Stories from Friday, November 19, 2021

Pocahontas County Economic Development Commission (PCEDC) announced that they have awarded Med Spa Express, Tavern 119, and Creator’s with Jump-Start Accelerator Grant awards. The Jump-Start Accelerator Grant Program is supported by the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative. ...

Wishing Wells had their ribbon cutting on November 10th. The owner is Morgann Wells who lives in Fonda. This is her first business, she realized how much she loved helping people look good and feel confident in their clothes while working at the Buckle while in high school...

The Storm Lake business community’s Holiday Open House saw plenty of traffic in a new three-day format through last weekend. Some new businesses celebrated their first holiday season, including at left (Back Road Finds Antiques and Collectibles) and Storm Lake Candy Company. / Pilot photos by Dana Larsen...

November is National Family Caregivers Month - a time to recognize and honor those who care for a child, teen or adult child with special health or behavioral needs or those who care for an adult with a chronic condition. Family caregivers are unpaid family members, friends or neighbors who assist those who need help. ...

Dear Editor, My old Iowa stomping ground is now awash in wind turbines. These turbines are like highway workers. Only a small portion of the wind turbines are working at any given time. Even though they seldom operate they need almost constant maintenance. Also wind turbine blades were supposed to last at least 20 years but in fact are usually replaced after 10. The blades can’t be recycled so they end up dumped in Iowa landfills. Truly Iowa is becoming a windmill landfill...

Farmers are well known for improvising around certain problems, to come up with workable solutions to keeping their farm operations going. But when you need electricity on the homestead, how do you make that happen? Especially prior to the Rural Electrification Act of 1936? Well, I stumbled upon an interesting, at least to me, bit of history the other day. ...

The holidays are a strange time to be a parent without kids around. Mine are grown and leading their own lives, with plans that don’t include coming back to the old hometown. This is as it should be - you hope your children grow up to be independent and busy, with places to go, people to see, things to do. It beats the alternative, which is having offspring living in your basement playing computer games in their underwear until they are in their 50s...

Brothers Burn Mountain will perform Friday, November 26 at Byrons in Pomeroy. Showtime is 8 p.m. Based out of the backwoods of Duluth, MN, The Brothers Burn Mountain is a soulful, energetic, eclectic duo of real-life brothers, Ryan and Jesse Dermody. They’ve been playing music together every day as a duo for more than 20 years...

The Iowa Lakes Community College music department is proud to announce the 22nd Annual Elizabethan Madrigal Feaste. This year’s festivities will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4 and 5 at the Janice K. Lund Performing Arts Center in Estherville. Ticket sales began Monday, with reservations required by Nov. 29...

The Spencer Tigerettes are hosting The Dance Challenge on Nov. 20 at Spencer High School in the field house. The Dance Challenge is a competition featuring more than 200 dancers representing 14 high schools and studios from around the state of Iowa. ...

The Vista 3 Theater’s holiday Matinee Movies series returns. Free tickets are available from sponsoring merchants in Storm Lake including the Pilot-Tribune (due to COVID-19 precautions, tickets will not be required for entry.) All of the shows are rated PG...

With crowded buildings, the Storm Lake schools must limit open enrollment. The school board discussed the situation at its meeting this week. After March 1, the district won’t sign paperwork for students wanting to open enroll in from other districts unless they can show what the state defines as good cause - either their family moving into the district, or proof of a bullying or harassment situation at their current school. ...

The Storm Lake City Council has approved a bid to complete a fiber optic network loop, a project that was started in 2015 to connect city facilities and other community sites. The low bid was $160,151, or $1.232 million with optional alternatives. With associated costs, the entire project could be near $1.6 million. Approval was unanimous, although council member Kevin McKinney questioned whether costs would continue to accrue, not wanting the city to be responsible for a “snowball” effect...

Growing up in Vietnam, Vu Nguyen always dreamed of being a police officer. This week he was sworn in as the first Vietnamese police officer in Storm Lake’s history. Officer Nguyen, 27, came to the United States with his family as a teenager, and to Storm Lake at 18, graduating from Storm Lake High School in 2015 and earning his citizenship that same year...

Earlier this fall Cub Scouts of Pack 105 participated in a Rain Gutter Regatta on the grounds of the Storm Lake United Methodist Church. This event gives scouts a chance to make model sail boats and race them by propelling the crafts with “wind” created by blowing through straws. ...

On November 8th, Assistant Buena Vista County Attorney Ashley Herrig was presented the Staff Attorney Award of Merit during the fall Iowa County Attorneys Association Conference in Des Moines. The award is given to Assistant County Attorneys to recognize and reward experienced staff attorneys who have earned distinguished records of accomplishment, dedication and service to the Association, their communities, and to the public. ...

St. Mary’s middle school students competed at the regional mock trial competition in Sioux City on Wednesday, November 2. Mock Trial is a program that not only introduces students to the foundations of our legal system but also is an avenue for students to develop skills in public speaking, critical thinking skills, and teamwork. ...

Jordan Anderson burst through the line to corral the quarterback, recording a sack in a Buena Vista University football victory over Wartburg College on Oct. 30. Hours later, he corralled Hawkeye, his 700-pound calf at BVU’s Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), where Anderson reports twice each day, to feed, water, and work with a pair of show pigs and Hawkeye...

The first of Iowa’s two shotgun deer seasons begins Dec. 4, when an expected 55-60,000 blaze orange clad hunters head to the timber for the annual late fall tradition. The good news is that Iowa’s deer population is similar to last year statewide, and is continuing its slow upward trend in northcentral and northwest Iowa that has been a goal of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) since 2014...

William C. Pewsey DVM, age 86, of Storm Lake, Iowa died November 14, 2021 at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake. Funeral Service will be Friday, November 19, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. at Summit Evangelical Free Church in Alta, Iowa. Burial will be at Storm Lake Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday, November 18, 2021 from 5 - 7 p.m. at Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of arrangements...

Newell hosted a Northwest Iowa Law Enforcement Scholarship Gala dance last weekend, raising funds to help students looking to go into law enforcement studies. Local favorites The Fond of Flyers performed. / Photos: Jason Braunschweig Photography

September 11, 1922 - November 4, 2021

November 13, 1931 - November 12, 2021

December 8, 1928 - November 13, 2021

Gov. Kim Reynolds improperly used $450,000 of federal COVID-19 relief funds to pay 21 staff members, according to a new state audit. Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand released the report on Monday. It reveals that the Office of the Governor used $448,448 of federal coronavirus relief funds to pay salaries and benefits for 21 employees between March 2020 and June 2020...

The Iowa Board of Education is moving ahead with the implementation of a new state law that changes the way charter schools can form and operate. Thomas Mayes, general counsel for the Department of Education, said the first few charter school applications may be a “choose-your-own adventure” as the state adjusts to the new law...

Dr. William H. Cumberland, Buena Vista University Professor of History Emeritus and BVU historian, died on Nov. 8 in Onalaska, Wisc. A memorial service to celebrate his life takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at Willowbrook Cooperative in Winona, Minn...

Storm Lake schools officials are planning for the move of kindergarten classes into the new Early Elementary building. While it appears unlikely that substantial construction completion will be achieved by the end of this week as originally hoped, the new target is December 6...

The Storm Lake Board of Education saw a changing of the guard this week, as it adjourned the old board and convened a new one. Newly-elected board member Steven Mills, and re-elected incumbent Erika Dierking, took their oath of office. The board elected previous vice-president Dave Skibsted unanimously as new president, and Dierking unanimously as vice-president...

Storm Lake is among 14 Iowa cities competing in a contest that challenged Iowans to show off their hometown pride in a short video for a chance to win their community a one-of-a-kind water tower design. Local residents can cast their votes online to help the community’s chances of winning...

“You’ve come a long way improving Storm Lake. You should be proud of what has been accomplished… I know people get frustrated when they see changes out there - things they’re not used to. The reality is, it’s very difficult to control. It’s like trying to steer the Titanic. You can’t go out and make these changes and expect instant results.”

Micronesian community turns out to share hopes, concerns in their new Storm Lake home