Stories from Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Leslie Murphy captured a scene of contoured waves of snow in a BV County field. Emily Bodholdt contributed pictures of young snowboarders and snowmobilers enjoying the conditions. Richelle Brown shared a shot of trailblazing pooch Chai, who loves the snow. A drift towers as high as a house in Lakeside in this image by Dana Larsen. An M50 driveway shoveler faces a mighty task in this shot by Alyse Walton...

The Buena Vista Regional Medical Center Nursing Scholarship Committee will again be accepting scholarship applications during February and March for the 2019-2020 academic year. The annual scholarship award is $1000. Since its inception in 2003, 127 scholarships have been awarded to area nursing students provided entirely by donations to the scholarship program...

Please join us on March 14 from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. in the school lunchroom to enroll your child into our programs. You may enter through the doors on the north side of the school. Your child must be 4 years old by September 15 to be eligible for our no cost} full day preschool program. Please bring your child’s birth certificate and updated immunization records. If you have any questions please call the school office at 712-843-5416. We look forward to seeing you then!...

Representatives from approximately 67 colleges, schools, and branches of the military will be at the Storm Lake High School for the annual College Day Program on Wednesday March 4, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The following will be represented: 4-year colleges, area community colleges, junior colleges, business schools, beauty schools, trade and technical schools, nursing schools, branches of the military and financial aid...

Buena Vista University’s School of Education is hosting the Conference on Inclusive Education on April 5-6, 2019. Registration opens March 8. The conference will feature educational sessions with tips, tools, and resources for attendees to implement in their classrooms and school districts across Iowa and the country. ...

More than a dozen BVU alumni hosted and made connections with 15 freshmen participating in the university’s first Career and Research Exploration to Enhance Retention in STEM trip, a J-term adventure that opened eyes and doors in industrial work sites, labs, graduate school programs, and more across four states...

The Clay County Fair and Events Center and Positively Spencer Youth will host the ninth annual Family Fest from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 2. The event is free to attend and open to the public. Families can enjoy activities for all ages and learn what local businesses, groups and organizations can do for families. This year, Spencer Municipal Utilities has partnered with Nickelodeon for a special meet and greet with Diego from “Go Diego Go!”...

T.C. Boyle has always presented questionable heroes who live on the edge of society yet somehow gather our sympathy. That’s because they’re realistic characters, people with whom we can relate, so we naturally feel their pain and anguish, and just like Boyle’s characters, we fall under this master storyteller’s spell...

Everyone is eager for spring, except, it seems, Hollywood. Movies about spring or even set in spring seem amazingly few and far between, aside from the obvious mindless spring break flicks, or the 28 worthless movies over the past 65 years simply called “Spring,” or the forgettable fare such as “Memorial Day Massacre.” If I’ve stretched a bit, forgive me, but there’s plenty here to warm your bones while you wait for the tulips to bud out...

Two area residents are among numerous appointments to state boards and commissions, announced Monday by Governor Kim Reynolds. Laura Foell, Schaller is the lone Iowan newly appointed to the Natural Resource Commission, along with re-appointment of the former governor’s son, Marcus Branstad. Foell is a no-till farmer, sustainable agricultural advocate, substitute teacher and a leader in state and national soybean organizations...

Dr. Swasti Bhattacharyya, professor of philosophy and religion, and David Boelter, professor of art, first led eight students through the streets of Valparaiso lined with street art, the city of Santiago, and the gardens of Viña del Mar. However, one of the most engaging parts of the trip was the time spent on Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, known for its large monolithic human face structures called the moai...

Storm Lake United would like to sincerely thank everyone that helped make Fall in Love with Storm Lake a success. This event featured a Chocolate Walk among our downtown retailers on Saturday, February 9th, a Chocolate Extravaganza held by Witter Gallery on Saturday, February 16th, and the opportunity to register for prizes at over 30 local businesses. ...

The Storm Lake Fire Department is cautioning community members that due to the amount of snow falling over the past few weeks there is the possibility that snow may be covering exhaust pipes used on modern furnaces at their homes. Because of the location of most of these exhaust pipes being close to the ground they can easily be covered with snow. This may cause the flue gas to backup into your home causing a back up of carbon monoxide gas...

DES MOINES — A bill that would require Iowa businesses to use a federal program to verify employees are allowed to work in the United States has advanced through a Senate subcommittee despite concerns from business groups and county prosecutors. The bill voted out of a subcommittee Wednesday prohibits businesses from knowingly employing workers with no legal residency status or citizenship. ...

LE MARS — A man convicted of killing his sister in northwest Iowa has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. The Sioux City Journal reports that District Judge Jeffrey Neary handed down the sentence Friday in the case against 36-year-old Thomas Bibler...

Steven “Steve” L. Badertscher, age 59, of Sac City, and formerly of Storm Lake, passed away surrounded by his loving family on Saturday, February 16, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Memorial services was held Friday, February 22, at 11 a.m. ...

Choy Thongvanh, age 90, of Storm Lake, died February 20, at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake.  Funeral services wer held Sunday, February 24, at 2:30 p.m. at the Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the Storm Lake Cemetery. Visitation took place Saturday, February 23, from 4 - 6 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements...

Reigning Buena Vista County Pork Queen Abby Bean shows off a hand-carved truck, pen and pigs set, one of the treasures up for auction at the annual producers banquet, set for Friday, March 1 at the KC Hall in Storm Lake. Social hour is 5:30, supper at 6:30 (the event was rescheduled from feb. 23 due to weather)...

Spencer - Seasons Center for Behavioral Health is hosting two free regional trainings on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), prenatal drug exposure, early trauma, and child development with presenter Ira J. Chasnoff, MD of Chicago. Dr. Chasnoff is one of the nation’s leading researchers in the field of child development and the effects of maternal alcohol and drug use on the newborn infant and child. ...

Monday, during a news conference at the Diocese of Sioux City offices, Bishop R. Walker Nickless released a list of 28 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing a total of 106 minors while serving in the diocese. Mark Prosser, Storm Lake’s Police Chief and a member of the Diocesan Review Board, joined Bishop Nickless...

Representatives of the Storm Lake School District were able to crash the party at the Standards Institute, a recent immersive five-day experience in Los Angeles designed to build equitable excellence in education. There, they heard from nationally-recognized experts in math, language arts and educational leadership...

Ready. Almost set, to grow. An innovative plan to create a new child day care center in a portion of Methodist Manor senior residential facility, is in the hands of a consulting architect, with hopes of a go ahead for work to begin within the next couple of weeks...

As more snow and bitter temperatures dominate the forecast across Iowa, the mild start of winter is a distant memory. More than two feet of snow sits on many lakes and ponds across northern Iowa with 20-24 inches of ice below all that snow. Heavy snow on top of ice blocks sunlight from reaching aquatic plants and stops them from producing oxygen.  This combination can create low oxygen conditions that may lead to fish kills...

County half an inch short of snowfall record for February A blizzard entered northwestern Iowa late Friday, staying the entire weekend and paralyzing most of the state as visibility dwindled to zero, forcing snow plows to be pulled from the roads at points...