Stories from Friday, July 26, 2019

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach invites family caregivers to participate in the five-session Finances of Caregiving course beginning Sept. 5. The course focuses on helping caregivers to make decisions and plan ahead. Caregivers are often adult children caring for their parents, grandparents or another relative, but they may also be parents caring for their young or adult child with special health or behavior needs...

Ducks Unlimited has recognized Flint Hills Resources for surpassing the $1 million milestone in giving to the organization nationwide. Flint Hills Resources’ contribution to Ducks Unlimited now totals nearly $1.3 million. In 2019, support from Flint Hills Resources will help Ducks Unlimited enhance more than 300 acres of shallow lakes, restore nearly 160 acres of wetland and upland habitat, and acquire and restore 13 acres of land that will be added to the state’s holdings for public use in Iowa.. ...

Storm Lake’s newest and youngest author held a book-signing recently at Sugar Bowl Gift Shop, and another is planned for today, 4-6 p.m. at Better Day Cafe. At age 10, Giovanni Rodriguez wrote about his favorite topic, Bugattis automobiles, in his book “My Dream Car.” The book in Spanish and English will soon be on the shelves in the United States and Mexico...

Folk-rocker Andy Juhl is on tap for the InnSpiration Vines & Wines summer concert series, Friday night, August 2. Showtime is 6:30 p.m. “Music has the power to stop you in your tracks and force you to take notice. It can subtly direct you to challenge perceptions, provoke thoughts, or take action,” Andy Juhl says. ...

The Jay Clyde Band will be in concert at Buoys Bar & Grill at the Storm Lake Marina, Saturday, August 8. Showtime is 8 p.m. JCB follows another country act, Shelby Lee Lowe, this Saturday the 27th. Ahead on the calendar is Birdchild Duo, Friday, Aug. 16...

Area favorite Brad Morgan is up next in the Stone Pier Summer Concert Series at Blackhawk Lake, Saturday, August 3, featuring special guest Royce Johns. Born and raised near Manning, Iowa, Brad currently resides in Nashville where his midwest roots continue to influence his music as he works to make some noise on the country music scene. Brad was recently named the KBOE 104.9 FM “2018 Iowa Country Artist of the Year” and has new music releases planned for 2019...

The Storm Lake City Council has approved a non-binding letter of intent for an economic development project. If Storm Lake is selected as a potential site for the project, a legally-binding development agreement will be pursued. The company Storm Lake is trying to attract is not being identified, and has requested confidentiality...

Buena Vista County has issued a permit to Alliant Energy to bore electric and natural gas line under the Little Sioux River at Linn Grove. County supervisors signed off on the project Tuesday, as the work will pass through their county road right of way near the Linn Grove Bridge...

Authorities are seeking information on a sex offender from Storm Lake, the only offender on the state registry of 40 from Buena Vista County to be listed as “whereabouts unknown.” Dagoberto Ivan Reyes is being considered “Most Wanted” by the state and an “absconder,” having allegedly failed to be in compliance with local jurisdictions. Anyone with information on Reyes is advised not to attempt to engage with him, and to contact the Iowa Department of Public Safety or local law enforcement...

Storm Lake Friends of the Library members and youth librarian intern Emma Bloom handed out free books to children at Memorial Park in a “Read With the Whitecaps” program Wednesday night. Players for the college summer league team have also been visiting the library to read to children. / Pilot photo by Dana Larsen...

Faith, Hope & Charity’s ‘Little Mermaid’ thrives despite syndrome that renders her without speech

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

Northwest Iowa Care Connections — the mental health region serving Clay, Palo Alto, Dickinson, O’Brien, and Osceola counties — are one county short of its former six county membership after Lyon County’s departure became official on July 1. In October, Lyon County Supervisors voted 3-2 to leave NWICC, deciding to join the Sioux Rivers Mental Health Region...

Across the nation – including in the state of Iowa – genetic testing company representatives are offering “free” genetic tests to Medicare beneficiaries. These tests can also be referred to as DNA screenings, cancer screenings, and hereditary testing, to name a few...

Fishing for catfish is a summer tradition for many Iowa families. Invite someone new to come along this year to share the fun and memories. When the bite for other fish slows down in the heat of Iowa summers, you can always count on channel catfish. They are biting in every stream of any size, in all lakes and many farm ponds...

At least four Iowa children have died in the past 18 months at day care centers that had been warned about caring for too many children. The Des Moines Register reports that criminal charges have been filed in two of the deaths, and prosecutors are considering charges in a third case...

Midwest wildlife officials gathered Wednesday to discuss how they might better combat chronic wasting disease, which has been spreading through the region’s deer herds with no end in sight. Among those at the two-day conference in Madison were wildlife officials from Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin and two Native American tribes — the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Forest County Potawatomi...

On Friday, June 21, 11 Clover Kids participated in the NASA Camp. The youth were able to build parachutes, make pudding out of dry milk powder, instant pudding powder, and water, completed a BreakoutEDU activity relating to the book A is for Astronaut written by Clayton Anderson, and ended the day making a mock spaceship. ...

Local officials are hoping that the Little Sioux River can be coaxed back into its familiar route at Linn Grove before a winter freeze-up. “It’s a very small window of opportunity, but everyone is very anxious to get at this,” said County Engineer Bret Wilkinson. “When you are dealing with FEMA, there are always lots of steps and lots of paperwork, but our hope is that once we have a contractor, things can happen pretty quickly.”...

Attendance for the Buena Vista County Fair was approximately 3,000 - similar to last year’s event, according to fair officials. The busiest day was Saturday with around 900 gate admission - so many that the ticket booths ran out of wristbands and had to go searching for others to use...

Cindy Bosley, of BozWellz Pub and Eaterie in Storm Lake, has been named to Iowa Restaurant Association’s inaugural 40 “Women to Watch” in Hospitality List. The Iowa Restaurant Association released the listing. The women in the industry vary from purveyors and entrepreneurs, to chefs and business development professionals. ...

Mandi Johnson, a 2016 Buena Vista University graduate, spent a week’s vacation at her alma mater this month serving as a volunteer camp counselor, doing work she deems vitally important. She worked at Tech Trek, an engaging one-week summer camp for seventh-grade girls featuring hands-on science and technology classes, fun and educational field trips, and opportunities to meet inspiring women role models who excel in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the “STEM” fields...

Planning for the first Storm Lake Day of the Child Multicultural Festival is in full swing, with a full day of events planned for September 28. The day kicks off at 9 a.m. with a 2K family run, which has been moved from Chautauqua Park to the Buena Vista University track, due to safety concerns about child participants on the street. In case of rain, the run will be held on the indoor BVU track...

FORT DODGE - Time ran out on Newell-Fonda Thursday night, as they fell 6-2 to #2 seeded Lisbon in the 1A third place game at the State Softball Tournament at Harlan Rogers Sports Complex. The 90-minute time limit was called after five innings of play, giving the Mustangs the fourth place trophy in their 11th trip to State, all since 2005...

FORT DODGE - Alta-Aurelia peaked at the right time, knocking off a pair of higher seeds to earn a spot in the 2A championship game at the State Softball Tournament in Fort Dodge Thursday, but they didn’t have quite enugh magic to knock off number one seed North Linn and its dominant pitching. They fell 3-0...