Stories from Wednesday, August 28, 2019

A retirement reception was held for Dr. Tim Daniels at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center on Sunday, August 18. Many friends and family joined Dr. Daniels in celebrating his many years of service and dedication to BVRMC.

(All games start at 7 p.m. unless noted otherwise.) Storm Lake hosts Cherokee in Battle for the Battle Axe For the first time since 2016, the Battle for the Battle Axe between Storm Lake and Cherokee will be in Storm Lake. The green and white have won the last three meetings against the Braves, all three of those wins coming by at least 20 points...

A retirement reception was held for Dr. Tim Daniels at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center on Sunday, August 18. Many friends and family joined Dr. Daniels in celebrating his many years of service and dedication to BVRMC.

Buena Vista Regional Medical Center held a welcome reception on August 21 for Dr. John Pymm, who began seeing patients in June. The community enjoyed meeting Dr. Pymm, wife Renee and their four children, Isabelle (8), Zackarie (7), Amélie (5), and Howard (3). Dr. Pymm grew up in Idaho and recently moved to Storm Lake. Dr. Pymm is a family medicine provider at UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine Buena Vista...

Doris Harvey, age 72, of Storm Lake, died on Tuesday, August 20, at her residence in Storm Lake. Memorial services were held on Monday, August 26, at 11 a.m. at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Storm Lake. Burial were in the Lone Tree Cemetery in Sioux Rapids. ...

Neil Edward Patten, age 86, of Alta, died August 23, at Methodist Manor Retirement Community Center in Storm Lake. Funeral services took place Tuesday, August 27, at 10:30 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Alta. Burial will be in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Alta. Visitation took place Monday, August 26, at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Alta with a Masonic service at The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Alta is in charge of the arrangements...

Danette Jerel (Johnson) Tropansky passed away on August 21 at 6:45 p.m. at her sister Sharmin’s home in Schaller. She was 60 years old. The cause of death was from breast, brain and spinal cancer in which she bravely fought. A Celebration of Life service will take place Sunday, September 1, from 1 - 3 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake with a prayer service at 1 p.m. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements...

Storm Lake St. Mary’s is happy to announce a 5.6 percent net increase in enrollment for the 2019-20 school year over the 2018-19 school year. This increase of students represents new students from preschool through high school. Total enrollment as of press time is 318 students. ...

Documents obtained by the Chronicle Times reveal that Lopez Foods Inc., who purchased the Iowa Food Group Plant in Cherokee in July, paid a total $9.3 million for the facility, including $5.8 million in Real Property, and $3.5 million in Personal Property...

An Iowa-based grocery chain says it’s aware of reports that hacked customer account information is being sold online. The Des Moines Register was the first to report that credit and debit card information of some Hy-Vee customers is being sold on an internet site for $17 to $35 apiece...

The public is invited to the First Annual Sac County Paddle & Float, to be held on Saturday, August 31. Sac Economic and Tourism Development has hired a professional drone pilot to create new marketing for promotion of the 41 miles of the Raccoon River Water Trail in Sac County. The event begins at 1 p.m. with float going from Whitehorse to Grant accesses...

The Gospel Fellowship invites you to an appreciation for area First Responders on Sunday, September 8 at 5 p.m. at the Bandshell in Sunset Park, Storm Lake. The evening features door prizes ($200+ gift certificates to Hy-Vee and Fareway), words of appreciation, dinner and music. Families of Police, Fire and EMS are free guests, the public may make a donation...

One of the favorite fall events at the Prairie Heritage Center is coming up soon. The O’Brien County Conservation Board is offering an opportunity to step back in time with the Historical Fall Fest held on Saturday, September 7. Spend an afternoon on the prairie enjoying pioneer games and crafts. Step aboard the horse-drawn wagon for a ride through the tall grass to the pioneer cemetery. Sample fresh-pressed apple cider and popcorn...

The Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Awards recognize the exemplary, voluntary actions of farmers that improve or protect the environment and our state’s natural resources. The awards are presented by the Governor, Lt. Governor, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director. ...

Iowa’s RefugeeRISE AmeriCorps Program has received a potentially double dose of great news from Google. Google has selected RefugeeRISE (also known as RISE) as one of its five Google.org Impact Challenge Iowa award recipients. Each of the five winning Iowa nonprofits will receive $175,000 in Google funding and support from Google volunteers...

A FEMA site inspector is expected in Storm Lake today to review the condition of the lakefront bank around Lighthouse Drive. The bank, between Scout Park and Methodist Manor, was heavily damaged in an ice heave event last March. The City has applied for federal funding from FEMA that if approved, would pay 80 percent of the cost of repairs. The project is estimated at $120,000...

Storm Lake student Ellie McClellan presented her program, “Cuban Literacy Movement” for the Storm Lake Board of Education recently. Ellie earned third place in state History Day competition, one spot from a trip to nationals. Storm Lake sent 26 students to state in 2019, as the theme for this year’s competition was ‘Triumph and Tragedy in History.” Students spent hours researching topics before creating their presentations. ...

The robotics team at Storm Lake High School - Green Lightning - visited the school board recently. Students thanked the board for its support, one telling the board they hadn’t expected to have so much fun, with an amazing group of people.” Another said that he hoped the skills he had learned can be applied toward a career. The program is looking for mentors from the community, and hopes to expand its efforts from one competition to two - the Regionals for both Iowa and Minnesota...

Fairgoers to the 2019 Clay County Fair will have 32 new foods to enjoy during their visit Sept. 7-15, including five that have been named as finalists for the fourth edition of the “The World’s Greatest County Fair Food” Contest. “In our visitor surveys, fairgoers tell us one of the top reasons they attend the Fair is for the food,” fair manager Jeremy Parsons said. “This list of unique new foods will only add to our reputation as a nine-day foodie festival.”...

An evening of bull riding, as well as many other equine events and Muttin’ Bustin’, will be the featured attractions at the Outdoor Arena during the 2019 Clay County Fair, Sept. 7-15. “The Outdoor Arena will be filled with entertainment for the entire family all day and into the evenings,” said Fair Manager Jeremy Parsons. “I’m excited about all of the different activities that are scheduled there.”...

Renewing a Buena Vista University tradition, veteran performer Johnny Holm and his band performed an outdoor welcome back concert for students Sunday on central campus. Johnny even hopped off stage to dance with the students. Holm calls himself “the most entertaining entertainer performing today, but admits that, “the fans do most of the entertaining.” With a grass-roots fan base, the band has been on the road constantly for decades in the midwest, and has recorded five albums and 11 singles including two national chart tunes. ...

Rep. Steve King said Friday he stands by his recent comments about rape and incest that sparked bipartisan criticism but acknowledged he could have made his point in a “softer way.” Backed by supporters at a news conference in Des Moines, the Iowa Republican affirmed his belief that abortion should be outlawed with no exceptions for rape or incest. ...

With voting on a Storm Lake school bond issue for a new Early Childhood Center still two weeks away, over 200 people had already cast early ballots as of Monday. “We have had a lot of absentee activity, both in the courthouse and mailing ballots out,” Commissioner of Elections Sue Lloyd said. School District officials have been encouraging early voting, hoping to beat the 23 percent turnout of a narrowly-failed previous attempt last December...

Another season is slipping away without construction on the former Sunset Bay condominium site on the Storm Lake lakefront, but city officials are confident the project will remain on track. Developer Shawn Foutch had told the Pilot-Tribune he planned to mobilize on the condo site last January or February in hopes of having the project done as early as fall of 2020, but has since decided to prioritize another project, converting the former South School into market-rate apartments. ...

Thanks in part to new programs, Buena Vista University welcomed 282 freshmen, transfer students, and international scholars to campus. The group represents the second largest collection of new students since 2010. The largest freshman class in six years joined a sizeable contingent of transfer students and international scholars in arriving at Buena Vista University on Friday, marking the unofficial start of the 2019-20 academic year...

“I really am jealous of you all - you’re about to embark on a great journey. I don’t want to get too cheesy on you, but lean into it… lean into it.” For a nice start to college careers, Buena Vista University brought in the Iowa Nice Guy, otherwise known as actor Scott Siepker, to address the newcomer students...