Stories from Friday, September 21, 2018

September 14, 1934 - September 17, 2018

Fresh Alaska Silver Salmon caught off shore in Nome is the featured entrée for a Fundraising Supper on Saturday, September 29th, 2018 at 6pm at the Albert City Evangelical Covenant Church. 501 S. 2nd Street, Albert City, Iowa. Accompaniments to the salmon will be potatoes, vegetable, salad, bread, dessert and beverages. A free-will offering will be taken. (There will be enough salmon for around 120 people--first come first served.)...

"I'm 72 years old and I'm still crawling in and out of it," said Lloyd Meyers of Alta as he got out of his 1939 Chevy coupe after showing it off by driving a few circles around his workshop. "As long as this old ticker keeps going, we're going to have fun."...

"I've gone all the way from not knowing to judging other people's stuff," said 4H leader and avid quilter Leann Baumhover. The self-taught quilter has been entering her pieces into county fairs and the Iowa State Fair for decades, and this year all that stitching paid off with a Best of Show and Sweepstakes award at their Fabric and Threads contest...

They couldn't close, even if they wanted to. Straw Horse, a retail mainstay of Albert City's Main Street, is here to stay. Its owners and investors, a group of 15, are celebrating 10 years since the store's re-opening in October 2008. Owner Allen Wenell tried to close it when the upkeep was too much for him to handle alone. "As soon as everything was sold, people were bugging me that we needed the store open again," he said...

Paxtons Jewelry has once again teamed up with BVRMC's P.I.N.K. for our annual balloon bash and cake dig fundraiser! Every $10 donation gets a chance to bash a balloon and win a gemstone. Each balloon is a winner, with chances to win gemstones like pink tourmaline, blue topaz, peridot, and many more. Winners of the pink pearls will be contestants in our Diamond Cake Dig. Grand prize this year is a spectacular morganite and diamond rose gold ring valued at $499.00...

After four long years, the future of the shuttered Cherokee Tyson Deli Plant has been defined with the announcement today that Iowa Food Group will begin operations here in January. Iowa Food Group has purchased the sprawling Cherokee facility located on a prime 59-acre tract on the southwest edge of the City, and plans to convert the 55-year-old structure into a protein processing company packaging specialty beef, pork, and poultry meats for a large variety of restaurants, groceries, and other food customers around the world.. ...

As expected, Storm Lake schools are busting at the seams this season. While formal population counts won't be taken until October, principals report that their student numbers continue to rise. The high school has 753 students, its highest number ever, and counting the charter school and other programs, numbers may reach 900 this school year. ...

Buena Vista University has again been selected as a NASPA Lead Initiative Institution for the 2018-19 year. Additionally, this is the first year the University has been invited to take on the role of a Lead Consulting Institution. NASPA's Lead Initiative on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (Lead Initiative) comprises a network of NASPA member colleges and universities committed to encouraging and highlighting the work of student affairs in making civic learning and democratic engagement a part of every student's college education. ...

On the morning of Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at approximately 3:54am the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to 704 Lincoln Road in reference to a suspicious person. While on location speaking with the reporting party identified as Demitra Parker-White, age 33 of Storm Lake police learned that Parker-White was wanted out of Buena Vista County on a warrant for Failure to Appear in court reference OWI 2nd Offense...

The Storm Lake City Council has approved sale of $3.38 million in general obligation notes, and redemption of outstanding urban renewal bond notes dating to 2011. The refinancing of the bond issue from the construction of King's Pointe and improvements for the Bargloff Addition is expected to save the city $347,000, pay off an urban renewal bond and provide $700,000 in funding for a new fire truck...

Clay County Fair and Events Center Manager Jeremy Parsons said the 101st event was a solid follow-up to the centennial celebration the preceding year. "I think the weather was perfect the first weekend, but a little warm the second weekend," Parsons said. "Any time you can go through the nine-day fair without a rain event, that's good for me."...

Despite some concerns, the Storm Lake School District has approved an agreement with Lutheran Services in Iowa to provide limited educational services to students who can't fit into the packed classrooms at the East Early Childhood Center. According to Tina Gress, curriculum director, Lutheran Services has agreed to provide in-home services once or twice a month to those students who have not been accepted to the Early Childhood Center. ...

The Storm Lake School District will step into the solar age. This week, Wind and Solar Specialists, a division of Anemometry Specialists based in Alta, offered to construct a 5.4-kilowatt solar panel display on top of the concession stand at the Storm Lake High School stadium at no cost to the district...

Although it might seem that progress has been slow, the Iowa DNR feels the two island restorations and the Chautauqua Park jetty rebuilding in Storm Lake are coming along as expected. Shorty's Island, off Lakeside Marina, is considered near completion, albeit a year behind original expectations. There is a little grading work and seeding yet to be done - the native prairie plants included in the project tend to do better when planted in fall...

The Storm Lake Board of Education took steps this week to set a $29 million Early Childhood Center project in motion. During Wednesday night's meeting, the board saw more conceptual drawings, approved a traffic study to be completed for $9,640, and launched a public petition to call for the public bond issue vote...

Everybody watches and reads when a natural disaster strikes. Nick Wiley fills up his gas tank. The Storm Lake native currently living in Laurens was on his way to the hurricane aftermath in the Carolinas this week, along with his friend Nick Payer from Pocahontas...

An intense thunderstorm cell ripped through the area Thursday night, downing trees and power lines. Some of the the worst damage was on and around the Buena Vista University campus, where around a dozen large trees were broken off. At top, students ventured out to survey damage. Above, a student checks on her boyfriend's car, crushed by a falling tree. No injuries were reported, but College Street had to be closed for clean up efforts...

SIOUX CITY - The Storm Lake High School Girls’ Swim Team took to the water here for their second full meet of the season. While Sioux City Metro dominated the meet taking 11 of 12 first places; the Tornado swimmers did get some good finishes and posted some great times. The dual meet scores for the Storm Lake team were 26 to 68 versus Sioux City Metro and 80 to 10 over Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln...

Last week nothing really went right according to BVU head coach Grant Mollring. Against the Knights, the Beavers didn’t play well in all three facets of the game. “The offense couldn’t sustain drives, the defense was put in poor positions and special teams didn’t play well,” he said. “This week we’re getting back to the drawing board.”...

Warriors pick up second win, Patton hits milestone ALTA - The Alta-Aurelia volleyball team picked up their second win of the season on Tuesday night, taking a three set contest over Emmetsburg. Warrior senior Annika Patton was honored before the game as she has picked up over 2000 set assists through her career. The set scores were 25-22, 25-13 and 25-18...