Stories from Friday, August 7, 2020

The economy continues to recover in nine Midwest and Plains states, but businesses are still cutting jobs amid the ongoing impact of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a monthly survey of business leaders released Monday. The overall index for the region improved to 57.4 in July from June’s 50.3. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth. A score below 50 suggests decline...

Ovens run in the family, 16 bakeries among Diaz relations

Many people are currently struggling to cope with coronavirus restrictions, especially those finding themselves isolated alone in their homes. One of my long-time favorite friends was recently transported to Tufts Medical Center in Boston where doctors gave him a 5% chance of surviving. ...

Twin Cities-based party band Candy Shop will make a rare area appearance Friday, August 14 at the Barefoot Bar at Okoboji. The band is made up of Dawn Hardy on lead vocals, backed by Michael Paul, Jeff Bernett, Jeep Capone and Karl VonGohren, offering a wide array of top 40 dance hits...

Facts & Fables From The Buena Vista County Historical Society & Museum

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Fonda Community All School Reunion for September 5 is cancelled. It has been rescheduled for September 4, 2021. The 2020 reunion was originally scheduled in conjunction with Fonda’s 150th Celebration on Labor Day week. ...

Due to the covid-19 the annual Storm Lake Hy Noon Kiwanis “Storm the Lake Sprint Triathlon/Duathlon” has been cancelled for this year. The scheduled date was Aug. 15th. Plans are being made for the sprint triathlon/duathlon to be scheduled for next year, Aug. 21, 2021...

Onions are a staple in the kitchen. If properly harvested, cured and stored, homegrown onions can be enjoyed through much of fall and winter. For more information on onions or to ask other gardening questions, contact Iowa State University Extension and Outreach horticulture experts at [email protected]...

Two priests of the Diocese of Sioux City, Father Shane Deman and Father Travis Crotty, have launched a new weekly podcast, “Outcast Catholic,” to reach those who may feel outcast or to those who may feel that the Catholic Church is no longer relevant, or outcast...

A gofundme.com fund drive is underway for Storm Lake man Israel Aguilar. After suffering from lingering back pain, Aguilar went to the local emergency room, and learned that a tumor was the cause of his discomfort. He was transported to the University of Omaha on June 12,where he was diagnosed with a large heterogeneous retroperitoneal mass, later confirmed to be cancer. ...

January 9, 1927 - July 25, 2020

July 1, 1930 - November 16, 2019

On August 2, at approximately 10 a.m. the Storm Lake Police Department responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident in the area of Seneca St. and East 5th St. in Storm Lake.  On arrival officers identified one of the drivers involved as Chester George, age 26 of Storm Lake. ...

Works by Fonda photographer Marilyn Tamm-Schmitt are being featured in the gallery at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center this season. Marilyn has a passion for natural beauty and a love of photography dating from childhood. During her over thirty year career as an educator in modern languages, Marilyn pursued her interest in photography specializing in birds, dogs and cats, flowers and horses. ...

A Fort Dodge woman has been shot to death at her home, and police have arrested her husband in the shooting after an overnight search for him. officials said. The shooting happened around 2 p.m. Wednesday, when officers were called to a Fort Dodge home for reports of a shooting. Arriving officers found Maggie Hurdel, 38, with a gunshot wound. She died at the scene, police said...

The Arnolds Park Police Department has filed a series of charges against a Mabel, Minnesota, man who is accused of trying to lure children from an indoor waterpark to his hotel room. Garret John McKenna faces two Class D felony counts of enticing a minor after police suspect the 26-year-old tried to convince a 9-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl to leave the Bridges Bay resort’s waterpark area at about 8:43 p.m. Saturday...

An Iowa runner known as the “Human Etch A Sketch” visited Storm Lake on Saturday and ran five miles through the streets to map a phrase in memory of Buena Vista University graduate Canyon “Moose” Hopkins. Hopkins, who graduated in 2019, died on Oct. ...

The Storm Lake City Council this week approved an application for Traffic Safety Improvement Program funds to upgrade the Highway 71/Highway 110 intersection at the west edge of the city. The intersection has seen accidents with serious injuries, and will see additional traffic in the future after the new Early Elementary School is constructed nearby on 90th Avenue, according to city officials...

Campus Compact’s AmeriCorps Program awarded Buena Vista University (BVU) a grant in excess of $114,000 to allow the University to continue expanding its popular AmeriCorps service program. The award represents the largest grant BVU has received from Iowa Campus Compact...

The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center presented Storm Lake with the Iowa Community of Character Award this week. As part of the virtual ceremony, The Ray Center based at Drake University released a video featuring interviews with community and immigrant group leaders. The video can be seen on the Pilot-Tribune’s Facebook page...

More than 20 “Red Bulls” soldiers attached to the Storm Lake Iowa National Guard unit said their goodbyes to loved ones Sunday, joining others from Spencer, Fort Dodge, Estherville, Charles City, Johnston and Alexandria, Minn. for a deployment to the middle east that is expected to last a year. There was no formal sendoff in Storm Lake, but a virtual sendoff was live streamed from Camp Dodge Sunday evening. (For video, see the Pilot-Tribune Facebook page.)...

“None of us have been through a pandemic before, I have to remind myself. We have to focus on what we can control. But this is a time when we need a supporting governing body. Every time we clear a barricade, it seems like there’s another one put up in front of us.”

The Coronavirus pandemic has put movie theaters across the country at risk of going dark for good, raising concerns from Hollywood to main street Storm Lake. “From small independent screens to nationwide exhibitors, local theaters employ over 150,000 people and have formed a cornerstone of the American experience for generations,” Storm Lake United said in a recent email...