Stories from Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Des Moines Performing Arts (DMPA) announced four new programming initiatives as the organization remains unable to host traditional in-person events. The new slate of programming includes streaming performances, limited on-site opportunities as well as no-cost options designed to keep the performing arts alive for all audiences.  The new initiatives include:...

Writer’s Digest awarded Montana author Thomas J. Elpel First Place in Nonfiction for his natural history travelogue, “Five Months on the Missouri River: Paddling a Dugout Canoe.” Elpel partnered with Churchill Clark, the great-great-great-great grandson of Captain William Clark to carve the canoe. Together they whittled a 10,000 lb. Douglas fir log into a 500+ lb. canoe...

Preparations for the Holiday Hootenanny at the Buena Vista County fairgrounds are progressing. The events are planned for the first and third weeks of December - Friday and Saturday the 4th and 5th and the same days on the 18th and 19th. Hours are 6-8 p.m. each night...

Ninety-three families remain to be served in the 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...

Harold Vernon Geisinger, age 94, a lifelong resident of Storm Lake, died Friday, November 20, at Methodist Manor in Storm Lake. Public graveside services were held on Friday, November 27, at the Storm Lake Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be given to the United Methodist Church 211 E 3rd St, Storm Lake, IA 50588; Methodist Manor 1206 W 4th St, Storm Lake, IA 50588; Alta VFW Post 6172 505 Johnson St, Alta, IA 51002; or a charity of the donor’s choice. ...

Kevin Scott Leonard passed away unexpectedly at his home in Omaha, Nebraska on November 16. Kevin was born on March 12, 1966 in Huron, South Dakota. He was the youngest of five children of Thomas and Nancy Leonard. The family moved to Storm Lake, Iowa when Kevin was in kindergarten. ...

Storm Lake city officials were faced with a dirty job headed into Thanksgiving, as a sewer backup in a small part of the city was caused in part by a flushed Barbie doll. The city had some fun reporting the incident in a press release: “While we do not know if Barbie was a willing participant in this adventure, the scenery on the trip was likely uninspiring.”...

The Clay County Board of Health has passed a resolution recommending that the county supervisors call for mandatory face masks in the county. If approved, everyone would be required to wear a face covering when in public while unable to keep six feet away from others in settings including stores schools, and any other public settings outside the residence or with people outside the immediate household. ...

Storm Lake Community School District Business Manager Trudy Pedersen was sworn in for another term as school board secretary/treasurer recently, by board president Peter Steinfeld.

During a statewide address last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds expanded face mask requirements across the state in light of a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. But she excluded one of the state’s most populated indoor facilities: School buildings...

The Fairfield Pioneers 4-H Club assembled a lighted holiday display called “2020 The Year Pigs Flew” outside Pleasant View Nursing Home in Albert City. The club raises funds by managing can recycling in Albert City. The youth voted to purchase and assemble a menagerie of lighted farm animals to bring some holiday joy to the residents at Pleasant View. ...

Twisted Graphix has a catchy, cool business name, and face it, sometimes that’s what usually draws people in first, to check out what they do. But the other thing that draws folks in, is the product. Looking at their Facebook page, you can see the vast array of pictures dedicated to what the company has created. ...

Starting immediately, Hy-Vee is reinstating its reserved shopping hour for customers considered “high risk” in response to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases throughout its eight-state region. The reserved hour will be offered at all Hy-Vee locations from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., Monday through Friday, and is dedicated for these customers:...

Hy-Vee, Inc., based in West Des Moines, is voluntarily recalling two of its Hy-Vee Short Cuts vegetable mix products across its eight-state region (IL, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, SD, and WI) due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. The potential for contamination was discovered during routine safety sampling at Hy-Vee’s Short Cuts production facility. To date, no illnesses have been reported in connection with these products...

The Iowa Board of Medicine has restored the medical license of an Iowa physician accused of sexual misconduct with his co-workers and a patient. The medical license of Dr. Jeffrey T. Zoelle, a 59-year-old physician who formerly practiced family medicine in Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff, has been restored by the board to full privileges, free and clear of all restrictions...

A small army of volunteers manned BozWellz to dish up Thanksgiving meals for the annual community holiday meal that went to subside/delivery status this year. Hundreds of meals were served, but demand still exceeded supply. / Photos courtesy BozWellz...

ABATE of Iowa District 8 will hold its Curbside Chill and Cornbread meal Saturday December 5, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Storm Lake Honda (3040 Expansion Blvd.) Everyone is welcome, free will donation requested. The A.B.A.T.E. acronym stands for “Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education.”...

The St. Mary’s High School Student Council coordinated Thanksgiving Prayer Services for the entire student body. Fr. Michael Cronin opened the services with prayer. Ariana Eldsen, Evie AlSaffar, John Heitman, Sydney Hurd, and Ximena Rosas-Trujillo read the readings for the day. Karla Limones, Owen Keenan, Danika Demers, and Ellie Bacon each spoke personal testimonies of Thanks. The service was concluded with a closing prayer by Student Council advisor, Mr. Krogman...

The Storm Lake Planning and Zoning Commission has approved a request for a conditional use permit for a church to be located in a commercial district. The church will be located in the Meylor Chiropractic building, with the Meylor owners applying for the permission, city officials said...

Storm Lake United hopes to promote “12 Days of Christmas” for the holidays. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the popular Miracle on Lake Avenue celebration cannot be held. “12 Days” would involve participating retailers offering special savings, coupons, in-store events from December 8-19. SLU would offer Storm Lake Bucks giveaways each of the 12 days...

The Storm Lake Police Association announces that the Annual 2020 Gloves of Love Program is underway and will run until December 16. This is the 14th year that the Police Association has placed a Christmas Tree in the lobby of the Police Administration Building and invited citizens to join the members of the association in hanging children’s gloves and other items of donated clothing or non-perishable food items on or near the tree. ...

Forty-two Iowa farmers have been selected to receive the 2020 Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon recognize these Iowa farm families for taking an active role in the state’s ongoing conservation efforts, which rely on farmers, landowners and businesses working together to make a difference. ...

The Storm Lake Knit One Read Two group that meets through the public library has purchased a baby alpaca to gift to a needy family in Equador or Peru, through the Heifer International program. The social group normally donates a basket for the Friends of the Library fundraiser auction each holiday season, but with that event unable to move forward due to the pandemic, the Knit One members chose to make a very different form of gift in the spirit of the holiday season...

COVID-19 is hitting nursing homes hard. In a region that saw few long-term care facility outbreaks in recent months, 10 in the area surrounding Buena Vista County were reporting outbreaks last weekend. In Buena Vista County, Storm Lake’s Methodist Manor had a single active case...

Storm Lake officials are playing “the waiting game” on plans to remake the Highway 7/Abner Bell Road/90th Avenue intersection near the site of the new Early Elementary School. It is now doubtful if the work can be done when the school opens in January 2022, creating much more traffic for what is already one of the city’s most dangerous intersections...

Summit Evangelical Free Church in Alta is proving to be a champion for Adopt-A-Family. The congregation has “adopted” 100 needy families and individuals - about half of the list - to provide food and other needs for Christmas. “We have done Adopt-A-Family for a few years,” Pastor Renato Jimenez said of the Pilot-Tribune/Upper Des Moines Opportunity charitable program...

Over Thanksgiving, Sandra Duque reflected on her place in life, and that of her family. They’re all here in Storm Lake, their residence for 20 years. “In September 2000, we came to Storm Lake seeking better opportunities, both for work and in the way in which Patricio and I could raise our sons. It was the best decision we ever made,” she says...

An innovative Texas-based bio-manufacturer plans to begin construction of a new 50,000-square-feet-plus production facility in Sac County in 2021, expected to open in about a year and employ 25-30 people. Corn Board Manufacturing Inc. plans a zero-carbon wood substitute fabrication plant on Highway 175, just west of Odebolt. Currently, two pyramids of round hay bales mark the dimensions of the access road for the future plant...

“Humbled.” It’s the word western Iowa Congressman-elect Randy Feenstra uses often to describe his status, as he prepares to go to Washington. The reality sank in for him when he arrived in D.C. for the recent orientation sessions for newly-elected members to the 117th Congress. ...