Stories from Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Cover band Section 7 will be in concert Saturday, April 17, at Shiny Top Brewing in Fort Dodge. Showtime is 7 p.m. and admission is free. Lance Rossow, Mason O’Brien and Jake Rossow from the Fort Dodge area offer hard rock, classic rock and metal.

Neil Anders will be in concert Saturday, May 1, at Carroll Brewing Co. Showtime is 7 p.m., with a three-hour performance planned. Anders is a singer/songwriter from Odebolt. Neil’s performances feature a varied repertoire, highlighting his versatility. Current set lists incorporate the beloved classics of older rock, folk, blues, country music with newer hits of today...

Northwest Christian Church in Alta will host Dove Award-winning contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Mitch McVicker for a live concert. Mitch performed at Northwest Christian Church in 2018, and will be back on April 30th for another show. You may recognize Mitch from his Dove Award winning song, “My Deliverer,” that he wrote with Rich Mullins. He has 10 full-length albums, and his newest one will be released on June 1, 2021...

Work by local artist Wendy Ewalt is featured on the Community Art Wall this season at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center. “I am fascinated by color and shape as reflected by both the natural world and the engineered world.  Exploration of visual vibration, which arises on two-dimensional canvas when colors of widely varying wavelengths are placed together, is demonstrated in my work,” said Ewolt, of Storm Lake. ...

Auditions for the upcoming show “Little Shop of Horrors” by Buena Vista Community Theatre will be held over three days, Thursday, April 22, Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25 at the Roxy Theater in Alta. Each audition period will be two hours, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday and 2-4 p.m. on the weekend. Adults and teens are welcome to try out for the small cast show. Come ready to sing and read from the script. Masks are required...

The thirteenth week of the 89th legislative session saw considerable floor debate on bills including expanding broadband service in the state, protecting constitutional rights, cutting property taxes, and giving parents more control over their children’s education. In total, 36 bills and two resolutions passed through the Senate, most of which have already passed through the House and are, therefore, on their way to the Governor for signing...

Iowa’s public universities would see a tuition freeze and no state allocation increase in 2022 under a proposed House education budget. Rep. David Kerr, R-Morning Sun, said COVID-19 relief funds had provided millions of additional dollars to the schools. That, plus a declining enrollment, led to the decision to keep funding levels the same in fiscal year 2022 and continue a freeze on tuition and fees...

The Women’s Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School has named Swasti Bhattacharyya as a research associate in the Women’s Studies in Religion program. Bhattacharyya recently retired as a longtime professor of Philosophy and Religion at Buena Vista University, and serves on the board of SALUD is Storm Lake...

With recent warmer temperatures, restless paddlers are ready to put canoes and kayaks in the water. Early spring paddling can provide solitude, exercise and an opportunity to see amazing wildlife, but extra precautions are needed to stay safe. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recommends that paddlers wait for warmer weather to allow the water temperatures to rise slowly. ...

A charter bus rolls east traversing Iowa on U.S. Highway 20 toward Waverly, where the Buena Vista University wrestling team faces a pair of American Rivers Conference foes. Sophomore Axel Hernandez, the team’s 133-pound varsity competitor, sits quietly as exits for cities such as Webster City and Parkersburg pass, his head buried in “The Romance of Arthur,” a history of King Arthur...

Ridge View Basketball Cheerleaders received the Academic Excellence Award from the IGHSAU. This award is given to teams who have a GPA between 3.0-3.24.

Virginia Freeney, age 88, of Storm Lake, Iowa died on Saturday, April 3, at the Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake. Private burial was held in the Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements...

The Newell Boosting Achievers met on Sunday, March 14, at the Nain Lutheran Church in Newell. The meeting was called to order by President Analise Tiffany, the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Will Landgraf and the 4-H pledge was led by Katie Reisner. ...

Sallie Caboth, age 91, of Alta, passed away on Wednesday, April 7, in Kelley. Funeral services were held on Monday, April 12, at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Alta. Burial will be in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Alta. Visitation took place on Sunday, April 11, from 3 - 5:30 p.m. at the funeral home in Alta. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Alta is in charge of the arrangements...

The jokes and memes about “wine moms” belie a larger, concerning issue: Women are drinking more since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a new study by Susan Stewart, professor of sociology at Iowa State University, nearly two-thirds of female participants reported drinking more since the beginning of the pandemic, including increases in daily drinking, drinking earlier in the day, and binge drinking. The study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Gynecology and Women’s Health...

A collaborative community effort to reach specific ethnic communities with information and the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine is rolling out over the next few weeks.  Hy-Vee, SALUD Multicultural Health Coalition, Tyson Foods and Buena Vista County Public Health are offering targeted  vaccination clinics for the Laotian community, the Latinx community, the Micronesian community and other ethnic groups...

The Storm Lake Police “Operation Hoop Dreams” project is moving forward rapidly. Thanks to a generous donor, the SLPD will be able to construct a full-size basketball court instead of a half court. Construction will begin this spring in Seneca Park, behind the police station...

The presence of a meatpacking plant more than doubled U.S. counties’ COVID-19 infection rates, according to a new study. The beef, pork and poultry processors accounted for an estimated 334,000 COVID-19 cases, 18,000 deaths, and $11.2 billion in economic damage, the economists found in a modeling analysis...

New cases of COVID-19 remained steady in Buena Vista County over the past week, with 15 new positive tests and a 3 percent positivity rate among those testing over the seven days, both numbers exactly the same as a week earlier. Around the area Dickinson County (the Iowa Great Lakes) remained the Iowa hotspot, with 63 new confirmed cases and a 12 percent positivity rate. ...

A judge on Friday delayed a decision on whether the Dakota Access Oil pipeline should be shut down while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts an environmental review on the project, after lawyers for the pipeline asked for more time to outline the effects of recent changes in the economy...

Storm Lake Scout Troop 104 with the help of Cub Scout Pack 105 and volunteers, held a Flag retirement ceremony at Scout Park recently, burning worn out flags with the proper honors. The Scouts retired 380 flags. People with worn flags can deposit them at the container outside the west courthouse entrance for proper retirement...

Sonia Mugabo, a 2013 graduate of Buena Vista University, recently spoke out as a survivor during the 27th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi people of Rwanda. The commemoration was held April 7 at the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia...

Storm Lake Middle School students created holiday cards and notes to send to soldiers who were deployed overseas. This was a service project as part of their daily SEL (Social Emotional Learning) class in December. One recipient of the cards was SFC Melanie McCracken (currently deployed to Kuwait) who is the sister of Storm Lake Middle School teacher Valery Fuhrman. ...