Stories from Monday, January 27, 2020

SIOUX FALLS – The GK Storm gymnastics team kicked off its 2020 competitive season with two South Dakota meets. The gymnasts brought home many team and individual medals over the past two weekends. The team competed at the All American Invite in Sioux Falls, SD, Jan. ...

HULL/SIOUX CITY - The Storm Lake wrestlers got back on the mats on Thursday night and walked away with a pair of dual wins. They were able to best Cherokee and Western Christian. “I thought we wrestled well despite the number of forfeits that we took. I was happy with how we approached the meet even if we didn’t have a match,” SL Coach Ben Seaman said. “I felt like we were mentally ready to go and even when we came out on the short end we wrestled hard.”...

HOLSTEIN - The Ridge View girls basketball team saw their three game win streak come to an end on Friday night as they dropped a 49-42 decision to Woodbury Central. The Wildcats held a seven point lead after the first quarter and saw it grow to a 10 point advantage at halftime, 29-19. Ridge View was able to cut their deficit in half going to the fourth quarter, but could only muster six points in the final eight minutes...

HOLSTEIN - The Ridge View boys defense stepped up on Friday night against Woodbury Central, allowing just 18 points through three quarters and 33 overall in a 51-33 victory for their fifth win. “Our defense set the tone for us tonight, especially early on, by holding them scoreless in the first quarter. ...

SIOUX RAPIDS - Thursday night was a quick night for the Sioux Central girls as they were able to run away against Harris-Lake Park, 85-21. Sioux Central led 52-10 at halftime and coasted the rest of the way. Kally Fahnlander had a game high with 18 points as the Rebels made 56% of their shots...

NEWELL - It was one of those nights for the Newell-Fonda girls on Friday evening. They were able to see seven players score nine points or more, make a school record 17 three-pointers and hit the 100 point mark against Southeast Valley, taking a 100-30 contest for their 15th win of the year...

CHEROKEE - The second quarter really showed the difference between the Storm Lake and Cherokee girls on Friday night. The green and white were outscored by 29 points in that quarter and dropped an 86-50 decision to the Braves. Storm Lake trailed by eight points after the opening period, 22-14. The second quarter blew the game wide open as the green and white trailed by 37 at halftime, 57-20. However, the second half played out evenly as Storm Lake outscored Cherokee, 30-29...

STORM LAKE - The St. Mary’s girls were able to match last year’s win total of seven games on Friday night after taking down the Manson-NW Webster Cougars, 41-30 on Homecoming night. “The effort was tremendous. We did some game planning coming in. We thought we knew what they did. ...

ALTA - The Alta-Aurelia boys basketball team found it hard to get on track on Friday night against East Sac County. The Warriors made less than 33% of their shots and allowed the Raiders to make 57% of theirs in a 63-46 setback. ESC took a five point lead after the first quarter against the Warriors, 21-16. ...

SIOUX RAPIDS - It was a long night on Thursday night for the Sioux Central boys as they needed two overtimes to get past Harris-Lake Park, 70-67. “Really proud of how our guys battled back tonight. We knew H-LP typically gets off to quick starts and they really outplayed and out hustled us in the first half,” Rebel Coach Stephen Tjaden said. “We made some defensive adjustments at halftime and our guys really stepped up and made them take difficult shots the rest of the game.”...

NEWELL - Friday night was a big Twin Lakes Conference clash between two schools on win streaks. Newell-Fonda entered their game against Southeast Valley on a seven game streak, while Southeast Valley had won 12 in a row. Facing a double digit deficit, the Mustangs fought back and stunned the Jaguars, 62-61 to get their eighth straight win...

CHEROKEE - The Storm Lake boys came close to getting a season sweep over Cherokee on Friday night. A last second shot missed the mark as the Tornadoes dropped a 58-55 decision to the Braves. The green and white found themselves in an early hole against the Braves and were down by eight after the first quarter, 19-11. Storm Lake’s defense stepped up in the second quarter, holding Cherokee to 10 points and cut their deficit to six at halftime, 29-23...

STORM LAKE - The St. Mary’s boys found themselves in a deep hole on Friday night in front of a full Panther Pit on Homecoming. The Panthers dug deep and nearly came back against Manson-NW Webster, but dropped a 55-43 decision. “We battled our way back after putting ourselves in a hole in a first half. ...

By RUSS MITCHELL Special to The Pilot There are still more questions than answers as investigators look into a fatal crash and the discovery of pipe bombs east of Knoxville. Special Agent in Charge Ron Humphrey and the State Fire Marshal’s Office confirmed Del Sorey, of Arnolds Park, as the driver of a truck that left the roadway, rolled and burst into flames in the first few moments of Sunday, Jan. 12. Sorey was the only occupant in the single-truck crash at 12:04 a.m...

Employers who don’t want guns on their property may not have a choice under a new bill that moved forward in the Iowa Senate on Thursday. It would require employers to allow permit-carrying employees to keep a concealed weapon in their locked vehicles...

Environmental groups and community activists rallied Thursday at the Iowa Capitol to push lawmakers to consider halting the growth of hog farms in the state. Activists at the rally called on lawmakers to consider a House bill introduced last year that would impose a moratorium on hog farm permits. Republican committee leaders blocked the Democrat-sponsored bill by declining to assign it to a subcommittee...

LifeServe Blood Center is encouraging blood donors to roll up their sleeve and give a gift straight from the heart this February. Premature babies, transplant patients, mothers after delivery, cancer warriors, trauma victims, and more hospital patients receive blood transfusions from generous LifeServe blood donors each and every day across Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota!...

Iowa may soon join 13 other states that prohibit vaping and the use of e-cigarettes in public. Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act, enacted in 2008, prohibits smoking in almost all public places – including offices, restaurants, bars, and outdoor entertainment venues. Under new legislation proposed by the Iowa Department of Public Health, the law would be expanded to apply those same prohibitions to vaping and the use of e-cigarettes...

This week was the deadline week for filing bill requests for drafting. I have a total of four bills requested at this time. 1. A bill that requires deer stands on public lands be registered and have identification from the DNR. Hopefully this will prevent other uninvited hunters from using your stand. There are penalties and fees included. This was requested by a constituent in Sac County who repeatedly had confrontations with other hunters using his deer stand...

Come join the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Reserves for a night of fun and dancing to The Expressions on February 8 at the Alta Community Center! Doors open at 7 p.m.

You love them both – your pets and houseplants – but it can be challenging to safely raise them together in the same house. Reduce the risk by selecting pet-safe plants and safely managing houseplant pest problems. Avoid problems by selecting plants suited to your home’s growing conditions and gardening style. ...

The Friends of the Storm Lake Library received a grant of $1,000 from Tyson Foods Turkey Operations to help further refurnishing projects within the library. Funds were conveyed on Wednesday, January 23 by Tim Steffan, Tyson HR Manager, Poultry Division, Turkey Operations. ...

The Sac County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported stabbing Thursday night at Essentia Protein Solutions, Lytton. A male employee of Essentia who was not working at the time allegedly walked into the office area of the plant, grabbed a radio and called for someone to help him. When Essentia staff arrived, they found 47-year old Luke Clark of Lytton, with at least two stab wounds...

Several major topics have taken a fair share of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s attention in recent weeks. In addition to the passage of the United States Canada Mexico trade agreement, Grassley and his fellow senators recently received the articles of impeachment against President Trump from the House of Representatives. In addition, the president ordered an air strike on Qassem Soleimani, a top general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, earlier this month...

A small army of Buena Vista University students turned out to assist in the Storm Lake Kiwanis food distribution Wednesday afternoon. Due to the large need in the community, the distributions have been doubled to one per month, held on the third Wednesday at the former Sears store location at 701 Seneca. Despite the aftermath of a snowstorm, the turnout was strong for the event, and thanks to the manpower from the student volunteers, food was able to be carted through the snowy conditions...

Current Sioux Central, Clay Central-Everly and Laurens-Marathon school districts shared Superintendent Dr. Scott Williamson is expected to address his impending resignation at Monday’s CC-E Board of Education meeting. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the music room at the CC-E Elementary School in Royal...

Storm Lake city officials reviewed capital expense proposals from the city departments in a recent workshop, preparing to finalize a budget for the coming fiscal year. The financial requests “didn’t go overboard,” said City Manager Keri Navratil, who has praised the department heads for working to stay within budget...

St. Mary’s crowned its Homecoming royalty during coronation events Thursday night. The 2020 queen and king are Alondra Rangel and Francisco Gonzalez. The event included lip sync competition performances by each class as well as one by the senior parents, who showed off photos of their children during an energetic song and dance medley. / Pilot photos by Dana Larsen...

RAGBRAI, the statewide bicycle marathon, will return to Storm Lake on Sunday, July 20. The overnight host towns were announced in a ceremony Saturday night. This will be the 7th visit to Storm Lake for RAGBRAI; previous stops were in 1973, 1978, 1987, 2001, 2010 and 2015. A committe will be formed to begin planning...

Almost exactly one year ago, he started a campaign without anyone - “absolutely anyone” - being able to pronounce his name. Now, 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg is in an unexpected position - near the top of the polls in Iowa with a realistic chance to upend the former vice president and two high-profile senators on caucus night...