Stories from Friday, August 10, 2018

Funeral services for Pastor Theodore Letzring of Alta will be 3:00 P.M., Sunday, August 12, 2018, at the St. John Lutheran Church, Hanover, IA. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday from 5:00 to 7:00, with the family present, at the St. John Lutheran Church at Hanover. Services are under the direction of the Redig Funeral Home in Aurelia...

Funeral services for James Alvin Pitts will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 11, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Spencer. James (Jim) Alvin Pitts was born on May 1, 1930, in Cherokee Iowa. He was the son of Alvin and Mary (Linnemann) Pitts. Soon after graduating from Highview High School, Jim joined the Air Force and served during the Korean conflict until 1954 when he returned home to the family farm...

The Department of Transportation has indicated a solution soon ahead for highway bumps along Highway 7, which appeared about two years ago. Citizen Gloria Sander presented correspondence during open forum at Alta's City Council meeting Tuesday. "We will be letting a project to address those pavement issues near the gold course as well as those just west of Aurelia," Tony Lazarowicz of Iowa DOT said. "There is patching on other routes that will be included in this project as well."...

Local veterans and their families gathered at the Aurelia Community Center on Thursday, July 26 to socialize and participate in Support Siouxland Soldiers. Jerry Weiland of Aurelia, the Cherokee County Director of Veterans Affairs, contacted Sarah Petersen who is an organizer for Support Siouxland Soldiers and asked her if she would be interested in hosting an event for Cherokee County. ...

After much unrelated drama from frustrated former Planning & Zoning Commission member Chris LeDoux, Alta City Council has directed the P&Z; Commission to name its own chairman. LeDoux, who was removed from the commission by Mayor Al Clark for violation of city code with a fence on her property, spoke during open forum. She accused Clark of treating her unfairly, naming others who she accused of having violated code without similar consequences...

Storm Lake native Nate Bjorkgren has been busy in the NBA over the past few seasons with the Phoenix Suns. In early 2017, he was let go from the Suns but landed on his feet with the Toronto Raptors as an advanced scout. After a head coaching change that saw Iowa native Nick Nurse take over, Bjorkgren will be back on the bench for 82 games this upcoming NBA season, as he was named an assistant coach for the Raptors on July 25...

Pastor Denise Parello makes balloon animals for the kids while children enjoyed various other fun activities like bubble blowing and photo booths.

Alta City Council voted to contribute to a rock park, settled their stance on tree removal, discussed community building revenue, and failed to pass a measure to address ditches at Monday's meeting. The city responded to a request for a donation to the Freedom Rock Park being planned by Albert City's Chamber of Commerce. ...

"It's never been so cozy in here," cracks Witter Gallery Director Cindy Barahona Roth. Indeed, art lovers may feel inspired to curl up for a nap while visiting the latest exhibit at Storm Lake's art gallery. Members of the Quilt Sew-ciety were helping to mount over 30 large quilts to the wall and furnishings Monday, splashing arrays of color around the facility in every direction...

Eva Porras is expanding her cuts with a fresh move to Lake Ave this week. Her spanish-speaking salon, one of three in Storm Lake, continues to offer clientele a comfortable, familiar environment in a more visible location. Always Bella joins several other businesses on main street with signage in Spanish only...

Storm Lake city officials plan to terminate an Urban renewal area where development has never materialized. In 2016, an Urban Renewal area was established from the 10th Street Townhouse area near the Field of Dreams to the HyVee property. A housing developer was making plans for a project in the area that later fell through...

On the evening of Monday, August 6, 2018 at approximately 10:06pm the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to the 1600 block of Rose Lane in reference to a fight in progress involving multiple people in the roadway. Responding officers were advised that participants in the alleged fight were fleeing from the scene at which time police stopped one of the suspect vehicles in the 1200 block of East 4th Street...

With word of federal raids taking place in rural Nebraska beginning to filter to the immigrant population in the Storm Lake area, fear is spreading. So says Marie Sennert, a local attorney specializing in immigration law. Recent raids snared over 130 workers suspected of being in the county illegally, as well as 17 people connected to an alleged conspiracy to exploit illegal labor and launder money, according to the Omaha World Herald...

Looking at the scene around Mark Erickson's home in rural Greenville, one might be hard-pressed to find anything to feel lucky about. A path from the northeast corner of his farm property at 2455 430th St. to the southwest corner is littered with large tree limbs, two leveled outbuildings, shingles and pieces of the previously mentioned outbuildings and substantial damage to a large machine shed the result of the early Sunday morning storm which moved across northwest Iowa as most slept...

Long-term residents of Storm Lake, Chris and Michelle Rasmussen, have started getting used to life in Haiti after selling their home and completely changing their lives. Chris and Michelle along with their two sons, Elias age 8 and Gabriel age 6, have served as missionaries in Haiti for the past year. Prior to moving to Haiti, the Rasmussens had taken six trips to Haiti starting in 2014 where they fell in love with the country and the people living there...

Watershed coordinator Lee Gravel said progress is being made in water quality in the North Raccoon watershed. With six saturated buffers installed this spring and three more going in by the end of the summer, interest with landowners has increased and results have improved. More bioreactors are also slated for installation pending design approval from the National Reservation Conservation Service...