Stories from Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Storm Lake Community School District welcomed a number of new teachers for the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. The new staff and their positions are as follows: Amelia Pedersen - High School Social Studies Teacher Amy Lehmkuhl - Strat II Special Education Teacher ...

Paul A. Ness, 62, died suddenly at his residence Thursday. Surviving are his wife, Elaine B. Ness. Sisters, Alice Skelton of Iowa and Mary Ward of Idaho, Rosie Patterson of FL and Ramona Walstein Brother, Lester Ness of China Step-son, Frank Tins of England, Step-daughters, Jody Collins and Samantha Gilling of England...

Lawrence “Larry” C. Foell, age 80, of Storm Lake, Iowa died August 26, at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake. There will be no services at this time. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Lawrence C. Foell was born February 20, 1940 in Storm Lake the son of Kenneth and Bernadine (Hogancamp) Foell...

Sharen K. Peters, age 76, of Storm Lake, died August 25, at her home in Storm Lake after a short illness. Funeral services were Saturday, August 29, at St. John Lutheran Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the Storm Lake Cemetery. Visitation took place Friday, August 28, at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements...

Merle Oxley, age 85 of Sac City, passed away peacefully on Friday, August 14, at Loring Hospital in Sac City. Merle Duane Oxley, known to many as “Sonny”, was born on March 23, 1935, to parents Harold and Elsie (Crow) Oxley on a farm in Hancock County, Iowa. ...

A Spirit Lake man awaiting trial for a November robbery violated his probation by allegedly stabbing a Cherokee man earlier this month in Milford. Patrick William Miles — also known as Patrick Wascher — was charged with willful injury after the Aug. ...

Sac County Sheriffl Sgt. Cudaback received an award from Mid-states Organized Crime Information Center (MOCIC) last week at their annual conference held in Branson, MO. The award was for Outstanding Cooperation and Performance in Law Enforcement. On June 5, 2019, Ricky Ellis Lamb wrote a check for $1080.69 to Bomgaars in Sac City, Iowa purchasing a Honda Generator. ...

Lachelle Anderson, of Spencer, won the first top prize in the Iowa Lottery’s “Lucky No. 13” scratch game. She bought her winning ticket at Casey’s in Pella, and claimed her prize recently at the lottery’s Storm Lake regional office. Lucky No. 13 is a $2 scratch game that features seven top prizes of $10,000 and overall odds of 1 in 3.77. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit ialottery.com...

Gov. Kim Reynolds latest order requiring bars in Iowa to close again will result in “businesses going under,” said Jessica Dunker, president of the Iowa Restaurant Association. “It’s short-sighted and it’s going to cost hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs in them,” Dunker said...

Iowa Democratic legislators and representatives of environmental organizations on Thursday said the Trump administration’s rollback of “clean car” regulations would cost lives and money. “The administration’s reckless rollback would strip all states of their authority, established under the Clean Air Act, to control vehicle pollution to protect the health of their residents,” said Katie Rock, a Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District commissioner. ...

Jan Stowe, a Vietnam War veteran from Traverse City, Mich., says she was unable to move her head and neck for several days last month after going without medication to treat extreme muscle spasms. Stowe, a Department of Veterans Affairs patient who receives her medication through the U.S. Postal Service, said in an interview with States Newsroom that she missed four or five days taking her prescription for diazepam, commonly marketed as Valium, because of mail delays...

Seasons Center for Behavioral Health was granted the Suicide Prevention Grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This grant allows Seasons to increase access to behavioral health services for individuals, families, and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and enhance efforts to prevent suicide and suicide attempts within nine counties in rural northwest Iowa...

The 13th annual AWARE 5K walk and run is still on as a virtual event this year and can be completed Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 20. Sign up today to walk, or run for patients fighting cancer who are receiving treatment at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center. Proceeds benefit patients’ expenses not covered by insurance such as wigs or hats, gas cards, and special recovery items...

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man I was surprised when my pre-ordered copy of Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man, 2020, arrived two weeks earlier than expected. ...

After canceling most of their August shows, live music is back in full force at Byron’s in Pomeroy, the area’s hotspot for eclectic tunes. Area native Todd Partridge will present a solo show on Saturday, September 12. Showtime is 5 p.m. Partridge is best know as front man for the popular roots rock band King of the Tramps, and his style is described as “whiskey gospel from the heartland.”...

On Aug. 23, 1917, four months after the U.S. had entered World War I, the all-Black 3rd battalion of the U.S. Army’s 24th Infantry Regiment mutinied in Houston. That night’s two hours of violence left nine civilians, four policemen and two soldiers dead. It resulted in the largest murder trial in U.S. history in which 110 out of 118 soldiers were found guilty. Nineteen were hanged...

A new STEM Innovator grant will enable two Storm Lake Community School District teachers to enhance a Science of Life course for English language learners. The grant, which comes from the Jacobson Institute at the University of Iowa, provides curriculum, support and access to online tools to support instruction. It also offers a stipend to each teacher and the opportunity for them to earn five graduate credits...

Dhaval Bhatt earned A grades consistently as a young man growing up in India. He went on to earn an associate degree in mechanical engineering, then spent nearly 15 years in that trade before moving with his wife to the U.S. “It was a journey to a new culture, and I struggled,” Bhatt says. “I realized that going to college here would be a way to get more into the U.S. culture. Having a degree would also help me get closer to a career in management.”...

The Shayla Bee Fund typically partners with Okoboji Classic Cars to host the nonprofit’s Black Tie Black Leather fundraiser. With large gatherings falling out of style during the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual fundraiser took things outdoors for a cruise around West Lake Okoboji. ...

On the 57th anniversary of the original March on Washington and in the throes of a pandemic, thousands of demonstrators on Friday joined Democratic lawmakers on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to demand Congress act on police brutality and voter suppression...

J.D. Scholten says he has just one rule for his campaign - “Respect everyone.” While his Republican opponent for the 4th District Congressional seat Randy Feenstra is speaking only to groups of party supporters, he claims, he is taking his message to public parking lots, with everyone welcome...

For Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, maintaining a schedule to visit all 99 Iowa counties every year is a long-standing point of pride. “We’ve been unable to do what we normally do,” he said of a year disrupted by COVID-19 concerns. “We’ve really only been able to get out since the middle of July. For a while I didn’t think we would be able to get all 99 by Labor Day, but we’ve booked 49 in August.”...

Tyson Heckathorn is always moving. A constant blur of motion, Tyson is a problem-solver who works best when he’s moving into confronting whatever issues come up, at King’s Pointe. Tyson is the waterpark manager, and needless to say, his summer has been anything but conventional. ...

A Buena Vista County Republican leader is optimistic in the wake of his party’s national convention, just as his Democrat counterpart was a week earlier. “I though the convention was put together really well. It looked like a production out of Hollywood - it clicked right along, and had some wonderful speakers,” said Randy Ericksen, Alta, who recently resumed the reins as county party leader after Matt Meiners moved away...