Stories from Monday, February 13, 2017

It has been an extremely busy week in the House as we move forward on the business at hand rather than handling “old business” as we dealt with the slowdown in revenue as it applied to this year’s budget. It has also been exciting and challenging as we started work on several bills on which emotions were running high. We have had a contingent of anywhere from 10 to 20 State Troopers in the building to maintain order...

Storm Lake High School speech performed well at State, with numerous one ratings, and two groups judged Outstanding and selected to go on to the All-State Festival. The musical theatre groups Cell Block Tango and Manly Men will perform at Iowa State University at the All-State Festival on Feb. 18. The boys group performs at 1:40, the girls at 2:40. The Musical Theatre center for the day is held at the Ames City Auditorium...

A Night of Opera at Buena Vista University. Well technically it was four nights of opera as the show is nightly at 7:30 p.m, February 8-11th , in Anderson Aduitorium, but details right? The Buena Vista Theatre department teamed up with the university’s Department of Music to present two contrasting opera’s back to back. Both pieces are one act productions that individually are about an hour in length...

For more than 20 years Arts on Grand and Carey’s Electronics have been presenting for your viewing pleasure “Films for the Cinematically Disadvantaged”. Twice a year foreign films are shown in the upstairs movie room of Carey’s at 220 Grand Avenue in Spencer at 7 p.m. on Mondays. Patrons pay a freewill offering to enjoy popcorn and a hot beverage and a trip to another time and culture...

Prolific musician and television host Mollie B will be performing as part of a fundraiser event for Santa’s Castle August 12 in Storm Lake. She is best known as host for the popular “Mollie B Polka Party” show on RFD-TV, but also travels the country for concerts (140 shows in 2016 alone) and has a busy recording schedule that has seen her perform on 32 solo and group CD/DVD projects since the 1990s, producing five discs in the past year. ...

There isn’t a day that goes by that Taylor is not in search for the next high to get him through the day. His addictions of choice are marijuana, alcohol (preferably hard liquor) and when neither of those are available there were always the handy, dandy prescription drugs. Taylor, from an area town, just turned 20. He has been drinking since the age of 14, smoking pot since the age of 16 and popping pills since the age of 17...

Average retail gasoline prices in Iowa have risen three cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.38 per gallon. This compares with the national average that has increased 2.1 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.37. Storm Lake prices actually declines slightly during the period, to $2.20 for super unleaded at most stations early in the week...

On the evening of Thursday, February 9, at approximately 10:46 p.m., the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to 703B West 8th Street in reference to a domestic assault in progress. Upon arrival of police they located the victim who alleged that her boyfriend physically assaulted her, knocked her to the floor, pulled hair out of her head and then locked her in a bathroom and would not let her leave. The victim was able to escape and called for assistance...

The Storm Lake Community School District met with the Storm Lake Education Association on Thursday, February 9. The Storm Lake Community School District Initial Proposal for 2017-2018 with Teacher Salary Supplement proposed current language remain in effect with dates and TSS amounts changed to reflect the terms of the new agreement...

The Storm Lake Pilot-Tribune swept to 14 awards in the annual Iowa Newspaper Association 2017 Better Newspaper Contests. The honors were presented at a newspaper industry conference last week in Des Moines. The Pilot-Tribune earned a General Excellence award, which recognizes all-around newspaper performance. The news staff also earned the only Investigative Reporting award for its class in the state for a multi-part investigation of Human Trafficking in Iowa...

Storm Lake native Ronald Duque has been selected to an internship through the College Works Paint project

Updates from the Storm Lake Police Department, Buena Vista County Sheriff's Office and the Storm Lake Fire Department.

December 25, 1929 - January 18, 2017

Storm Lake Police have arrested a local man for attempting a fraudulent home sale. The SLPD received a report Thursday from a couple who had responded to a private advertisement on Facebook for a house for sale in Truesdale. The victims reportedly met with a person identified as Dalton Fortymeyer on January 14, and secured interest on the property sale. Two days later, the couple again met with Fortymeyer in Storm Lake and reportedly paid him $1,800 as a down payment on a $7,800 mortgage finance contract to purchase the property.  Following the transaction the reporting parties through their own research became concerned on the legitimacy of the real-estate contract they entered into.. ...

“It’s actually a pretty easy budget - if you don’t have any extra money, it’s basically a flat line.” So says Storm Lake City Manager Jim Patrick, introducing the proposed 2017-18 City budget in a lengthy special city council meeting Tuesday night. He described the budget as “conservative,” resulting in a slight tax rate reduction from the current $14.59 per thousand property valuation to a proposed $14.26...

“It has been really disappointing so far,” Storm Lake Superintendent of Schools Carl Turner said of the Iowa House bill for a 1.1 percent increase in allowable growth funding for public schools. The district hopes to avoid cutting any staff, but will have to reduce spending on technology and some programs could possibly be cut. A property tax increase would also be sought...

Big Screen Surgery at BVRMC in Storm Lake now offers a new 4K ultra high-definition imaging system for unparalleled vision within the human body. Buena Vista Regional Medical Center will be among the first in Iowa to use the Olympus VISERA 4K UHD System for minimally invasive surgery. The medical center announced the advancement late this week...

Corrupt police are responsible for botched kidnapping, beatings and arrests against Reyes’ family, she claims