Stories from Friday, December 4, 2020

It’s a crisp, sunny, late November afternoon on the east side of Storm Lake, and Amazing Graze owner Michelle Schreck is at the front counter of her food charcuterie store, helping a customer prepare an order of fine-quality meats and cheeses. Charcuterie is a French term for a branch of cooking, and food prep, devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, and sausages, but can also bring in pates’, ballotines, and galantines. ...

The Storm Lake SOS store is now settled into regular hours: Wednesday and Thursday 5-7 p.m., Friday noon-4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The SOS store is run solely by volunteers and all profits go to St Mary’s School.  New volunteers are always welcome...

Iowa’s grocery stores are taking their fight over the state’s bottle-redemption law to court. In September, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources denied the Iowa Grocery Industry Association’s request for a clearer standard in determining the distance between redemption centers and grocery stores that seek authorization to refuse the return of bottles and cans...

Let’s forget about 2020 and start planning for brighter, warmer days and the 2021 Iowa State Fair. Advanced admission tickets, select grandstand tickets, Giant Slide and Ye Old Mill tickets and coupons for cups or buckets of famous Barksdale’s State Fair Cookies are available at www.iowastatefair.org only. Tickets make great holiday stocking stuffers...

Have you read a good Western lately? The traditional Western, a genre that saw its height from the 1940s to the 1960s, seemed to go out of disfavor for various reasons. Regionalism, a trademark of many Westerns, somehow took on a bad name. Modern society also seemed to forget the Western, deeming it colloquial. While Louis L’Amour seemed to weather the storm, even well past his passing, many other Western authors seem to have struggled to place their books on bestseller lists...

The Des Moines Symphony has announced that the remainder of its 2020-2021 season will be converted to livestreamed concerts. The Des Moines Symphony considers the health and well-being of its audiences, musicians, and staff to be its top priority. Amid increasing concerns regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, the Symphony has come to the conclusion that it cannot reliably ensure the safety of its audiences or its musicians onstage in order to perform the in-person concerts scheduled through May 2021...

The Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation (IALF) has received a $15,000 grant from Tyson Foods to continue the development of a Spanish translation of their popular student reader Iowa Ag Today. This investment will allow IALF to develop a publication that supports English Language Learner students and enhance their literacy and fluency. ...

Buena Vista University’s celebration of Giving Tuesday, BeaversGive, resulted in $22,173 in gifts raised by BVU alumni, friends, employees, and the larger community this week. Their generosity will directly impact BVU Athletics, the Annual Fund, and the Student Emergency Fund...

Storm Lake Police responded Saturday to a report of an intoxicated pedestrian on the 800 block of Vestal Street. Travis Burr, age 37 of Storm Lake, allegedly resisted officers and attempted to flee while being taken into custody. Burr kicked a patrol vehicle causing approximately $1,000 damage. ...

A homeless man has been arrested after allegedly stealing an SUV in Spencer, leading officers on a chase and eventually attempting to escape by driving into a bean field near Peterson. Ralph John Larvie, 39, was charged with theft, possession of methamphetamine, eluding, speeding and several other violations...

The Adopt-A-Family for Christmas program still needs help, with 75 families still to be served. 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...

Henry’s Heroes Law Enforcement Comfort Kits help children in distress

March 15, 1931 - November 28, 2020

August 24, 1943 - November 27, 2020

Buena Vista University (BVU) and Fareway Stores, Inc. announce a Strategic Partnership, linking BVU and Fareway in a winning educational agreement that will assist Fareway employees in achieving their educational goals. Under the Strategic Partnership, full-time employees and their qualifying family members, along with part-time employees of Fareway become eligible for tuition discounts and/or grants while taking courses offered at BVU’s Storm Lake campus. ...

The Trepson Foundation hosted a ribbon cutting Wednesday at its new day care/preschool learning center, 800 Oneida Street in Storm Lake. Owner Trevina Jefferson did the honors, with supporters and Storm Lake United representatives. The facility is licensed for up to 24 children - infants, toddlers and preschool age. ...

Since the summer, Drew Martel said people are increasingly calling the state’s crisis hotline, Your Life Iowa. Adults and teens are calling and texting counselors about depression and anxiety. Some are reporting isolation and distress caused by the pandemic...

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Wednesday he supports a new federal stimulus package, but he balked on big-ticket aid to state and local governments. “I do not support a massive amount of money for state and local relief connected with COVID, or as another excuse for when business is down and revenues are not coming into the states,” said Grassley, Iowa’s Republican senior senator. ...

More than half a billion dollars spent on equipment, additional staff, testing, technology, bonuses, benefits

The Iowa DNR released its 2020 draft impaired waters list this week in a virtual press conference, and as expected, Storm Lake continues to appear with that designation. The listing is required by the federal Clean Water Act. Across the state, 586 water bodies are considered impaired for their intended use, down slightly from the last listing in 2018. Another 489 uses were identified as needing further study, while 284 water bodies fully met water quality standards...

Christopher Gabbard, age 24 of Spencer, was taken into custody in Pocahontas County Tuesday on Buena Vista County warrants, facing multiple charges in a credit card scheme. The warrants stemmed from a report to Storm Lake Police in July 2020 of unauthorized charges on credit cards of several victims at local businesses in Storm Lake...

Buena Vista County’s unemployment rate has fully recovered from the avalanche of pandemic-enduced joblessness that has marked much of 2020. The just-released numbers for October show the county at 2.2 percent unemployment, the same rate as in February, before the Coronavirus outbreak. About 270 BV residents are currently estimated as out of work...

In a half-decade’s time the Clay County Board of Supervisors have only met in a 3-2 decision on a small number of issues but the board chalked up another split vote Tuesday morning as the board approved adoption of the Clay County Board of Health’s recommended face-covering regulation...

A Baylor University-led program has allowed the Storm Lake Community School District to provide more than 31,000 meals to students and families over the past several months. As part of the Emergency Meals-to-You (eMTY) program, the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty (BCHP) served more than 38.7 million meals between March and August to over 270,000 children impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic...

In the “15 Minutes with a Leader” series, students connect with leaders via Zoom to explore career paths within the industry. The series was developed by BVU’s Institute for Agriculture

For Dan Kinney, walking away from Iowa Central Community College is “the hardest decision I’ve every had to make.” Kinney, who has led ICCC for the past 11 years, was chosen in November as the new president of Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, where he will replace his own father, Daniel, in that position next month...