Stories from Wednesday, December 11, 2019

LAWTON - It was down to the wire on Friday night as the Ridge View girls took on Lawton-Bronson. The Raptors came back from an early deficit, showing grit and determination, along with some timely free throw shooting, to steal a 54-53 win away from the Eagles...

Buena Vista County U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that Mark Williams of Storm Lake was elected to represent his local administrative area (LAA) during the recent county committee election. Dale Arends of Newell will serve as the first alternate...

Zelda Lucille (Gutz) Morse, age 94, passed away peacefully Tuesday, November 5, in Tucson, Arizona. Memorial services were held on Saturday, December 7 at 11 a.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. Burial was in the Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Storm Lake. Visitation took place one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake was in charge of the arrangements...

A performance of Handel’s Messiah was a highlight of the season Sunday at Storm Lake High School Auditorium. A community-wide chorus and orchestra was directed by Joanne Tucker. Among the soloists were Luke Miller, Ben Stransberry, Glee Crippen, Dennis Freking, Kayla Hernandez, Ruth Whitmore. For a sampling of the concert on video, see the Storm Lake Pilot-Tribune Facebook page...

The Iowa Area Development Group (IADG), on behalf of Iowa’s rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, and independent telecommunication companies, honored eight distinguished Iowa companies with the Iowa Venture Award at a luncheon held in conjunction with the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives’ annual meeting...

Help Jeanette Waterman celebrate her birthday on Dec. 23. Cards can reach her at 805 Elmwood Dr. in Strom Lake.

Iowa gas prices have fallen 3.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.36to start the week. Gas prices in Iowa are 10.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 17.9 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. Storm Lake pump prices were unchanged, with most stations at $2.33 per gallon, but the range running from $2.25 at Murphy Oil Sunday to $2.39 at Sinclair...

MidAmerican Energy will be constructing publicly accessible electric vehicle fast-charging stations in five Iowa cities this year and 13 next, including fast charging and ultra-fast charging ones in our area. The chargers, which are compatible with nearly every electric vehicle, are to be installed by Los Angeles-based Greenlots and established and maintained by MidAmerican. ...

Volunteers served a long line of needy families and individuals in the most recent Kiwanis food distribution at the former Sears store location in Storm Lake Thursday afternoon. The local group and its volunteers work with the Food Bank of Iowa to provide the distributions every other month - the basic foods given out help to get families on a tight budget through the month. A record 245 families registered, eclipsing the previous high of 220...

Former Storm Lake woman Justine Miller remains a missing person this week. Miller, 36, went missing November 19, and was last seen in Lincoln, Nebraska according to the Nebraska State Patrol. Lincoln police say Miller had been most recently been staying at the People’s City Mission in Lincoln...

Jim Engle, director of the downtown resource center for the Iowa Economic Development Authority, recently wrote an impressive article referencing Cherokee’s restored, historic RR Depot so diligently saved, maintained and managed by the local Depot Renovation Inc. led by Jim Adamson, Mick Samsel and their merry band of gandy dancers...

One of our favorite Facebook pages is IOWA Critters, featuring wildlife photos from around the state, including this shot of 13-lined ground squirrels by Christine Reitan Myers. You’ll see many of these active little critters around the Storm Lake parks...

The Shirley Sorbe Memorial Scholarship is open to any high school senior residing in Buena Vista County planning to attend a vocational school, college or university. Deadline for application is March 15, 2020. Scholarship applications have been sent to guidance counselors at all area high schools...

Alliant Energy is seeking applications for their 2019 Innovation Scholarships. They will award up to 25 $1,000 scholarships to students who think big and give back. Applicants will be asked to write a short essay that identifies a problem in their community, then presents an innovative solution using science, technology, engineering and/or math. Other selection criteria include leadership in community service and volunteering, grade point average and standardized test scores...

Buena Vista University Concert Band presented its “Winter Celebrations” concert Sunday in Schaller Chapel, with Joe Vannatta of Washington High School in Cherokee guest- directing. Selections included “Albanian Dance,” “Nostalgia,” “Looking at the Stars,” “Silent Night in Gotham,” and “Play!”...

A movie career used to start with a ticket to Hollywood. Now, all that young Iowans need is a good idea and a short video. One- to 5-minute films are being accepted now through Jan. 15 for “The Film Lounge: Student Challenge,” which encourages Iowa students in grades 7-12 to hone their creativity for the big screen...

St. Mary’s Dance team won a State Championship for small school Hoopla and 2nd place in Class 1 Pom, performing two routines at State competition. Front, from left: Emily Nothwehr, Grace Murray, Ariana Elsden, and Ellie Bacon. Back: Danika Demers, Sydney Hurd, Lupita Gonzalez-Hernandez, Natalie Green, and Elly Richardson.The team is coached by Victoria Stille...

Iowa Central Community College’s Honors Program is a highly esteemed program within the college that aims to allow exceptional undergraduate scholars to reach their full potential through innovative educational opportunities and personally enriching experiences. Designed to challenge students intellectually, those in the program will explore advanced topics, gain relevant experience, and expand their worldview...

A teenage driver led police on a brief high-speed chase in Storm Lake Friday night, ending in three being taken into custody. An officer on patrol shortly before 10 p.m. observed a car traveling over 80 miles per hour in a 50 m.p.h. zone near Frank Starr Park on Highway 71...

The Buena Vista County Compensation Board made its recommendations for elected official raises Tuesday to the county board of supervisors. The group, made up of representatives for the various officials’ offices, proposed a 5 percent increase for the sheriff, and 3 percent for the county attorney, auditor, recorder, treasurer and supervisors...

Joshua M. Krayenhagen, 36, of Storm Lake, has pled guilty of criminal impersonation and resisting arrest for an incident on July 26, 2018 in North Platte, Nebraska. A habitual criminal charge was dropped in the plea agreement, as well as three charges he had faced in another case...

To date, 154 families and individuals have been “adopted,” and 45 are waiting to be chosen in the annual Adopt-A-Family for Christmas program. The Pilot-Tribune and Upper Des Moines Opportunity co-sponsor the program each year, matching generous individuals, families, businesses, clubs, classrooms and church groups with needy local families to provide the Christmas experience they might otherwise not have. ...

There’s no single way to remember Berkley Bedell and the life he lived. Some will remember the man who started a fishing equipment empire with $50 in paper route money. Others will remember the Democrat who upset U.S. Rep. Wiley Mayne and served conservative northwest Iowa for six terms in Congress...

More than 200 supporters representing 15 states and two countries teamed up to make Giving Tuesday a success for Buena Vista University. In excess of $20,000 was contributed by benefactors to 18 BVU teams and programs as part of the annual event, which BVU joined for the first time...

Cars in Alta shared the streets Sunday with this horse-drawn wagon. Altans celebrated A Hometown Christmas event with lots of activities including the popular wagon rides. See Friday’s Pilot for more from the events.

The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is asking Buena Vista County and its other member counties to step up their financial contribution as it launches a new five-year initiative called Partnership, Progress, Prosperity. The organization’s current four-year strategic plan comes to a close at the end of the year. ...