Stories from Tuesday, March 16, 2021

The Storm Lake High School commons showcases always offer up an eclectic selection of works by budding student artists, including a comic-style print by Libbie Retinger and a sculpture by Jessica Estrada.

Another area music festival is returning after a year spoiled by pandemic. Crash My Crater is set for June 26, based at downtown Manson’s Shore Side Pub. Tickets are $50, available in advance. The acts for the festival have newly been announced - Jameson Rodgers, Niko Moon, Cory Waller and the Wicked Things, and Scott Kirkhart...

Known for their rugged, authentic approach to rock and roll, the Northern California band The Doobie Brothers has been making memorable music since 1969. Featuring Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald, Pat Simmons and John McFee, the Doobies will return to the Iowa State Fair Grandstand in 2021, according to a new announcement. It will be their first concert at the fair since 2011...

LifeServe Blood Center is currently looking for all blood types to help hospital patients in need. Current blood donors and brand new blood donors impact three lives with just one donation. Your blood donation helps your hospital and your neighbors...

Seasons Center for Behavioral Health is hosting a mental health training event for foster and adoptive parents on Thursday, April 1, 2021, at the Dordt Agricultural Stewardship Center in Sioux Center, lA. The eight-hour Mental Health First Aid workshop will consist of two parts: a two-hour online self-paced portion and a six and a half hour in-person training with powerful audiovisuals, discussions, and simulations. ...

UnityPoint Clinic – Fort Dodge announced that asymptomatic and symptomatic patients can now receive a rapid COVID-19 test at any Family Medicine clinic within the Fort Dodge region, as well as, at UnityPoint Clinic Pediatrics – Fort Dodge. “We’re excited to offer a rapid point-of-care COVID-19 test for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients,” shares Jenn Crimmins, UnityPoint Clinic Regional Vice President of Clinic Operations...

Self-talk is one of the most important conversations parents can have. Self talk is that inner voice we hear. It talks to us after we’ve made a decision. It talks to us after we’ve acted in a certain way. Self talk can be positive or negative, and how we respond to that self talk is really important because it sets the tone for how we respond to our children and our entire family. Thankfully, there are strategies we can use to set ourselves up for success and reframe our inner self talk...

State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald recently awarded a $529 College Savings Iowa contribution to the Brostad family of Storm Lake. Five year-old Clare was randomly drawn as the Buena Vista County winner of the 2020 College Savings Iowa Year-End Giveaway...

Cris Miller, a Buena Vista University senior agronomy major, smiles when thinking about his Crop Sciences class last fall. Heading into a field of corn to take stalk nitrate samples put him in the center of a nationwide study. “We cut 10 stalks per test row and could witness the differences certain nitrogen stabilizers had on crops, even within one field,” says Miller, whose passion is farming. “An experience like that helps set me up for my future work in agriculture.”...

On Tuesday, March 9, “U.S. News and World Report” released a rankings report stating that Iowa is ranked #1 in opportunity across the United States. Sara Clark, managing editor to U.S. News stated “Iowa ranks No. 1 in the opportunity category largely on the strength of its performance in two of the opportunity subcategories—affordability (at No. ...

More than 700 public employees who help care for Iowans in state-run facilities are still refusing the coronavirus vaccine. According to the latest data from the Iowa Department of Human Services, of the 660 employees at western Iowa’s Glenwood Resource Center for profoundly disabled individuals, 323 — or 49% of the home’s workforce — have refused the vaccine...

Last month’s polar vortex led to the eighth coldest February in Iowa on record while also tallying below-average precipitation, according to the latest Water Summary Update. For the meteorological winter (December to February), statewide temperatures were 0.9 degrees below normal, while precipitation totaled 2.82 inches, about one half inch below normal. The statewide average snowfall was 32.2 inches, more than 9 inches above normal...

To commence the celebration of GoServ Global’s 10 year anniversary, five generous givers have rallied together to offer a $100,000 Sukup Safe THome ® Matching Challenge. The Sukup Safe THome ® is a highly modified grain bin that is resistant to earthquakes, termites and moisture, used for housing in tropical regions around the world. ...

Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) Foster Care and Adoption is partnering with Lavender Life Company to bring comfort to children in foster care this spring. Five hundred donated Lavender Life Company stuffed animals will be distributed to western Iowa children who are living in foster care. ...

Three hundred sixty-five days. Five thousand, five hundred and sixty deaths. Monday marked the one-year anniversary of the first known cases of COVID-19 in Iowa. “In some ways, I can hardly believe it’s already been a year. In others, it seems like forever since almost anything has felt normal,” Gov. Kim Reynolds said on March 3, when she was vaccinated at a press conference. “And yet finally, there’s a renewed sense of hope and optimism.”...

Buena Vista University and the Sioux Central Community School District have entered into a Strategic Partnership that will benefit both organizations as they work to build up the people and the communities they serve. Under the agreement, employees of the Sioux Central Schools, as well as their spouses and dependents, may receive grant funding to lower the overall cost of education while enrolled in classes at BVU’s Storm Lake campus. ...

For Community Education in Storm Lake, the light at the end of the tunnel has arrived. “We’re trying to get back to normal as much as possible,” said Joe Kucera, director of the local agency. After a year full of COVID-19 cancellations, CE is beginning to resume its youth recreation programs. Basketball was the first to resume, indoors, with bleachers pulled away to allow for social distancing...

Buena Vista County Supervisors have approved a temporary display on the courthouse grounds during April, Child Abuse Prevention Month. Jeff Young, of the Bikers Against Child Abuse program, recently approached the board with a request for the display...

Last week was a big week for vaccination in Buena Vista County. There were nearly 1,400 doses of vaccine administered by BV County vaccine providers from March 8 to March 13. At BV County Public Health, we administered over 200 doses on Thursday at our drive through vaccine clinic that we had at the BV County Fairgrounds. ...

“Honey, I bought a bar.” And that suddenly, Storm Lake’s newest bar and grill, Poor Red’s, was born. Mark Redenbaugh was in the right place at the right time, when AMVETS decided to close its doors late last year. “Why don’t you buy it?” the operators told him, and on December 1, he did, and faced the reality of having to break it to his spouse...

Proteus, an Iowa-based non-profit serving migrant farm workers, plans to bring a new mobile clinic to the Storm Lake area soon. “We’re working on getting the outreach done, with services to be set up on appointment basis,” said Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, CEO of the Iowa organization, who recently spoke in a Storm Lake SALUD virtual meeting...

It was a strong 2020-21 campaign for the area boys, who managed to play a full season despite a few postponements due to COVID exposure. Five of the six area teams were .500 or above, and rosters bristled with athletic big men and sharpshooting guards...