Stories from Wednesday, February 19, 2020

SIOUX RAPIDS - It was a rematch of their regular season contest on Tuesday night between the Sioux Central and Ridge View girls. In that regular season contest, the Raptors saw a double-digit lead evaporate and sat by to watch history repeat itself in a 2A-Region 2 contest. Sioux Central came back from an 11 point first half deficit to take a 46-41 contest...

LEMARS - A young Storm Lake St. Mary’s team that starts all freshmen and sophomores finished its season 11-11 Tuesday night, falling to LeMars Gehlen 60-51 in the 1A-Region 1 Quarterfinal. The Panther girls made a furious comeback after trailing by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, clawing within five with about a minute to play before being forced into fouls to stop the clock...

SAC CITY - Only six days removed from playing one another, the Alta-Aurelia and OA-BCIG boys went back at it on the hardwood Monday night, only this time one would see their season come to an end with a loss. It was close the entire contest, but the Warriors were able to put the final two minutes together to end the Falcons’ season, 60-49...

STORM LAKE - For the third time this season, the St. Mary’s and West Bend-Mallard boys went to battle on the basketball court. The teams split the regular season meetings and it was win or go home on Monday night. The Panthers were able to use a suffocating defensive effort against the Wolverines to keep their season alive, winning 43-28 in a 1A-District 2 play in game, just six days after a 14 point loss to them...

Saturday afternoon saw two Storm Lake senior wrestlers punch their tickets to the 3A State Wrestling tournament that begins on Thursday morning. Kole Wiegert, wrestling at 170 and Colton Dreith, 195 are the two representatives for the green and white this year as they hope to perform well at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines...

NEWELL - It was business as usual on Tuesday night for the Newell-Fonda girls as they rolled into postseason play with a perfect 21-0 record. They were matched up against the Westwood Rebels to begin 1A-Region 8 play, a rematch of last year’s regional final. Much like last year, the Mustangs proved too much for Westwood as they ran away with an 84-36 decision...

If the Hollywood mantra for making blockbusters is “faster, faster, faster,” then the creators of “Sonic the Hedgehog” have wisely ignored it. The little blue alien who can sprint quicker than the speed of light has ironically benefited from slowing it down, taking a pit stop to retool and emerge this month as a total crowd-pleaser...

An American Bum in China Narrated by Tom Carter Camphor Press Ltd When I was asked to review An American Bum in China, I agreed. What I received in the mail was a relatively small volume, four-by-seven inches and 114 pages, not including prologue. I don’t hold a book’s length alone against it, though. John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony, just 100 pages, is one of his greatest works. So length is not a problem...

The Cherokee Symphony will present its second concert of the season Sunday, March 1 at 4 p.m. at the Cherokee Community Center, 530 W. Bluff, Cherokee. The 55-member orchestra under the direction of Ted Hallberg, Le Mars, will celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday with an all-Beethoven program...

World Championship ICE Racing slides into Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center on Saturday, February 22, at 7:30 p.m. See fearless racers shred the arena’s solid ice track on flat-track racing motorcycles and quads with over 2000 razor-sharp studs in their tires. Hitting off the chart speeds, going from 0-60 mph in less than three seconds, these competitions are battling it out for one thing - the prestigious World Championship ICE Racing Series Title...

Starting seedlings indoors can be a fun, rewarding hobby for many home gardeners. Growing high quality seedlings indoors isn’t difficult. Successfully growing seedlings indoors requires suitable germination materials and just a little skill, note horticulture specialists with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. To have additional questions answered, contact the Hortline at 515-294-3108 or [email protected]...

The Buena Vista cheerleaders put on a big show durring a recent halftime of a basketball game.

The Storm Lake Board of Education is gearing up for its multiple approaching projects. The anticipated resolution was passed to advertise for sale of general obligation bonds to pay for much of the new Early Elementary School building, not to exceed the $14.98 million based on voter approval last fall. The board plans to receive the bids and approve the funding source in a special meeting April 1...

A suggestion from a resident sparked discussion of the campground at this week’s Storm Lake City Council meeting. Dale Phillips spoke out on the city’s capital expense plan, encouraging more investment in the campground. “As I see it, it’s starting to fall apart,” he said. He was concerned about the state of the electrical service, and low spots that see flooding and standing water...

Storm Lake High School student Malik served as an honorary Storm Lake Police Officer Monday during the Coffee With a Cop event at Storm Lake Bakery. Malik helped the SLPD deliver some donuts to area businesses. (The event coincided with National Random Acts Of Kindness Day). ...

Recently, Iowa Central Community College held a ribbon-cutting event in Laurens, for the opening of their new Northwest Iowa Career Academy. The new training center was made possible through dedicated collaborative efforts between Iowa Central, Pocahontas County Economic Development Commission, public schools and area businesses. Local Laurens manufacturer, Pengo Corporation, donated several sets of DeWalt tools to the career academy for students to use and enhance their learning experience...

Iowa Central Community College student, Olivia Erenberger, is currently spearheading a fundraiser to help Australian wildlife and communities affected by the recent wildfires. To gather funds, Erenberger is selling photos she captured of the country while visiting on a study abroad program last spring. All proceeds of the photo sales are being donated to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Riverina Bushfire Appeal and The Rescue Collective...

Erin Brockovich, who was propelled into a household name on the heels of the Oscar-winning biopic starring Julia Roberts, is speaking at Iowa State University.  Brockovich, the legal researcher whose dogged persistence was the impelling force behind the largest medical settlement lawsuit in history, will deliver “The Power of One” at 7 p.m. ...

Simpson College has named Brett Dewerff of Storm Lake to the President’s List for the 2019 Fall Semester. Students named to the President’s List achieved a 4.0 GPA for the semester. Dewerff is a graduate of Storm Lake High School.

The Buena Vista University Board of Trustees announced a number of changes during its recent meeting in San Antonio. Board of Trustees Chair Dr. Norman Nielsen is set to complete the term of leadership service he’s held for nearly a decade on June 30. Nielsen, a 1961 BVU graduate, became a BVU Trustee in 2006 and was named Chair in 2011...

A California man suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a Tyson semi tractor-trailer Saturday night at the intersection of Flindt and Richland, near the pork plant. Police were called to the scene shortly before 11 p.m. on a report of an injured pedestrian. According to the SLPD, a semi being driven by Curtis Newman, age 48 of Fort Dodge, was traveling east through the Tyson yard area when it struck a pedestrian identified as Michael Delcastillo, age 63 of National City, California. ...

The Storm Lake School District will buy two lots in the west part of town to cement the future of the once-threatened Building and Trades class. With no available building location this school year, the district inked an agreement with the Habitat for Humanity program that builds homes for limited-income families. Habitat provided the site, already set up for duplex construction, and the class provides the labor, which is rapidly completing the construction for two families to occupy...

Storm Lake city officials believe that King’s Pointe resort is finally starting to realize what community leaders envisioned it to be during Project Awaysis development over a decade ago. The city-owned hotel is on pace to rent 19,400 rooms for the fiscal year ending in June, for revenue of almost $2.3 million, and projects to rent 20,075 rooms for the next fiscal year, according to a city council budget discussion Monday...

Poetry isn’t written, it’s lived, says Caress Russell. Better known as Lady Caress, Russell brought her aggressive form of theatrical spoken word performance to Buena Vista University Friday night as part of Black History Month events. The National Poetry Champion connected with an audience at CRU5H in a high-energy set fusing poetry, a sweet singing voice, beatboxing, storytelling - and a few wild karate kicks to punctuate points. ...

There were plenty of spectators inside the Spencer City Council Chambers Saturday for the Spencer Chamber of Commerce’s first Eggs and Issues forum of 2020. Legislators U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron; state Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids; state Sen. ...

The Storm Lake Schools Music Department presented its annual Swing Show on Valentine’s Day evening, with the high school orchestra, jazz band and jazz choir along with the middle school jazz band performing. Selections ranged from classical to smooth jazz to pop, including “Besame Mucho,” “Ventura Jam,” “Vehicle,” Always and Forever,” “Gonna Fly Now,” “Route 66,” and “Taking it to the Streets.”...

As of this week, more than 71,000 cases of novel Coronavirus were reported globally, with more than 1,700 deaths, the vast majority in the central China Hubei province where the illness was first detected. Recently, the Iowa Department of Public Health announced that two persons were being tested for 2019 novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iowa. Both patients tested have tested negative for the illness. The nearest confirmed case is in Illinois...