Stories from Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Keith Hines, of Sac City, passed away on Monday, August 3, after reaching the age of 86. He died peacefully at home with his beloved wife Judith and his family by his side. Born on April 23, 1934, to parents Forrest and Ella (Larson) Hines, Lester Keith Hines was baptized in the Galbraith Methodist Church in Nemaha, IA, on June 16, 1935. He attended country school then attended Nemaha High School where he graduated from in 1952...

Trevor Erb, Assistant Store Manager Fareway partnered with Storm Lake United to auction off some of his spray paint art that he worked on over the quarantine. All proceeds from the auction were donated last week to Upper Des Moines Opportunity. A check for $225.00 was presented to Maggie Reyes and Erika Cavanaugh by Lee Dutfield on behalf of Trevor Erb...

Throughout the month of June, Hy-Vee honored high school graduates with surprise, contactless gift deliveries across its eight-state region. This included a delivery to the home of recent Alta-Aurelia High School graduate Diogo Sliefert. Employees from Storm Lake Hy-Vee honored Diogo with a gift that included balloons and a custom-designed bakery item, as well as an array of pantry, household and general merchandise items...

As Kathryn “Kit” Tyykila begins her teaching career, she’ll continue her time as a Buena Vista University graduate student. Tyykila began as an undergraduate in BVU’s Special Education Plus One program, which allows students to complete coursework towards a master’s degree while yet an undergraduate student. The intent is to complete a master’s degree in special education within one additional year of study...

Faster, more comfortable and exceptional images — those are three primary features of the Spencer Hospital’s new MRI technology installed in early July. The radiologists of Midwest Radiology & Imaging — Drs. Charles Crouch, Nate Rohling and John Jackson — agree the most significant difference the new MRI technology offers is higher resolution images in less time...

In the past six months, the state board that oversees physicians has issued dozens of confidential letters of warning to doctors accused of criminal assault, patient neglect, sexual misconduct and other serious offenses. Every year, the Iowa Board of Medicine, which oversees physician licensing, issues about 100 confidential letters to practitioners. ...

Despite lengthy efforts to encourage a strong response to the 2020 Census, Storm Lake is at under 70 percent return rate, about even with the state average. “I’d really like to see it at 100 percent,” Mayor Mike Porsch told the Pilot-Tribune. With a large immigrant population, there is likely still an element of fear over how Census personal information is used, Porsch feels...

When it came to planning, the Clay County Relay for Life Committee had their hands full, planning for an event involving large groups of walkers in a COVID-19 world. So rather than walk, they opted to create a safer opportunity to navigate the fairgrounds...

Crews are in Storm Lake to tackle long-awaited roof replacements on city buildings, including the police station and the public library/Witter Gallery building. The library has suffered damage from the leaky roof in recent years.

The ethanol industry’s losses have been more severe than economists originally predicted, an Iowa State University economist said. And it could be years before fuel demand recovers from losses related to the coronavirus pandemic and other factors that left the U.S. economy in recession, he added...

Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday further narrowed the possibility that school districts might be allowed to hold 100% of classes online despite a high rate of COVID-19 infection in their county. Reynolds, in a news conference, said state officials would consider the “community context” in school districts where the average positivity rate for the virus exceeds 15%. That “context” might provide a reason the district would be required to proceed with in-person classes...

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said Thursday she supports Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to restore felon voting rights in the state, despite Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, tweeting it will hurt her this upcoming election. During a conference call with reporters, Ernst said she supports Reynolds, though she declined to directly answer if she believed the decision will cost her votes. There shouldn’t be a “political consideration,” she said...

When historians look back on the top films at the box office in the summer of 2020, they may feel like they’ve slipped into a time warp, or maybe “Back to the Future.” Over the second weekend in July, “Empire Strikes Back” — 40 years after it was first released — was again No. 1. “Ghostbusters” claimed the July 4th weekend, 36 years after opening. Over the June 19-21 weekend and 27 years after it last led the box office, “Jurassic Park” again ruled theaters...

Popular northwest Iowa country musician Brad Morgan will be performing at the Wall Lake Farm Festival, Saturday, August 15, 8-11 p.m. at the beer garden. The singer-songwriter was born and raised on a farm near Manning, and currently continues to build on his success in Nashville...

The Clay County Fair announced the rescheduling of all announced concerts as part of the SRG Concert Series in the Sleep Number Grandstand at the 2021 Clay County Fair. Events rescheduled to 2021 include: Skillet with special guest Ledger at 7:30 p.m. ...

For Fortytwo Yet, life in the United States has been an awesome experience. In fact, awesome is pretty much an oft-used word in his vocabulary. “Everyday is great for me,” says Fortytwo. For a Sudanese man, who spent time in a Kenyan refugee camp after escaping the encroaching horrors of war in his homeland, his view of the world remains positive. ...

The landmark Allee Mansion at Newell is recovering from a setback. The mansion, which now serves as a museum, was closed in November of 2019 with plans to reopen for the season in April. However, during the winter the 129-year-old chimney failed, covering the entire downstairs in soot - wallpaper, oriental rugs, velvet chairs, chandeliers and woodwork were coated...

Storm Lake firefighters responded to a blaze at the Awaysis Nighclub, 200 E. Railroad Street in Storm Lake, around 11:30 Sunday night. The building was vacant at the time of the fire. By the time it was reported, heavy smoke was billowing from the roofline of the structure, cloaking the entire downtown area in haze. Firefighters forced their way in the front door...

The Iowa Department of Education announced Friday that $26.2 million is now available to districts, nonpublic schools, and colleges and universities primarily to increase internet connectivity for students for the 2020-21 school year. Storm Lake schools will receive about $150,000, according to Superintendent Stacey Cole. Families’ access to broadband internet became an urgent concern for areas schools last spring when the school year was forced online by the COVID-19 pandemic...

Buena Vista University’s Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Resource Management worked with the Buena Vista County Fair in hosting the first Open Livestock Show at the fair in 14 years recently at the BV County Fairgrounds in Alta. Eighty-five beef entries were shown by participants from Texas, Indiana, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and throughout Iowa...

A third of Iowans participating in a recent DrugAbuse.com survey say they are concerned that emotional and economic stress from the Coronavirus quarantine will increase drug and alcohol related abuse in their communities. One in four said they have seen increased behavior in bad habits among their neighbors while social interaction is hampered by the pandemic...

On Thursday August 6, DNR conservation officers located a damaged boat consistent with damage to the hit and run incident, which seriously injured Vaughn Wickham of Spirit Lake, Iowa on August 4, 2020. The boat was located in a hoist at a private residence on the north end of West Lake Okoboji. ...