Stories from Tuesday, December 29, 2020

The Clay County Fair Speedway announces a partnership with Trent Chinn Promotions for the 2021 season. The speedway, which will be co-promoted by Chinn and the Fair Association, will host six nights of racing in 2021, including two nights at the 2021 Clay County Fair...

Manson native Cory Waller will be in concert at Shiny Top Brewing in Fort Dodge January 7, kicking off the venue’s 2021 Live Music Thursdays series. Showtime is 7 p.m., admission is free. Waller is best known for his work with one of the region’s most popular groups, the Jay Clyde Band....

The Blue Ribbon Ramblers will be on stage at Byron’s in Pomeroy New Year’s Eve. Showtime is 9 p.m. Self-described as “a dirty outlaw folk band,” the foursome from the Fort Dodge area includes Kaleb Ferry on drums, Brad Hoefing on bass, Jordan Reuter with harmonies, lead guitar, and the occasional trumpet, and Clint Riedel as singer/ songwriter, rhythm guitar, and harmonica player. “We’re just brothers rambling down the road and loving every bit of it,” they say...

Betty: A Memoir by Spencer author Mary McSwain Steele, formerly of Early, is a daughter’s homage to a mother who raised three children in a backdrop of adversity and poverty. Steele, a former area reporter, goes beyond personal memoir. With a novelist’s eye for detail, she evokes the sense of place of southwestern Wisconsin as few writers ever have, her description rivaling David Rhodes’ bestselling novel, Driftless...

Registration is underway for many of the competition events at the University of Okoboji Winter Games, including the popular Human Dog Sled Races. The event will be held on the ice at Parks Marina, Saturday, Jan. 30. Check in for teams is 12:30 p.m. Though the event is all about fun and silly costumes, it also raises cash for charity. The defending champions, The USD Coyotes, upset Elvis and his teammates, the 2019 champs, last January...

Buena Vista Regional Medical Center received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, December 22. The first two staff to receive the vaccine were nurses Tiffany Stern and Caleb Vander Broek from the Emergency Room. BVRMC received 200 Moderna vaccines and will start vaccinating those with direct patient care. The remainder of staff will be vaccinated as new supplies are available. / Photo submitted...

What is cold stress and why should farmers and ranchers be aware of its symptoms? Cold stress occurs when skin temperature, and eventually internal body temperature, decreases during exposure to cold temperatures. Near freezing temperatures, especially when combined with increased wind speed, cause heat to leave the body. Wetness, dampness – even from body sweat – also expedites loss of body heat. When the body is unable to warm itself, serious cold-related illnesses and injuries may occur...

It was the first of its kind in Storm Lake. An ICCC course is co-taught by a CNA instructor and a Career Navigator. They taught both the regular CNA course materials but also incorporated workplace readiness skills. So in addition to equipping them with the technical training needed to work as a CNA, they also learnt how to look for and successfully apply for a job, and the skills needed to be a successful employee. ...

On December 21st, Christopher Michael Deese, age 29 of Storm Lake, was sentenced in the Iowa District Court by the Honorable Andrew Smith for the crimes of Domestic Abuse Assault with Bodily Injury, Second Offense, an Aggravated Misdemeanor and Tampering with a Witness or Juror, an Aggravated Misdemeanor. Deese was sentenced to a term of incarceration not to exceed two years for each of the offenses with the Iowa Department of Corrections. Both charges will run concurrently with each other...

King’s Pointe Resort is in need of refreshing. During continuing city council discussion on capital spending plans recently, the new manager of the city-owned resort proposed improvements to rooms on one side of the facility for 2021-22, the fiscal year starting July 1...

With the budgeting process underway, agencies are making their annual pitches to Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors for funding in the coming fiscal year. The Buena Vista County Fair Board is seeking $30,000, up from $25,000 for the current fiscal year...

Students at Storm Lake St. Mary’s made cards for BVRMC in appreciation for their efforts to help keep our community healthy.  Students in middle school Character Council created the cards and students in elementary signed them in an effort to wish them a Merry Christmas! / photo submitted...

On the evening of Tuesday December 22 at approximately 9:46 p.m., Storm Lake Police officers arrested 45-year-old, Quincy Malakai at a residence located at 502D West 8th St.  Malakai was wanted on a warrant issued in BV County for Violation of Probation reference Criminal Mischief 3rd degree a class D felony. ...

On Monday, December 2 at 7:31 pm, a Storm Lake Police officer conducted a vehicle stop in the 800 block of Ontario St. for a minor traffic violation. During the traffic stop, a Storm Lake Police K9 was deployed and indicated a presence of a controlled substance in the vehicle. Following a search of the driver, identified as Philavanh Satibanjong age 48 of Storm Lake, police located a quantity of marijuana.  Police further searched the vehicle and located additional drug paraphernalia. ...

Holidays are filled with new plants and decorations that often find our houseplants relegated to any out of the way available space. Be sure to keep your houseplants looking their best with proper winter care.  Make sure houseplants receive sufficient light now and throughout the winter. ...

Prevent winter freezing by following some basic guidance

This fall, 2,001 students earned degrees from Iowa State University. The graduates were recognized in a virtual ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuing a practice started last spring, Iowa State prepared graduation day gift boxes for all graduating students. ...

Middle school students at St. Mary’s hosted a Christmas face mask activity last week. Students were challenged to create the best decorated and festive mask and prizes were awarded in each class. The middle school Character Council came up with the idea and hosted the event. Students got very creative. / Photo submitted...

The weekly fishing report for the Iowa DNR. Storm Lake (incl Little Storm Lake) - 
Several days of warm and windy weather have created variable ice conditions that are unsafe in many areas. Ice is unsafe for fishing; the DNR recommends a minimum of four inches of clear ice for fishing...

June 2, 1929 - December 21, 2020

September 26, 1935 - December 19, 2020

December 16, 1930 - December 20, 2020

August 24, 1929 - December 22, 2020

February 7, 1928 - December 6, 2020

A total of 267 cultural organizations and 152 artists serving 118 Iowa communities will receive a share of $7 million in COVID relief grants announced by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The department’s Iowa Arts & Culture Recovery Program received more than 550 requests totaling more than $36 million by the Dec. 11 deadline...

Six days being held behind locked doors in the hospital. A 12-year-old in handcuffs. A child held in seclusion for not complying with hospital staff. Wait times stretching into years to access appropriate services. Driving hours to access services in western Iowa. A parent driven to the brink of suicide by the lack of support for her two special-needs adoptive sons during the pandemic...

Early is one of 11 Iowa communities announced for water quality grants recently by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The awards total $2 million. Early receives $250,000 toward a new drinking water treatment facility. Total cost for that project is estimated at $3,346,000...

Storm Lake City Manager Keri Navratil was given a $10,000+ raise, after getting a glowing job evaluation from the city council. The evaluation was in closed session, but Mayor Mike Porsch said the council was “extremely positive” about Navratil and the direction the city is taking under her leadership...

In a year without Santa’s Castle due to COVID concerns, the board that operates the darkened attraction has kept the tradition alive with online contests, games and video. Plans are to reopen the Castle in November, 2021 after a fresh deep-cleaning...

Even as winter gets under way, Buena Vista County Fair leaders are looking ahead to next summer’s event and beyond. “We were one of the only counties to host a fair this year, and it went really well, although having an event in 2020 came with extra costs for sanitizing and protections,” fair board co-chair Dana Christen told county supervisors during a funding presentation...

Proposed 176-unit duplex housing development Sunrise Pointe got a unanimous go-ahead from the Storm Lake City Council in a first reading of the zoning change necessary for the $17.5 million project to be realized. Although a few residents have continued to express concerns about the project causing congestion or strain on utilities, city officials argued that they expect no problems from the rental-properties project. ...

Amid complaints about shortages of initial COVID-19 vaccine shipments and a slower rollout than projected around the country, Buena Vista County received its full first allotment of 500 doses. Providers went to work vaccinating the first level of recipients - health care workers - immediately...

At Buena Vista University’s Estelle Siebens Science Center, professors idled a small laboratory as the COVID-19 pandemic continued this fall.  The lab is about to come off the inactive list. “We have a freezer in the Science Center that has the ability to go down to minus 86 degrees Celsius, which is minus 122 degrees Fahrenheit,” says BVU President Brian Lenzmeier...

This year has been an exceptionally tough on Storm Lake.  Police officers know, because they have a front row seat to the trials and tribulations faced by our community members on a daily basis.   Last week on a cold brisk morning, a Storm Lake officer pulled up to a bus stop where a group of grade school kids were congregating. The officer stopped to chat with the children as they waited for the bus. A young boy standing with his mother caught the officer’s eye.  ...

Several local leaders with roots in the Latinx community are hopeful that a new year in Washington, D.C. may begin a new era for DREAMers. President-elect Joe Biden is promising to reinstate the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program that shields from deportation undocumented residents who were brought to the U.S. as children. Biden was vice-president under Barack Obama when DACA was created in 2012...

A memorable Iowa Hawkeyes football season came to an abrupt end Sunday. The Music City Bowl between Missouri and Iowa was canceled because COVID-19 issues left the Tigers unable to play. The game scheduled for Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee, was the second bowl called off since the postseason lineup was set on Dec. 20, joining the Gasparilla Bowl. Overall, 18 bowl games scheduled to be played this season have been canceled...

Ridge View High School archers recently shot at Lawton-Bronson’s Bullseye Tournament. Six high schools participated. Ridge View shot 3163 as a team, placing 3rd, and in combination with the earlier tournament of the year the team has now qualified for the state tournament in March...

Here are the scoring leaders for all of the area teams as of the holiday break. The early-season leading scorers in the area are Bo Clausen of Ridge View for boys, Taylor Krager of Sioux Central for girls. • STORM LAKE GIRLS - Mary Yanga, senior, leads her team with 79 points on the season in seven games, with 44 rebounds, 5 assists, 13 steals and 11 blocks. Amy Slight is next with 63 points and 40 boards...

ALTA - Remsen St. Mary’s made short work of the Warrior girls last week, 71-27 in a non-conference contest to send both teams into their holiday breaks. RSM took a 19-11 lead after a quarter, stretched it to 40-19 at the half, and shut AA out in the fourth...

MOVILLE - The Mustang boys pulled out a nail biter Tuesday over Woodbury Central - two evenly-matched teams battling in a contest that was close throughout. WC held a fragile 17-16 lead after a quarter, and clung to that lead as each team put up 15 points in the second. The Wildcats led 43-41 after three, but NF put up 20 in the fourth on the way to a 61-59 non conference win, as Carter Sievers hit the game-winner at the buzzer...

MOVILLE - The Newell-Fonda girls were surgically efficient in their final game before holiday break, delivering a 400th career win for coach Dick Jungers. The #2-ranked defending 1A state champ Mustangs took a 28-13 lead over a solid Woodbury Central club after a quarter, powered by a 15-0 run after the Wildcats had netted an opening bucket. They pushed the margin to 53-24 at the half. With the starters on the bench in the second half, the team cruised from there...

For Cooper DeJean, it’s been a football season to remember: an IHSAA championship for his team, the Falcons, and a signing to commit to play Iowa Hawkeye football next season. It’s the on-going journey for a kid who has exceptional athletic skills not just in one sport, but several...