Stories from Wednesday, January 24, 2018

ACCIDENTS On January 21, at approximately 4 p.m., at 1831 N. Lake Ave. in Storm Lake, a vehicle driven by Katie May Day of Storm Lake, was involved in an accident with a vehicle driven by Randall Peffer of Lakeside. The two vehicles collided causing total damages estimated at $600.

The 2018 Republican Precinct Caucuses will be held Monday, February 5 at 7 p.m. at the Alta Community Center at 27 N. Lake St., Alta. All precincts will meet at one location. Precinct: ACFFC: Delegates 4, ALNE Delegates 6, LKHM Delegates 5, NENP Delegates 4, SL01 Delegates 4, SL02 Delegates 3, SL03 Delegates 5, SL04 Delegates 4, SRLM Delegates 6 and TWRG Delegates 4...

The following students were named to Buena Vista University’s (BVU) Dean’s List for terms one and two. Students named to the Dean’s List must have a minimum grade point average of 3.5 for the two terms based on a 4.0 grade point system. The students must have taken at least 12 hours of coursework...

Sac County Extension Office and Sac County Conservation are teaming up to host an Ice Fishing Clinic  on February 3. The clinic will begin at the Lake View Library at 9 a.m. and will end at Blackhawk Lake and fish near shotgun hill until noon. A parent needs to accompany the participant. Hot chocolate and cookies will be provided. Call the Sac County Extension Office at 712-662-7131 to register...

For rabbit enthusiasts—there will be a rabbit carrier workshop on Sunday, February 25 from 3-5 p.m. at the Sac County Extension and Outreach Office. You can choose the size of carrier you would like to make. Single carriers are $18; Double carriers are $30; Four slot carriers are $36 but are only recommended for small rabbits. ...

Storm Lake St. Mary’s School will be celebrating the gift of Catholic Schools Week January 28-February 3. The local preK-12 Catholic School will use the national week of recognition to showcase the benefits that a Catholic School brings to a community – namely the choice of a Catholic, faith-based quality education for area families of all faith backgrounds...

The kids and gradkids of Tom and Peg Flanigan of Lakeside would like to wish them a Happy Anniversary on January 26. They have been married for 45 years.

The Storm Lake Board of Education will add two positions to the staff for the 2018-19 school year - an elementary physical education teacher and a high school science teacher. Superintendent Carl Turner advocated for the additions at the most recent meeting of the school board...

Bring our your bling because Diamonds and Dust is the theme for the 2018 St. Mary’s Ball and Charity Auction. St. Mary’s School supporters will enjoy a high class ranch experience at the March 17 semi-formal fundraiser at the Buena Vista University Siebens Forum with doors opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are now on sale to attend the school’s largest fundraiser of the year. Chairs are Andy and Lisa Hurd with co-chairs and Seth and Etta Smith...

J.S. Loving, also known as Jeffery Scott Loving, has published his first novel, just three years after graduating from college. Jeff is originally from small area town Albert City, where his parents still reside on their family farm. Growing up Jeff would adventure around the old farm equipment or among the pigs and sheep, envisioning vast stories in his head instead of working on chores. ...

The Wild Rose Casino in Emmersburg presents The Ultimate Garth Brooks Tribute, Friday, January 26. Tickets are $25. Inspired by Garth Brooks in the 90’s, Shawn Gerhart grew up singing along to his favorite Garth tunes on the radio. He cultivated his silky-smooth vocals while performing in numerous venues throughout the United States...

Witter Gallery Hosts Chocolate Masterpiece Extravaganza Decadent delicacies and entertainment. The Witter Gallery is excited to announce the Chocolate Masterpiece Extravaganza. The event will be held at the Witter Gallery on Saturday, February 17 from 4-6 p.m...

Sioux Central High School’s Delish  Central is opening for its seventh season.  Students have been working hard to create a fun-filled and delicious menu, and the public is invited to join in. Make reservations early as they fill up quickly. Reserve a meal at least one week in advance by calling 712-283-2571. Here are the meals planned for 2018:...

The Buena Vista Regional Medical Center Nursing Scholarship Committee will again be accepting scholarship applications during February and March for the 2018-2019 academic year. The annual scholarship award is $1000. Since its inception in 2003, 120 scholarships have been awarded to area nursing students provided entirely by donations to the scholarship program...

Students in grades seven through eleven can now enter the 12th annual Money Smart Kid essay contest and compete for the chance to win $1,000 to help boost their college savings. The statewide essay contest is sponsored by the Iowa Bankers Association.Eligible students can enter the contest by writing an essay of 400 words or fewer, addressing the following: Please write a brief newspaper article describing the potential devastating effects of a natural disaster (fire, flood, hurricane, etc.) on a family’s financial situation. ...

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the District Speech Contest Saturday at the Storm Lake High School. 11 groups and 47 students will be advancing to the State Competition in LeMars on February.  Make plans to see these amazing performances at the Showcase of Speech on Monday, January 29 in the auditorium...

Mark Schmidt of Alta was one of 271 students named to Concordia University, Nebraska’s honors list for the fall 2017 semester. The top 25 percent of all undergraduate students who complete at least 12 credit hours qualify for the honors list at the Nebraska campus...

Week two started with a blizzard and back to the frigid temps. As I write this, temperatures have warmed significantly.

Things have warmed up at the Capitol as well.  Many subcommittees are meeting and bills are beginning to advance through the process of becoming laws. ...

Hunters reported harvesting 105,544 deer in Iowa for 2017, which is an increase of more than 4,100 deer from 2016. Iowa’s deer seasons closed on Jan. 10. Most deer were harvested during the shotgun seasons. Shotgun 1: 26,546 deer - 13,804 antlerless, 12,742 antlered...

A Storm Lake man was arrested after allegedly causing a drunken disturbance, and spitting on a responding police officer, causing the SLPD to identify him on an outstanding arrest warrant in a cocaine case. Sunday morning shortly after midnight, officers were called to a West 3rd Street residence where witnesses said Martin Guillen, 27, was intoxicated and out of control...

A new Waste Characterization Study completed by the Iowa DNR has determined the recovery rate for containers covered under the bottle deposit law is 71 percent, down from 86 percent in 2007. The decrease in the recovery rate is consistent with other states that also have a bottle bill...

Storm Lake City officials have worked through a proposed 2018-19 budget that would result in a slight tax levy decrease and still maintain the 40 percent balance cushion the council wants in all city funds. The one issue that arose in the budget workshop Monday evening was funding for Storm Lake United...

According to Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the brief government shutdown was a failure on the part of the Congress in which he serves, but not one of his party. In a statement sent to the Pilot-Tribune, the veteran Republican said he voted for the legislation to re-open the government after the three-day shutdown. Grassley spoke in favor of the extension of the Children’s Health Insurance program included in the legislation, on the floor of the Senate Thursday...

The 11th anniversary of a Storm Lake murder is approaching, and the suspect has yet to ever appear in a courtroom. According to psychiatric experts, Jose Tovar may never be able to face trial for the killing of his older brother, and the Buena Vista County Attorney now believes the case is likely “a lost cause.”...

Five babies were born within a span of about eight hours just ahead of the blizzard Sunday at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, according to the parents of the first, Sara and Justin Sangwin, who delivered son Weston (pictured) at 1:17 a.m. “The nurses all said they could tell the weather was going to change because it was so busy there. At one point Sunday, all the OB rooms were full.”...

IDA GROVE - The Raptor wrestlers took part in a two day tournament over Friday and Saturday with two of them placing in the top six. Trent Miller at 220 finished sixth and Lance Else at 160 took third to pace Ridge View. “We moved our two guys on day two knowing they both needed good days to get on the podium. Both had a difficult bracket and fought very hard to get on,” RV coach Caleb Christensen said...

SIOUX RAPIDS - Outside of a pair of one point losses since the start of 2018, the Rebel girls have been a house of fire and proved it on Friday night as they were able to get the better of the ninth ranked team in 3A, South Central Calhoun, 55-44. Sioux Central took an early lead, 14, after the first quarter with the score 18-4. ...

HARTLEY - Sometimes the final dual scores after a long day of wrestling doesn’t take the headlines, rather, the sportsmanship show between two wrestlers. Alta-Aurelia split four duals on Saturday, but Warrior Nicholas Gaes went above and did something that one of his opponents won’t forget...

WAVERLY - With only nine wrestlers going to the Rick Caldwell Invitational on Saturday, the green and white grapplers walked away with a six place finish despite seeing a lot of competition. Fort Dodge claimed first place, Waverly-Shell Rock second and Crestwood third...