Stories from Friday, January 22, 2021

Lois Jean “Jeannie” Ohlson was born April 6, 1928 south of Aurelia, the daughter of Arthur & Florence Vesta (Hopper) Ohlson. She attended Diamond Center Country School and Aurelia Consolidated High School, graduating in 1945. She then attended Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls and later Morningside College in Sioux City...

Laurie L. Petersen, age 53, of Battle Creek, passed away on Sunday, January 17, at the MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center of Sioux City. No services will be held at this time. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. The Christensen-Van Houten Funeral Home of Battle Creek, Iowa, is in charge of the funeral arrangements. Condolences may be sent online at www.christensenvanhouten.com...

The city council moved Monday to accept a donation from the Wayne Andrews family of Storm Lake to provide for a monument and sign for Sleepy Hollow, the lakefront area just west of Chautauqua Park. An agreement with specifics of the project will be brought to the council at a later date...

The Storm Lake City Council approved increased rates for the coming season at the municipal campground. Class A sites (lake view with patio, water, sewer, electric, cable TV and fire pit) will increase from $27 to $30. Class C sites (without cable TV) would increase from $26 to $28. Class E sites with water, sewer and electric only increase from $22 to $25. Class F sites (electric only) increase from $18 to $20. Tent camping sites remain at $12...

An entrepreneurship program is in the works to possibly begin in the fall of this year at Alta-Aurelia High School, business teacher Tim Galvin said. He will lead the program where the end product is to have students develop their own business plan and business. The project was discussed by high school Principal Scott Mitchell at the Jan. 18th Alta-Aurelia School Board meeting...

On a Monday starting the first week in January, Jeremiah “Jem” Ennen rolled up his left sleeve and watched as a fellow nurse gave him the Pfizer vaccine. It’s been a long time coming. “When they told us we’d get the vaccine and actually set a date, I kind of broke down,” says Ennen, a 2017 Buena Vista University graduate who works as a Medical/COVID-19 ICU Charge Nurse in the Mayo Clinic’s COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit. “The end might finally be in sight.”...

Doug Liman’s “Locked Down,” one of the first and most ambitious films to be conceived and shot during the pandemic, is, like our own quarantine experiences, erratic, a little absurd and sporadically delightful. Unlike our time in quarantine, it has Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway. ...

Snowmobile enthusiasts get ready — Cor PowerSports, the NASCAR of snowmobile racing, which headquarters out of Somerset, Wisconsin, is coming to East Lake Okoboji for the inaugural Okoboji 100 races on Jan. 23-24. Now in its 10th year, Cor Powersports hosts a series of cross-country snowmobile races across the Midwest. The local snowmobile club, the Dickinson County SnowHawks was instrumental in bringing Cor PowerSports to the area...

Singer/songwriter Mace Hathaway, Omaha, reflects midwestern spirit in his original works, and he can really tell a story. Driven by his soulful voice, the energy in his delivery and clever lyrics have been known to consume the listener. Mace is what some might call a prolific writer, with over 200 Americana/country songs to his credit...

Three Alta-Aurelia football players recently were selected for all-state. Seniors Alex DeRoos, Cade Rohwer and Ryan Jensen were named to the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association (IPSWA) All-State Football Teams for 2020. The teams were selected on Nov. 22nd with assistance from the Iowa Football Coaches Association...

Three Alta-Aurelia football players recently were selected for all-state. Seniors Alex DeRoos, Cade Rohwer and Ryan Jensen were named to the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association (IPSWA) All-State Football Teams for 2020. The teams were selected on Nov. 22nd with assistance from the Iowa Football Coaches Association...

The Newell Fonda FFA would like to thank Ron Jorgensen and Jamie Adams representing Parks of Iowa for their gracious donation to our chapter. The $500 donation will be used to help education our elementary students about Agriculture during our upcoming National FFA Week...

Buena Vista University congratulates more than 150 students who graduated in the Fall of 2020. The following local students earned degrees: Robert Carter of Fonda graduated with a bachelor of science in computer science (information technology track)...

More than 11,000 Iowa State University students have been recognized for outstanding academic achievement by being named to the fall semester 2020 Dean’s List. Students named to the Dean’s List must have earned a grade point average of at least 3.50 on a 4.00 scale while carrying a minimum of 12 credit hours of graded course work...

Week two of the Iowa General Assembly was a short week due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Our normal week is Monday through Thursday. This allows us, as citizen legislators, to be back home one business day a week to do the things we all need to do to maintain our jobs or businesses. Even though we only had a three-day week this week, many bills were assigned and have already passed their subcommittee and are ready for consideration in a standing committee...

The 2021 legislative session has officially begun. The first week was busy organizing a new Senate and a new session. Eight new Senators were sworn in Monday, including myself. Governor Reynolds delivered the Condition of the State address on Tuesday evening to a joint session. On Wednesday, Chief Justice Susan Christensen from Harlan, IA delivered the State of the Judiciary address, and on Thursday, Major General Benjamin Corell delivered the Condition of the Guard address...

Editor’s note: this is the final article in a long series by George Whitehouse, who passed away recently. his daughter Laura helped to prepare this for publishing. It probably is not an appropriate thing to publish a story about death and funerals during the present traumatic and ubiquitous COVID pandemic. ...

A Storm Lake man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine while possessing guns has been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison. Jacob Hernandez, 27, received the prison term this week after a September 16 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of firearms during a drug trafficking crime...

By DANA LARSEN Pilot-Tribune Editor Local non-profit day care agency Ready, Set, GROW continues to search for an option to create a day care center location in Storm Lake. The process has come with frustrations. Initially, the day care planned to partner with Methodist Manor senior facility to take over a wing that was formerly part of the nursing home. After 18 months working with Methodist Manor, issues with the building space prevented the proposal from moving forward...

Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday Iowa will expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to residents age 65 and older starting Feb. 1 - but there’s no guarantee how long they will need to wait for shots to become available. The national vaccine supply remains limited, she said. “While we’re excited to begin vaccinating a broader population of Iowans, we again need to emphasize that the demand for the vaccine will vastly exceed our supply,” Reynolds said during a news conference...

As mayor of one of Iowa’s most ethnically diverse cities, Mike Porsch was especially interested this week to see the new presidential administration tackle immigration issues. “I think it is a good thing for Storm Lake - certainly a step in the right direction,” Porsch said of President Biden’s flurry of inauguration-day executive orders...

A fund drive is getting underway to begin a K-9 program for the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Kory Elston said he office recently received a donation from a local relator that was specifically aimed toward a police dog. “Over the years, we’ve often had people express an interest in having a K-9 program, but the timing has never quite been right. We feel like we have a more experienced staff now, and the time is getting close to be able to do this.”...

Mike Yender, age 55 of Early, passed away January 16, at Unity Point Health - St. Luke’s in Sioux City, IA. Michael James Yender was born November 1, 1965, in Storm Lake, IA, to James and JoAnne (Meyer) Yender.  He later became a big brother to his sisters Jill and Jan...