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The Storm Lake City Council recently set a series of goals to pursue moving forward - starting with community recreation as the top goal, followed by economic development, public involvement, business retention and housing among top targets. A recent “Meet the Mayor” session followed up, inviting the public to add its input on Storm Lake’s direction...

Iowa’s COVID-19 cases have declined from a mid-September peak, but infections and hospitalizations remain significantly higher than earlier this year. COVID-19 infections reached the highest level of 2021 last week, with an average of 1,811 news cases per day. Iowa had one of the highest per-capita rates in the U.S., with an average of 55 new daily cases per 100,000 residents...

A second lawsuit that alleges Iowa pizza-delivery drivers are being shortchanged on their wages has been filed in U.S. District Court. Recently, a lawsuit was filed alleging Iowa delivery drivers working for Domino’s Pizza were effectively earning 35 cents an hour because the company wasn’t fairly compensating the workers for the use of their own vehicles. The new lawsuit is aimed at Casey’s General Store...

Morgann Wells has dreamed about helping people feel better about themselves for a long time – she just had to find the right avenue to make it happen. The 2013 Alta High graduate came back to the area, after a potentially solid sales career in Des Moines, to find love, marriage, family, and something else. ...

“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.”

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...

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...

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 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...

Regular readers of this newspaper have often seen reports on trials in the local district court that end with wording about a defendant getting off with probation or a suspended sentence, though the county attorney’s office had recommended prison time...