Stories from Tuesday, February 7, 2017

12 and 13 year old attempt to engage in a fight On February 5, at approximately 6:42 p.m., Storm Lake Police were dispatched to 201 Hudson Street for a 911 call regarding unwanted subjects on the reporting party’s property. On arrival police made contact with two male juveniles, age 13 and 12. ...

Roberto Rios accepts a cup of hot chocolate from Storm Lake St. Mary’s seventh grader Maria Mendoza as part of the school’s parent appreciation day during Catholic Schools Week. Middle school student council members met the parents picking up their children either on foot or in cars and presented them with prayer cards and hot chocolate, wearing School Choice yellow scarves. ...

The 2016-2017 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has been established to help qualifying low-income Iowa homeowners and renters pay for a portion of their primary heating costs for the winter heating season. Applications will be taken through April 30. ...

First ladies are often defined by the causes they champion, but they also play a vital role the public rarely sees, says Stacy Cordery, an expert on first families and a professor of history at Iowa State University. “First ladies essentially grease the wheels of state. ...

The Storm Lake Public Library’s Great Directors Film Series will offer its next movie on Monday, February 13 at 1:00 PM. This month’s matinee selection is one of director George Cukor’s most famous comedies. A battle of the sexes between two married lawyers, this film stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. ...

The Marathon Public Library is hosting a “Come Check Us Out” open house on Saturday, February 11th from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. This will be a come and go event, or a sit and enjoy the morning with friends and neighbors event. Refreshments will be served. You can help with a jigsaw puzzle you can try their new adult coloring pages. Coloring pages for kids are available too...

Rep. Gary Worthan (R-Storm Lake) met with members of the East Sac FFA Chapter and the Ridge View FFA Chapter. The groups were visiting the Capitol to talk with legislators as a part of the Iowa FFA Legislative Symposium. Pictured top are Ben Wise (Litton), Kyle Kolbe (Sac City), Taylor Houska (Sac City), Camber Herrig (Wall Lake), William Rupnow (Nemaha) and Rep. Gary Worthan (Storm Lake). Pictured bottom are Ridgeview FFA members alongside Rep. Gary Worthan...

Applications are available for the Storm Lake P.E.O Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a senior girl graduating this year from a Storm Lake high school and planning further education at a public or private accredited college or university...

2016-2017 scholarship applications are still open. Graduating seniors from Storm Lake High School and Storm Lake St. Mary’s, as well as graduating charter students continuing on to college, junior college, or a vocational school may apply. Follow the link to download application instructions and to complete your scholarship application before February 10th. The link is www.stormlake.dollarsforscholars.org...

Newell-Fonda student Ian Anderson will be performing the National Anthem at the Iowa State Wrestling Tournament February 15th. Ian was chosen from a pool of 61 applicants who were required to submit a video of their performances.

The District Piano Auditions sponsored by the Iowa Music Teachers’ Association were held January 28 at Morningside College, Sioux City. Students participating played at least three contrasting selections from memory, demonstrated knowledge of scales, and wrote a 50-question theory exam. The students were grouped into levels by age...

The Buena Vista Regional Medical Center Nursing Scholarship Committee will again be accepting scholarship applications during February and March for the 2016-2017 academic year. The annual scholarship award is $1000. Any student who has a permanent residence in Buena Vista County or any adjoining county, has completed at least one year of pre-nursing education at an accredited school, has a Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5 or better on a four-point scale and has applied or will be applying to a nursing program for the upcoming academic year is eligible to apply. ...

Congratulations to the Storm Lake Rotary Students of the month for January. Hector Nunez, son of Virginia Napoles and Juan Angel Nunez is a senior at Storm Lake High School. Hector looks forward to continuing his education in California following graduation in the area of Civil Engineering. ...

Morningside College has announced the selection of 22 emerging student leaders to be part of the inaugural class of the Connie Wimer Women’s Leadership Program. The new leadership program is named in honor of alumna Connie Wimer, an active Iowa business leader and member of the Morningside College Board of Directors. ...

Boji Bay Legacy Park, located in Milford has announced their 2017 concert series. The schedule of events includes: June 9 - Bad Authority from Carroll - Okoboji Bike Rally Preview Show 16 - National country artist Adam Wakefield from Nashville, TN, runner-up on The Voice 2016...

OKOBOJI — As the staff at Stephens College began planning the plays for the 2017 Okoboji Summer Theatre season, they decided a “new and continuing” theme was most appropriate for their 60th season. The college, located in Columbia, Missouri, took over the operation of the summer stock complex 60 years ago with promises to produce live theatrical productions for the public for seven years. ...

The Storm Lake Education Association represented by Kim Johnson presented the Initial Salary Proposal for 2017-2018 To Board Chief Negotiator, Superintendent Carl Turner on February 2 at the Central Office. The 2017-2018 work year schedule would be 193 days including six holidays. This number stays the same as the 2016-17 salary schedule. Any additional days shall be paid per diem based in the 2017-18 salary schedule...

Storm Lake Public Safety Director and Police Chief Mark Prosser received the Martin Luther King Achievement Award - one of two presented in the state - during the 2017 Iowa MLK celebration held Friday in Des Moines. Prosser was honored for his efforts to connect with and serve the diverse population, and said that he was accepting the award on behalf of the entire department...

The professor emeritus of English taught at Buena Vista University for over 30 years, serving in roles including chair of the faculty senate, assistant dean, leader of curriculum development and head men’s tennis coach

Another busy week. Being a chair of a standing committee is like drinking water from a fire hose. My clerk and I are getting much better at the process and have it figured out. In my opinion Human Resources generates more bills than the rest combined. The deadline for bills to be drafted is next Friday. This will turn down the pressure on that fire hose quite a bit. The first funnel deadline is March 3...

DES MOINES (AP) — As the Iowa Legislature rushes to pass a bill to remove funding for Planned Parenthood and create a state-run program to distribute family planning money, some health clinics that could see an increase in patients say they haven’t heard anything about the system that could take effect within months...

At its Jan. 31 meeting, the Cherokee City Council went into closed session to discuss two matters in litigation. Following the closed session, the council voted to proceed with settlement negotiations on a workman’s compensation claim. The council also voted to authorize the city attorney to proceed with sidewalk notices on East Willow Street in the block containing the former Wilson School at a later date at her discretion. ...

Talk in the Senates is heating up when it comes to the confirmation of President Trump’s Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVoss. DeVoss is charter school activist and wealthy Republican donor. Iowa’s Senator Joni Ernst and Senator Chuck Grassley’s office have received thousands of calls and emails from Iowans speaking out on the nominee...

The Wade and Donohoe buildings on campus at Cherokee Mental Health Institute were recently designated by Preservation Iowa to be included in its 2017 Most Endangered Properties list. The Cherokee Historic Preservation Commission received the news from Preservation Iowa Wednesday...

Storm Lake Police have made an arrest after an investigation of thefts taking place at Taco John’s restaurant. Substantial amounts of money had gone missing from the business in three separate incidents from January 26-30. Police suspected that someone with access to a key was burglarizing the restaurant after hours. Officers reviewed surveillance footage and developed several potential suspects from a list of current and former employees.   ...

In 1999 Pauline Larson founded TLC Canine Center located in Newell, Iowa. It is a shelter for homeless and abused dogs in Northwest Iowa. It is a small facility that houses about 24 dogs. This is not nearly enough room for the demand of the shelter’s services. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for surrendering dogs but there are far too many dogs that are homeless, abused or who are neglected dogs who have been abandoned, left to fend for themselves...

Storm Lake firefighters responded to 14 structure fires in 2016, down from 22 the previous year and the lowest total since 2010, according to the newly-released annual Public Safety statistics. However, in all, calls for service increased over 2015...

The castle is quiet. The sounds of the season, music and lights of many colors, the antimation of past time all still. I did get back after Christmas to get some pictures of Robbies Flying Red Horse Gas Station. It sets in the HO Gauge Train layout. Castle has two layouts - one is HO and one O Gauge. I did get to see a steamer running on the O gauge tracks. The Engineer even had a sound of a steamer from a wooden toy whistle...

Storm Lake High School’s AVID I class has raised over 300 dollars for the ACCO, also known as the American Childhood Cancer Organization. In October of 2016, Mrs. Hill and her AVID I class were on the unit of community service. They were then split into groups to create a community service project that the class could do together. By the end of the month, the class decided to pick the idea of selling bracelets for the ACCO. The ACCO, specializes in age appropriate treatments for children...

Alta-Aurelia and Sioux Central compete at Manson sectionals on Saturday MANSON - Both the Warriors and Rebels found themselves in Manson on Saturday afternoon for sectional wrestling against six other teams vying to send grapplers to districts. Alta-Aurelia finished fifth on the afternoon in the standings while Sioux Central came in eighth...

STORM LAKE - Alta-Aurelia made it 15 consecutive wins on Saturday night as they walked into St. Mary’s Panther Pit and exited with a 16 point victory, 74-58. The two Twin Lakes teams battled in the first quarter which saw both sides go on a run. AA began the game with an 8-2 run, but St. ...