new direction. Reynolds issued a news release stating that she’d appointed Gerd Clabaugh as interim director. Reynolds complimenting the job Clabaugh has done as director of the state Public Health Department since 2014...

Following heavy spring flooding along the Little Sioux River, the river has carved a completely new channel south of the dam, running through and heavily damaging the park land. For the first time in his four years as County Engineer, no water is running over the dam, says Brett Wilkinson...

HOLSTEIN - The Ridge View baseball team was close for most of the Monday night against Lawton-Bronson but was unable to get over that final hump in an 8-3 loss. “We played well tonight. We hit the ball hard all night long,” RV Coach Shannon Tesch said. “Unfortunately, a lot of those hard hits were right at people. Logan Gross pitched well for us.”...

GALVA - The Ridge View softball team kept up their recent success on Monday night as they welcomed in Lawton-Bronson for a Western Valley Conference tilt. The Raptors picked up their fourth win in a row following a 6-3 decision. “The coaches were happy with the victory but know we need to play better as we move forward,” RV Coach Scott Phelps said. ...

WALL LAKE - The Sioux Central softball team built up a big lead through the first three innings and used it to their advantage as they managed to stave off a rally bid by East Sac County, taking a 12-8 game. “The girls did a nice job at the plate. We were able to execute some butting and hitting which also allowed us to be more aggressive running the bases,” Rebel Coach Kasey Krager said. “The girls are getting better and it’s fun to see.”...

Back on June 9 in Boulder, Colorado, Storm Lake’s resident Ironman competitor, Matt Hanson, took part in their Boulder event. Despite the cold temperatures, it didn’t get too much above 40 degrees, Hanson was able to take first place. “It was cold with no wind,” he said of the conditions. “It was not a warm day.”...

HULL - After a lengthy 1-0 contest last week against Cherokee, the Storm Lake offense found itself on Monday night as they took on Western Christian. The green and white totaled 10 hits in a 12-1 win over the Wolfpack. The Tornadoes scored twice in the top of the first and allowed their lone run of the game in the home half of the frame. SL scored once in the second, five times in the fourth, twice in the sixth and twice in the seventh...

HULL - The Storm Lake softball team saw their lead disappear, fall behind and then rally back in the seven inning span on Monday night against Western Christian. The green and white took a 7-6 decision over the Wolfpack for their 10th win of the year...