Stories from Friday, May 17, 2019

The Iowa Lakes Corridor, in partnership with presenting sponsors Demco Products LLC, the government of Clay County and the City of Spencer, plans a pair of events to advance a broader effort for diversity, equity, inclusion and engagement in the region...

Delicias Bakery staff in Storm Lake pulled out all the stops for the recent Fiesta Latina held at Storm Lake elementary school, doing a brisk business in Ensalada de Frutas con Chile, a Mexican favorite with tropical fruit, stacked in a glass and sprinkled with chile lime seasoning. Vendors did a brisk business in Mexican street corn (elotes) and other delicacies from the Spanish-speaking part of the world. / Pilot photo by Dana Larsen...

Arkansas-based meat processor Tyson Foods is suing a federal agency for $2.4 million, saying it had to destroy 8,000 carcasses because a federal meat inspector lied about checking hogs at a plant in Iowa. Yolanda Thompson, who works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service, signed certificates suggesting she had checked slaughtered hogs at the Storm Lake plant in March 2018, Tyson said. ...

Northwest Iowa favorites The Headliners are back for their 16th year at the Pearson Lakes Art Center. Traditionally performing every summer in Pomerantz Hall, this is one evening that will delight jazz lovers with another night of fun and fantastic music. This great line up comprises the educators at the Iowa Great Lakes Jazz Camp...

Buena Vista Raceway in Alta gets its season underway May 22nd, with BVR Test and Tune. Grandstand admission is free, and pit passes are $20 for adults. Gates open at 5 p.m., with a drivers’ meeting at 6:30 and hot laps to follow. The track will be prepared as if for a regular race night, with hopes for a large field of cars to get experience at the oval. Racers will run until dark...

Brad Paisely’s World Tour is coming to northwest Iowa, adding one show at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, July 12. Showtime is 7:30. Tickets are available now through tysoncenter.com, starting at $39.75. The show includes rising country artists Scotty McCreery and Riley Green...

The Lighthouse Concert Series is ready to roll with its first, free outdoor concert, Saturday, May 25, 8-11 p.m. at Awaysis Park in Storm Lake. Dirt Road Dixie is the opening act of the summer, with three more shows to follow. The series replaces LakeFest which had been held previous summers...

During the last week of the legislative session we continued our work towards adjournment for the year. We spent much of our time waiting for bills to come to us from the other chamber, waiting on amendments, and debating some of the last proposals we will discuss this year. ...

Newell-Fonda schools will now offer health insurance to support staff, a benefit not previously offered, as they attempt to remain competitive in hiring and retaining employees. The district will pay 75 percent of the health insurance premiums for those who work more than 30 hours per week...

Storm Lake High School has been selected as an Amazon Future Engineer school. The online giant offers a sponsored computer science education opportunity. The program is designed to inspire and train students from underserved schools and communities to pursue careers in computer science...

The historic storefront that houses Brown’s Shoe Fit gets a facelift. / Photo submitted

As a 4 year old, Jessica Warneke used to play with her mother’s stethoscope and listen to her grandpa’s heart.  “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a doctor,” said Warneke ’09. “It’s a cliché, but I had a calling to help people.” Her mother was a nurse, but said she couldn’t imagine waiting for someone else to give orders if a patient was in pain and needed help immediately. ...

As local artist Dennis Dykema's work of abstract, landscape paintings gets set to debut in Arts on Grand Tuesday, May 14, the exhibit will represent the evolution of his early works and new influences which the artist has brought together with a lesson about the importance of preserving the lands and waterways which have inspired him...

Updates from the Storm Lake Police Department, the Buena Vista County Sheriff's Office and the Storm Lake Fire Department.

January 9, 1927 - May 2, 2019

On the evening of Wednesday, May 15, at approximately 9:44 p.m. the Storm Lake Police Department took a report in reference to an alleged possession of a controlled substance. Police met with Juvenile Court Staff who reported that while making a probation check at a residence located at 1123B Ontario Street they allegedly found a 17 year old male of Storm Lake to be in possession of a vial of liquid THC (controlled substance). ...

Education Animals are taking over Timber Ridge campground for an evening! The fun starts on Friday, May 24 at 7 p.m. the fun begins with Naturalist Katie presenting a program using a few of the education animals. After the program she will be on hand to answer questions and let you get up close and personal with the animals. ...

The Storm Lake Board of Education has approved a sale of property to the City of Storm Lake to make way for a proposed 4th and Oates Water Retention Project - although the city council recently defeated the land purchase on a deadlocked vote. School district officials say they anticipate that the council will vote again and approve the project, because it stands to lose grant funding if it doesn’t. ...

January 29, 1928 - May 16, 2019

Sioux City officials have approved nearly $15 million for a new expo center with 80,000 square feet of exposition space that they hope will attract events to the city, including trade shows and youth sports tournaments. The City Council awarded the contract to L&L; Builders on Monday for the Siouxland Expo Center project, the Sioux City Journal reported. The contract bid was more than $2 million higher than initial projections...

1. It takes several weeks of sunshine and warm temperatures to warm the water in rivers and lakes after spring arrives. Snow melt, cool temperature and overcast skies keep water cold long after winter is officially over. Hypothermia is a real possibility in early spring and fall...

United Bank of Iowa, headquartered in Ida Grove, has reached an agreement with Heritage Bank to purchase several area banks including their locations in Holstein, Aurelia, Alta, Anthon, Lytton and Cushing. The sale, subject to regulatory approval, is targeted for completion in October, 2019...

A Storm Lake man has been arrested after assaulting a woman and threatening to kill their one-month old baby. The man had allegedly earlier threatened to throw the infant out a second-story window. Police were called to a home in the 500 block of Terrence Street Wednesday night for a domestic disturbance. ...

Filling vacancies is proving so difficult for the Storm Lake schools that the district plans to begin sending its teacher coaches to college job fairs to try to recruit future staff members. There are nearly a dozen vacant jobs that the district has not yet been able to fill, the school board learned this week...

It was easy for Dawn Bach to explain away the pain in her left shoulder as she prepared to gather with her coworkers at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center (BVRMC) for a leadership summit on the morning of January 30, 2019. She had tweaked the shoulder over the holidays, and that was likely causing the discomfort...

The leader of meat giant and Storm Lake’s largest employer Tyson Foods is warning that the outbreak of African Swine Fever is likely to “change the global protein landscape for years.” “The outbreak has the potential to impact global protein production and consumption patterns on a level never previously experienced,” CEO Noel White said in a statement Tuesday...

Three residents were arrested and a juvenile removed from a home in Storm Lake after authorities found 51 dogs and cats inside the house, in “deplorable” conditions. Storm Lake Police were alerted to unsafe conditions at 1014 Michigan. Officers made contact with the residents and observed multiple dogs and cats in the residence, with a large amount of feces and urine on the floor. The animal waste had caused a dangerously strong odor, they report...

LOGAN - The Ridge View girls golf team saw their first round regional meet get moved to Tuesday night and got their 18 holes in. However, they finished fourth as a team with a score of 439. Raptor Kennedy Mason had a second place finish as an individual...

SPENCER - The season came to an end for the Storm Lake girls tennis team on Wednesday as they took part in a regional meet. “It was a beautiful day for tennis and win or lose, we had a great day,” SL Coach Staci Maloi said. “I had a great group of girls this year and I can’t wait until next year to see how these girls improve even more.”...

DES MOINES - The only thing rising besides the temperatures on Thursday was the excitement level at the first day of the State Track meet. Five of the six area schools saw athletes compete with varying degrees of success. Storm Lake’s Jesus Soto got the day started in the 3A high jump where he finished 14th out of the 21 jumpers. Soto was only able to clear 5-11 once and missed all three of his chances at 6-01. SL’s Thomas Olson was 19th in the 3A 3200 meter run with a time of 10:23.65...