Stories from Friday, December 7, 2018

A 78-year-old Lake Park man said he likely would have died Thursday morning if a neighbor hadn’t reacted so quickly. Dennis Gildemeister fell through the ice on Silver Lake and spent around 22 minutes in the frigid water, according to the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office...

The Shopko Hometown store in Cherokee, only three years old, will be closed in late February following a liquidation sale beginning this week. The announcement comes only two months after a decision was announced to close the Cherokee K-Mart, which is currently liquidating its stock...

Poll workers man an early voting station at Storm Lake Elementary Tuesday, while a concert was going on. Turnout was brisk as voters weighed in on a bond issue for a preschool-1st grade building proposal. / Pilot photo by Dana Larsen

THE RISE AND FALL OF STORM LAKE ELITES The Exclusive Storm Lake Boat Club

The Cherokee Young Professionals will host a Christmas Trivia Night tonight, Friday, December 7 at the Gathering Place in Cherokee. An Ugly Sweater Party begins at 7 p.m, with the trivia contest starting at 8:30 p.m. Teams of up to four people can pre-register at jot form.com, or register at the show. The event is open to everyone, or just come to watch...

October 17, 1919 - November 29, 2018

Students from the Buena Vista University January Interim class “How to Become a Recording Star” will take the stage for a performance in Schaller Memorial Chapel, Tuesday, January 22. Showtime is 7 p.m. The concert is the culmination of their month-long study of song writing, music theory, and trends in the music industry...

Rock out the old year with Ball N Chain, returning to Innspiration Wines & Vines, Friday, December 28. The Storm Lake husband-and-wife duo of Mick Polich and Mary Beth Andrews offer a wide range of musical styles.

The Buena Vista University (BVU) Concert Band, under the direction of Assistant Professor of Music Jerry Bertrand, will present its annual holiday concert on Sunday, Dec 9 at 3 p.m. in Schaller Memorial Chapel on the BVU campus. The program will open with “Armida Overture,” written in 1783 by Franz Joseph Haydn. ...

A one-artist show, Naomi Friend: Heirlooms will be featured at the Lakes Art Center in Okoboji in January, with an opening reception Thursday, January 10, 5-7 p.m. Naomi Friend explores the intersection of our urban, rural, and wild spaces through her art making. ...

The Broadway hit based on the critically-acclaimed Academy Award® winning film, Finding Neverland will be performed in northwest Iowa for the first time December 26, 7:30 p.m. at the Orheum Theatre in Sioux City. The production tells the incredible story behind one of the world’s most beloved characters: Peter Pan. ...

GOMACO Corporation in Ida Grove, in cooperation with Iowa Central Community College and OABCIG High School, will be offering an “Earn While You Learn” welding program. GOMACO has provided the high school with state-of-the-art, virtual reality, arc welding training simulators and actual welding stations for the educational process...

As part of its Due Diligence Plans to improve traceability and social responsibility within its seafood supply chains, Hy-Vee, Inc. recently partnered with two of its seafood suppliers and FishWise to trace products from fishing vessel to supermarket. ...

Alisa Carlson won free gas for a year Monday from the new Casey’s grand opening raffle in October. Carlson was given a grand total of $1,600, presented in eight $200 gift cards, by supervisor Rob Wells and manager Pat Barnett / Photo by Elijah Decious...

With hundreds of known archaeological sites along the banks of the Little Sioux River, northwestern Iowa is a treasure for archaeology—a past of intrinsic value that many modern locals have yet to discover. “If you just go into a museum and see a couple rocks and don’t know what you’re looking at, that’s all they are,” said Megan Stroh, an archaeologist for Sanford Museum in Cherokee. “A plate is just a plate without a backstory.”...

Western Iowa Congressman Steve King says that he is being attacked by a Los Angeles screenwriter over LGBTQ issues, and is asking his supporters to donate money to “counter this new Hollywood leftist threat.” Screenwriter and activist Ryan Murphy is setting up a fund in an attempt to drive 20 politicians that he claims are “anti-LGBTQ” out of office in 2020, singling out the Iowa Republican among office holders who, he was quoted as saying, “think they can get votes by hurting and discriminating against us.”. ...

Schaller native Emily Martin shares the story of how their newly-born son came to have a distinctly “Iowa Hawkeye” name. The Martins now reside in Coralville. Greetings fellow Hawkeye Fans. I have a little Hawkeye football story that has a bit of a backstory first. ...

Mariachi Los Tornados will be performing their first public event at the Storm Lake High School Winter Concert on Monday, December 10 in the auditorium. Showtime is 7 p.m. Students will be performing traditional mariachi music including “Arboles De La Barranca” and “El Ray.”  ...

Headed into the holiday season, the food pantry at Upper Des Moines Opportunity is seeing need at a higher level than a year ago. “It feels like it’s quite a bit higher. We might have well over 100 people in our office on a day when food is being given out. You can’t even walk through the door - they are lined up outside before we get here at 8,” says Melissa Keller, director of the Storm Lake UDMO office...

Storm Lake has planned a total capital budget of just over $5 million in expenditures for fiscal 2019-20, bolstered by nearly $1.5 million in anticipated federal and state grants. The spending plan was billed as “a blueprint for sustaining and improving city infrastructure,” but one council member felt the preliminary plan fell short of meeting goals the council had set earlier, particularly one to improve public perception of the community...

Local businesses shopped to make the holidays special for less advantaged kids in Storm Lake this Christmas. Five businesses each worked with a budget of $375 to buy toys and needed items for kids at Bomgaar’s Thursday morning. All items will be donated to Upper Des Moines Opportunity, where coordinator Maggie Reyes says they will be put in a large room for parents to come pick out something they know their children will love. ...

CORRECTIONVILLE - They always say that defense wins championships, but it also wins regular season conference games as well. The Ridge View girls defense stifled the River Valley Wolverines on Tuesday night, taking a 17 point win, 50-33 for their fourth win to start the year...

RUTHVEN - The St. Mary’s girls were in the game to start but some turnovers led to fast breaks they were unable to stop on Tuesday night against Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Aryshire. The Titans fast breaks turned into a 56-23 loss for the Panthers, their second on the year...

SPENCER - The Storm Lake boys swim team officially got their season underway on Tuesday night with a scoring meet against Spencer and Carroll. The green and white battled hard but were unable to come away with a win against either school. They fell to Spencer, 60-32 and Carroll, 65-29...

CORRECTIONVILLE - The monkey is off the Raptor boys basketball team’s back after Tuesday night. After a pair of close losses to begin their year, Ridge View improved their shooting and picked up a 53-45 win over River Valley. “We played a very good game. The boys looked like the team I saw this summer. We had some good ball movement that led to some really good shots,” RV Coach Mike Smith said...

NEWELL - It was another night for the top team in 1A on Tuesday evening as the Newell-Fonda Mustangs were able to amp up their trademark pressure defense against Pocahontas Area, holding the Indians to just 29 total shots in the game, the Mustangs taking an 88-35 decision...

NEWELL - The Newell-Fonda Mustangs were in a hard fought fight on Tuesday night when Pocahontas Area rolled in. Both teams went back and forth for 32 minutes but in the end the Mustangs were able to defend their home floor with a 74-66 win. To cap off the win, Mustang junior Bryce Coppock broke the 1000 point mark...

RUTHVEN - The St. Mary’s boys basketball team hung around with the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Aryshire for the first half on Tuesday night, but the game slowly turned into a nightmare with a 20-0 run in the third quarter that allowed the Titans to take a 76-41 decision from the Panthers...

SIOUX RAPIDS - It was a one-sided affair on Tuesday night between the Alta-Aurelia and Sioux Central girls. The Rebels started the game on a 20-0 run and never looked back to take a 67-11 decision. “It was a good bounce back game from Friday night. The girls played well together and shared the basketball,” Rebel Coach Alan Vasher said...

SIOUX RAPIDS - With an injury-filled roster, Alta-Aurelia looked to control the tempo and grind it out against the Sioux Central boys on Tuesday night. Through the first three quarters, it worked but the Rebels were able to get out and take advantage of the Warriors in the final eight minutes to take a 47-36 decision...