Stories from Wednesday, March 13, 2019

On the afternoon of Friday, March 8, at approximately 1:01 p.m. the Storm Lake Police Department was dispatched to the 700 block of East 4th Street in reference to a report of two very small children under the age of three walking in the roadway with no coats, improper shoes and no adult supervision...

Kenneth Hamm, age 89, of Nemaha, passed away on Thursday, March 7. Kenneth William Hamm, the son of G.D. “Duke” and Evelyn Russell Hamm, was born July 12, 1929, in Storm Lake, Iowa. He joined his older sister, Dorothy, on the family farm south of Nemaha. ...

Marcella A. Radke, age 94, of Storm Lake, died Monday, March 11, 2019 at the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake.  Funeral services were held on Wednesday, March 13, at 1:30 p.m. at the Grace Lutheran Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Storm Lake. ...

Storm Lake Middle School’s debut of Mulan Jr premieres at Storm Lake High School this Thursday and Friday. Dress rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday gave a sneak peak to audiences.

The Ridge View mock trial team competed in Mason City on Thursday, March 7. Members of the team include: Front left: Audrey Kalin, Cassie Allen, Katlyn Wise. Back row: Austin Hansen, Kael Wiese, Logan Pickhinke, Jordan Grothe, and Emilie Sawatsky. Coaches are Steve Pickhinke and Carmen Koth. Attorney coaches are David Jennett and John Murray. Ridge View placed second out of twelve teams and will move on to the State Mock Trial competition on April 4, 5 and 6...

Ridge View archery students who earned a state qualifying berth in 3D competition this week are, from left, Alexis Clark, Jade Droegmiller, Brayden Stowater, Tyler Kolpin, Cameron Spina, Rayann Volkert and Nathan Yockey. Not pictured are Cassie Allen, Logan Pickhinke and Brant Price. The archery team is coached by Justin Kinney...

Andrew Bandstra may disappoint his parents by not making it to his own Buena Vista University commencement exercise on May 25. He’s got a great reason, though, an excuse all parents, including Scott and Laura Bandstra, would gladly accept. “I’ll be working that day,” Bandstra says, noting how his employer, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs professional baseball team will be in the midst of a six-game homestand at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland, some 1,200 miles from the campus of Buena Vista University.. ...

Ridge View High School National Honor Society held it’s induction ceremony Monday night, March 4 at Ridge View High School.

FARLEY — The wheels on the bus might go round and round, but the reality for many districts in the tri-state area is that there is a significant need for the drivers of those buses. The dearth of school bus drivers arguably is felt most greatly in large districts that have expansive geographic areas to cover; districts like Western Dubuque Community Schools...

Okoboji - Tickets for the Remarkable and Legendary Marilyn Maye will go on sale, to members only, Friday, March 15. Marilyn will perform at the Pearson Lakes Art Center on two days, June 25 & June 26. You must call to purchase your tickets on or after March 15. Online and general public tickets go on sale April 5...

One of the region’s favorite musical groups, Tonic Sol-Fa, will be performing Friday, March 15th, 7:30 p.m. at Hartley-MelvinSanborn High School in Hartley. Tonic Sol-fa has established itself not only as the most indemand vocal group in the Midwest, but also one of the most successful independent acts in America. ...

Mark your calendars - “America’s favorite party band,” The Dweebs, have been signed to perform the street dance for this summer’s Tall Corn Days celebration in Sioux Rapids. The show is Saturday, July 27,9 p.m.-1 a.m. The Dweebs, from Somerset, Wisconsin, are a family band which features Michael Blue, his two sons Mike Jr, Ben-Jammin and his daughter Claire. ...

The 69th Annual Abu Bekr Shrine Circus is coming to the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, April 10 - 14. Tickets are on sale now via tysoncenter.com, starting at $12. Experience all the things you know and love about the circus and be amazed by things you’ve never seen before. Astonishing performers, aweinspiring athletes and amazing animals from around the world have been assembled in one place to captivate children of all ages...

Western Iowa Congressman Steve King was the only member of Congress to vote only “present” Thursday on a House resolution condemning bigotry. “It’s a rigged game in the House,” King said afterward. “I won’t be playing along with these kind of games with my votes.”...

Storm Lake gas prices continue to rise, growing closer to the state average and starting the week at $2.34 at most station. Iowa gas prices have risen 6.2 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.45 to start the week. Gas prices in Iowa are 29.6 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, yet stand 6.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago...

Storm Lake Public Library is the first in the region to step forward to volunteer its services to helping the U.S. Census 2020. Director Elizabeth Huff said that the facility wants to help the community with filing, and so, from April 1-June 1 next year, it will add hours one weeknight and Saturday afternoon each week to serve those who may need help filing their Census information...

SPIRIT LAKE — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it will expand curlyleaf pondweed management to improve watercraft traffic for the 2019 season. A team of leaders from the county, local cities, lake associations, water utilities, Iowa Lakeside Lab and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources have been working together over the past two years to manage the invasive aquatic plant, which has caused water access and navigation issues on portions of the Iowa Great Lakes...

OMAHA — The Mid-America Business Conditions Index in February hit its highest level since September, signaling solid economic growth over the next three to six months for nine Midwest and Plains states, according to a report issued Friday. The index rose to 57.9 last month from 56.0 in January, the report said. The September figure was 57.5...

We finished up our work in Natural Resources and Human Resources committees by Wednesday afternoon. I then went to Ames to join my son for Ash Wednesday services at Memorial Lutheran Church next to the ISU campus. For me this does more for my mental health than anything else I could do. ...

After being purchased by the Nebraska-based Thurston Manufacturing Company in 2013 and reopening, Simonsen Iron Works is closing its doors a second time. Approximately 35 employees will be affected by the closure of the 130,000-square-foot facility at 1701 38th Ave. W. in Spencer...

An Audubon minister will make a run for the local Iowa Senate seat, motivated by pro-life beliefs. Heath Hansen, minister at the Aububon Church of Christ, plans to formally announce his candidacy later this week, anticipating retirement of current District 6 senator Mark Segebart next year...

Students, parents and teachers from the Clay Central-Everly community offered supportive statements, frustrations and opinions before the school board made its final decision to discontinue the district’s seventh- to 12th-grade education effective next school year...

A Storm Lake man has been arrested for assaulting and injuring a woman while she was holding a baby, then sexually assaulting the woman until a juvenile in the residence was able to call for help. Shortly after 5 a.m. Monday morning, police were called to a home on Russell Street for a reported domestic disturbance. They met with a juvenile who reported that his mother had been assaulted inside the residence by Mihkel Hadley...

Despite the efforts of streets crews, who were patching holes even into the early stages of the winter, areas of streets in Storm Lake are deteriorating, Mayor Mike Porsch observed. “I was driving on North Lake today and there are areas that are going to be in pretty bad shape, though we just did work on that last season ... my guess is that in a lot of areas, we’re filling the same holes every year.”...

4 more buildings possible for SL site Despite some delays, Iowa Central Community College is moving ahead with a $2.5 million plan to build a new Industrial Training Center on the north edge of Storm Lake - and remaining open to the possibility of moving its entire campus to the site in the future...

The Storm Lake Dance Squad Night, themed “We Live For the Applause,” was a two-hour extravaganza full of surprises Friday night and served as a swan song for the beloved, soon-to-retire coach Co Wabeke. The event included a father-daughter dance, friends dance, coed dance, little friend dances, the moms channeling ABBA, state soloist routines, alumni from Coach Co’s 35 years ( to the tune of “Last Dance”), and small groups performing Micronesian, Hispanic, Hmong, Korean K-Pop and Lao dance forms. ...

A handful of Storm Lake girls and boys basketball players have been tabbed to play in the American State Bank-Defender Gold Club high school all-star basketball games on Saturday. They begin at 2 p.m. on at the De Witt Gym on the Dordt campus in Sioux Center...

Success has come for quite a long time for Newell-Fonda athletics. It has been a factory of creating players in various sports going on to play college sports. Through passion, hard work and dedication, senior Olivia Larsen will continue that tradition when she attends Morningside College in the fall. Her road has been one paved with success and passion...

Pot robbery suspect’s supposed attorney fails to appear after his missed court date Jerome Roberts’s day in court is still in limbo, with his legal representation still up in the air after the person he calls his newly-retained lawyer didn’t show up Monday. But from here on, he’ll have to ride out the case from jail after missing a scheduled court appearance...