Stories from Tuesday, September 8, 2020

John E. Owen, age 79, of Storm Lake, died Monday, August 31, at the Good Samaritan Society of Newell. A Time of Gathering took place on Saturday, September 5, at the Buena Vista University Golf Course at Lake Creek. Burial will be in the Storm Lake Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements...

James “Jimmy” Steward, age 32, of Havelock, originally of Storm Lake, Iowa passed away August 25, at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa after suffering seizure related injuries. Memorial services were held on Saturday, September 5, at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the family to alleviate expenses. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements...

Bishop Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Sioux City is endorsing the first National Faith and Blue Weekend October 9-11, a collaborative effort to facilitate safer, stronger and more unified communities through connecting law enforcement officers and residents through local houses of worship. Parishes in the diocese are encouraged to connect with their local law enforcement agencies to begin dialogue...

Cooler temperatures and warm soil make fall a great time to add trees to your landscape. Make the most of this investment of money and time and give your tree its best chance at survival with proper planting and care. Select a tree suited to the growing conditions, your landscape design and available space. ...

Tyson Foods, Inc. is providing more than one million meals, ice and other supplies in response to severe weather impacting the Gulf region. Tyson Foods will coordinate with local authorities, the Salvation Army, Convoy of Hope, Operation Blessing and other disaster relief partners to establish a coordinated response to deliver these items to storm victims, volunteers, first responders and Tyson team members...

Hy-Vee, Inc. announces that Luke Robinson, a driver from the Cherokee Distribution Center, has become Cherokee’s 26th driver to reach the 1 million mile mark for consecutive miles driven without a preventable accident. Robinson reached the milestone on Tuesday morning, as he left the Cherokee Distribution Center with 93 miles to go until the 1 million mile mark on his route to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. ...

For over 15 years, Storm Lake and surrounding communities have been supporting the local blood bank, LifeServe Blood Center, at the community blood drives coordinated by Buena Vista Regional Medical Center. The blood drive was held this past Tuesday, September 1st to help the blood center keep units on hand as we push through a season of illness and uncertainty. ...

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of people in the US are now facing challenging life circumstances. Currently, 3.7 million people are unemployed, and with economic tensions high, many Americans are experiencing high stress and anxiety. ...

The Fitness & Health Center in Storm Lake, a division of Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, continues to innovate, recently holding an outdoor spin class for the first time. The August 15 class accommodated 15 participants, and was well-received. Holding the class outdoors allowed for social distancing...

Iowa’s communities, schools and families are facing unprecedented stressors and uncertainty imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, drought conditions and the recent derecho. Predictions have been made about an increase in deaths by suicide due to the social isolation, economic stress and other factors related to the pandemic, and those predictions were prior to the drought and the derecho that caused destruction across the state...

The Storm Lake Test Iowa site has been extended for a fourth time, and now will operate through October 2. The site is located in the parking lot of the Sunrise Pointe Golf Course, provided by the City of Storm Lake. For these who wish to be tested, please go to www.testiowa.com to complete a survey and sign up for a test appointment...

A Sept. 4 appearance date has been set for the Lake Park man accused of using a bolt cutter to bludgeon Rollin “R.J.” Bontrager to death at a remote lake in Palo Alto County. Trial information formally charges 29-year-old Allan Michael Dean Schwidder with first-degree murder. Schwidder is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond at the Palo Alto County jail...

The 6,000 students in the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Sioux City will be joining forces with the 10,000 students in the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Dubuque in a “prayerdemic.” The students in both dioceses will be praying for an end to the pandemic and pray for healing for those who are ill...

The U.S.  Census Bureau has begun the nationwide household visits to those who have not completed their 2020 census this week. According to a Storm Lake city government statement, Census takers  can be identified with a Census badge and a Census bag with laptop.  Also, the 2020 Census Complete Count Committee along with High School volunteers have been delivering door hangers to various neighborhoods around town as a friendly reminder to complete the 2020 Census questionnaire. ...

The Storm Lake Farmers’ Market is in full swing with a new location and safety requirements made necessary by a pandemic season. A recent market saw nine vendors - coming from as far as the Lake View area - overflowing with a wide variety of produce. Buyers were arriving as soon as they could get their tents set up...

Friday, August 21st saw unusual visitors crowd at the Cherokee Public Library when a swarm of bees descended into one of the tall pine trees by the building’s historic entrance. Wisely summoned after being buzzed by Library Director Tyler Hahn, Cherokee County Conservation Board Naturalist Laura Jones arrived to save the day, collecting the cluster of insects, who remained balled protectively around their Queen...

The Browns will be bringing their Iowa farm roots to life in a music show filled with some ole’ country favorites. “Born Country”, “Love Can Build A Bridge”, “Ride That Glory Train”, “Mountain Music” and many more - don’t forget some fast fiddlin’, yodelin’ and family harmony...

The Dickinson County Conservation Board is excited to announce the Dickinson County Nature Center will reopen to the public with limited hours beginning Wednesday, Sept. 9. The nature center will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays until further notice...

By LINDSEY BAHR Pilot Movie Reviews Out of all of Disney’s animated films, “ Mulan ” was the one that made the most sense as a live-action remake. Not that there haven’t been good and charming live-action remakes over the past decade — Kenneth Branagh’s “Cinderella” being at the top of the pack — but with most of them no matter how expensive or carefully executed or reverent to the source material, I usually walk out wishing I’d just watched the animated version instead...

The Storm Lake community is doing a lot to handle and clean storm water, and many current local construction projects reflect those efforts. This season, the city is working to prevent potential water line breaks over the winter, cleaning sewers and taking preventive measures in problem areas with storm sewers and manholes, Code Officer Scott Oleson told the Storm Water Advisory Board in a meeting last week...

Buena Vista County’s unemployment rate is slowly settling, as the entire region’s numbers hover well below the statewide jobless rate. In Buena Vista County, unemployment as of the end of July was at 5.3 percent of the potential workforce, compared to the statewide 6.6 percent, according to the latest numbers released by Iowa Workforce and Development...

Three Buena Vista University alumni who helped produce a documentary as undergraduates will attend a screening of “Growing Magic: The Mickey Mouse Cornfield Story,” in the 2020 Ag & Art Film Festival in the Napa Valley region of California. Those three are naturals for the Sept. 10-13 festival, given their work history on the project and where they began their careers in digital media: California...

The Storm Lake Police Department wants your help in fighting crime by taking part in a new initiative called S.C.R.A.M. (Surveillance Camera Registration And Mapping).  SCRAM allows Storm Lake residents and business owners to register the locations of their video surveillance systems with the Storm Lake Police Department.  When a crime occurs, police officers will be able to identify the locations of nearby video cameras and enlist the assistance of the community to help officers collect video evidence and follow up on leads.. ...

By DANA LARSEN A Pilot-Tribune series on COVID-19 The last splash was officially on Labor Day for the King’s Pointe outdoor waterpark, wrapping up a season that got off to a shaky start under the shadow of a pandemic. The park operated its entire season under a 50 percent capacity policy, but seldom had to turn customers away...