Stories from Friday, June 25, 2021

Eight years ago, Irina Kleinsasser sold some cherries to friends. Today, Kleinsasser has a company in The Fruit Truck. It serves customers in 14 states, delivering a variety of fruits to them. One of those states is Iowa, where The Fruit Truck serves 25 municipalities...

Midwest Land Management, based in Spencer, is please to announce that Chris Clark of Ida Grove, Iowa, has joined their business. Midwest Land Management specializes in farm management, farm real estate sales and crop insurance. Chris acquired his Iowa real estate license last winter and will primarily work with farm real estate sales in Northwest and West Central Iowa...

The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is welcoming three new board members for Fiscal Year 2022: Keith Deitering, Market President at Bank Midwest in Spirit Lake; Roger Jacobson, Owner of Jacobson Broadcasting and KILR Radio in Estherville; and Donavon Wunschel, Branch Manager at Midwestern Mechanical in Spencer...

Tyson Foods recently opened its first health clinic in Storm Lake, providing free health care for team members. The clinic is located at 610 Geneseo Street, the former State Farm Insurance location, and is operated by provider Marathon Health. Tyson plans to open seven pilot facilities in its plant communities around the country to provide primary and preventative care...

The 2021 concert season of the Storm Lake Municipal Band is in full swing. With members ranging in age from high school to retirees, the band is in its 86th season of entertaining the citizens of Storm Lake. The director is Tom Musel. This week’s concert will be a traditional one, featuring marches from Karl King, a little rock ’n’ roll, and a few symphonic pieces. ...

The Okoboji Summer Theatre is set to open on July 6 with the musical Grease. Discount admission voucher booklets are available at Arts on Grand (Spencer), Liberty National Bank (Okoboji), Northwest Banks (Spirit Lake, Arnolds Park, Milford), Pearson Lakes Art Center (Okoboji), or emailing ostavoucherbooklet@gmaiLcom. ...

Sweet Siren will be performing a free outdoor show tonight at the Little Sioux Event Center in Cherokee. The four-member professional band tours the midwest, playing hot top 40 hits along with some classic rock and country favorites. This band puts their own flair to their blend of intense genre-crossing music with hip arrangements...

The Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association announced that enrollment is underway for the 2021 Iowa Rocks Talent Contest. According to Ralph Kluseman, president of the board of the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association, “We are proud to present the Seventh annual ‘Iowa Rocks Talent’ competition. This is a statewide competition for Iowa’s young musicians to showcase the music they love and to compete for a grand prize of recording time at a major Iowa recording studio...

The Stone Pier Summer Concert Series welcomed The Ghost of Paul Revere, with special guest Mountain Deer Revival, Saturday, July 3. The free lakefront concert at Lake View runs 5-9 p.m. Forming in 2011, The Ghost of Paul Revere has created a following that has propelled them from a local to a national level, tallying 15 million total independent streams to date. ...

Circus Fantastic will be performing at the Cherokee County Fairgrounds today, with shows at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults or $5 for children under 12. Children age 2 or younger are free with a paid adult. The European-style circus based out of Oklahoma features aerial acts, acrobats, speed juggling and clowns from around the world, with an all-new show for 2021...

Today during a House Budget Committee hearing on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) fiscal year 2022 budget proposal, Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) questioned Secretary Marcia Fudge on prioritizing investments in rural America. HUD’s budget proposal notes that the department would focus on expanding broadband services to families in underserved communities. ...

On Wednesday June 23, a Storm Lake police officer initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle at approximately 2 a.m. at East Milwaukee and Radio Road.  During the traffic stop, the Buena Vista County Sheriff K9 unit was deployed and alerted to narcotics in the vehicle. Officers located drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle, but also found that the driver, James Lightfoot, age 35 of Storm Lake, was wanted on multiple arrest warrants through Buena Vista and Pocahontas counties. ...

Buena Vista County will be taking over inspections of commercial tanning beds in the county. The state had notified counties earlier that it would no longer be doing inspections, Environmental Health Director Kim Johnson told county supervisors in a meeting this week. The board of health has decided that inspections need to continue locally, but the process was delayed by the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020...

Two divers cut their underwater excursion short earlier this month in West Lake Okoboji after a fast-moving boat passed too close for comfort. Jess Kotek and her husband Ronnie captured the incident on video, and they’re hoping their brush with danger will spur boaters in the Iowa Great Lakes area to take a little more care while on the water...

March 12, 1953 - May 1, 2021

March 20, 1930 - June 14, 2021

March 16, 1941 - June 20, 2021

September 9, 1923 - June 10, 2021

Naturalist Lunch Box is back for summer 2021! Naturalist Lunch Box is held at 12 p.m. on selected Fridays in the summer at South Cove Park. Pack a lunch and join the fun! Naturalist Lunch Box is designed for all ages. The naturalist will present a short program on a selected topic and have hands on activities for younger audience members...

Tired of grilling the same old burgers? You can learn a new method of outdoor food preparation in Dutch Oven Cooking 101. The class will be taught Friday, July 2nd at 5:30 p.m. at the South Shelter Area of Buena Vista County Conservation Park. Naturalist Katie will present the basics of Dutch oven cooking, including ovens, supplies, recipes, and more. There will be no need to plan supper that night - a Dutch oven meal will be served following the presentation...

The 2021 Star Spangled Spectacular, with a theme of “A Salute to Hometown Heroes,” is still accepting donations as the fundraising committee enters its final week of donations. With a goal of $30,000, co-chairs Josh Newhouse and Matt Brostad are still looking for close to $5,000 to meet their budget...

Five adults and two juveniles were charged with burglary, criminal mischief and theft charges stemming from a burglary complaint filed about an alleged occurrence at the Everly school. According to Clay County Sheriff Chris Raveling, on Tuesday, June 8, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office discovered a break in of the old Everly School. The school was sold to and is now owned by Guardian Education and Athletic Services out of Cherokee...

A Spirit Lake man who was convicted of second-degree murder in Sioux County has successfully appealed for a new trial. A jury in April had found 71-year-old Gregg Winterfeld guilty of killing 58-year-old Grant “Willie” Wilson of Cleghorn. Winterfeld’s attorney the next month reiterated objections to certain evidence and asked the court to consider conducting a new trial. ...

Retired Air Guard member and local assistant principal Jaymie Bral will serve as speaker for the 2021 Storm Lake Star Spangled Spectacular Patriotic Ceremony at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 4 in Chautauqua Park. The long-admired educator and veteran was chosen as a nod to this year’s theme: A Salute to Hometown Heroes...

Buena Vista County has an injection of COVID-19 aid coming. This week, the county set up a committee to determine how the money will be used. The county expected about $1.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to arrive soon, with eventually nearly $4 million coming its way thanks to the federal program that was approved by Congress in March...

As drought conditions have continued, the Storm Lake City Council took the first steps to declare conservation measures this week. A resolution declaring a public emergency water shortage was passed unanimously. provisions include: • No lawn watering on Monday. On other days for both residential and business properties, watering is allowed only between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. Water is not to be allowed to run onto sidewalks, driveways and streets...

The Iowa Gallivant’s JayJay Goodvin is visiting the area, as part of the Gallivant’s Western Iowa T-Bone Trail. The Western Iowa T-Bone Trail has stops planned in over 30 counties this summer. The goal of the T-Bone Trail is to showcase Iowa’s communities through discovery, entertainment, scenery and Iowa-raised beef...

Student debt forgiveness raises concerns about fairness to students who chose lower-cost educations, two Iowa community college leaders said during a recent interview on Iowa PBS. Forgiving student debt does not solve the underlying issues in higher education, said Kristie Fisher, the chancellor of the Iowa Valley Community College District...

Two Buena Vista University students who completed the Undergraduate Rural Medicine Education and Development (URMED) program in May noted how the experience excites them for a future serving others in medicine. “In 10 years, I would like to be a physician practicing in the Midwest,” says Molly Barten, a senior to-be biomedical sciences major from Zearing. ...

Dripping in greenery, cast members of “Little Shop of Horrors” celebrate after opening night for the Buena Vista Community Theatre’s musical. The young ladies help bring the monstrous houseplant Audrey II to life in the production. See today’s Alta section for full coverage of the theatre’s return after a year lost to the pandemic - and there is still time to book seats for the final shows Friday and Saturday. / Pilot photo by Dana Larsen...

“People are ready to get out there to celebrate Storm Lake and celebrate America,” says Michael Pertzborn, co-commodore of the 2021 Star Spangled Spectacular along with brother Tony. The duo was disappointed to “pull the plug” on last year’s celebration in April as pandemic concerns were ramping up...