Stories from Friday, April 16, 2021

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host “Money Smart: Prioritizing Bills, Managing Debt and Improving Credit” virtually on Wednesdays, May 5, 12 and 19 from noon to 1:00 p.m. Participation in any of the three sessions is free and open to the public...

Some stores would be able to opt out of the state’s bottle and can redemption program under a bill that advanced through a House Ways and Means subcommittee this week. House File 814 would allow stores that sell cans or bottles to refuse returns if there were another, nearby place that customers could drop off their empties. The redemption center has to be within 10 miles of the store in more populous counties, or within 15 miles in rural areas...

The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council announced that Foundation Analytical Laboratory Owner and Director of Technical Services, Diane Young, will serve as the next Council co-chair. Appointed by Governor Kim Reynolds, Young succeeds Accumold President and CEO, Roger Hargens, who served as STEM Council co-chair for three years...

Passion for the arts drives these three local artists to use their craft to make their mark through adventure, education and finding inner peace. Witter Gallery’s upcoming online auction, beginning April 16, features 12 art pieces created by 12 local artists. Each artist has their own story about how and why they began to follow their creative drive, their inspirations and what makes art so important to them. Here are a few of them...

After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Okoboji Blue Water Festival is back for 2021, and from all indications, it will be bigger and better than ever. Mark your calendar for Saturday, Aug. 7 for what promises to be a memorable day partaking in all of the activities that make the festival the premier clean water event in the state of Iowa...

The Cherokee PRCA Rodeo returns this season after being cancelled in 2020. The Cherokee Chamber-sponsored rodeo is a family-friendly, three day event scheduled for June 3, 4, and 5. The rodeo dates to 1966, operated by an all-volunteer rodeo board. The event features quality pro rodeo as part of the national Ram Rodeo Series, including barrel racing, tie-down roping, bull riding, team roping, street wrestling, bareback riding and saddle bronc riding. ...

Buena Vista Regional Medical Center Nurses Julie Olson and Sarah Naberhaus have been awarded the 2021 100 Great Iowa Nurses Award. This award recognizes outstanding nurses whose exceptional contributions to patients, colleagues and the profession are truly remarkable. ...

Lake Avenue Lounge was the site for a surprise party honoring a stunned Gary Lalone Monday. Lalone retired as CEO of Storm Lake United last year during the pandemic, when it was impossible to have a gathering to celebrate with him. So the surprise was planned as both a birthday and retirement celebration, with the venue outfitted in “Legend” banners, balloons and other trappings. ...

April 22, 1943 - April 12, 2021

December 28, 1917 - April 11, 2021

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig this week commented on the Iowa Crop Progress and Conditions report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The report is released weekly from April through November. “With spring weather now upon us, farmers across Iowa are looking to get planters into the field,” said Secretary Naig. ...

Use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot will remain paused for at least a week, after a federal vaccine advisory panel said Wednesday that it had too little data on a rare but serious blood-clotting condition reported in at least six women. That means states and federally run vaccine sites will be relying on the other two authorized vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna until the panel meets again. The rare condition has not been reported following doses of those shots...

Water Rocks!, the award-winning conservation and water quality education program from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, announced its Second Annual Earth Week Chalk Challenge will kick off Friday, April 16. The contest is open to artists of every age and is meant to encourage everyone to get outside and express their love of nature during Earth Week through creating chalk drawings. Contest entries can be submitted by individual artists in youth or adult categories or teams...

Jesse Ulrich, who has served as Fort Dodge Superintendent of Schools since 2018, was officially welcomed as the next President of Iowa Central Community College Tuesday. He will assume the presidency July 1. He replaced Dan Kinney, who left ICCC at the beginning of the year to become president at Iowa Western Community College. Ulrich was one of 37 applicants who sought the ICCC position...

Storm Lake School District is planning a unique version of the homecoming it couldn’t have last fall. On Friday, April 30, the homecoming parade will start at 2:30 p.m., following East 7th Street to Lake Avenue, turning onto Railroad Street, up Cayuga back to East 7th...

The boards of directors of First Cooperative Association (FCA), Cherokee, Iowa, and Alceco, Albert City, Iowa, voted unanimously to move forward to the next phase of a proposed merger of the two cooperatives. The decision was reached during a joint meeting of the boards on Wednesday, April 14...

Buena Vista University received 150 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine this week, organizing a vaccination clinic to take place today at the University. BVU established a prioritization for faculty and staff and extended the opportunity to students as well, on a first-come, first-served basis...

An Iowa police officer who admits to having sex with his boss’ teenage stepdaughter has, for now, successfully blocked the state’s attempts to decertify him as a law enforcement officer. Court records indicate Alex Ladwig first became a police officer in 2014 when he was hired by the Lake View Police Department in Sac County. In October 2015, Ladwig resigned from the police department and began working as a deputy with the Sac County Sheriff’s Office...

Des Moines Water Works will face a “catastrophe” unless Iowa finds a way to reduce farm pollution in the Raccoon River, which on Tuesday was named as one of the nation’s most endangered, the utility’s CEO said. “It is clear, given the ammonia, phosphorus, and thousands of pounds of nitrogen that flow past our treatment plant, that adding any more nutrients to our watershed without addressing the water quality issues is going to lead to catastrophe,” Ted Corrigan said in an interview. ...

A family with deep Storm Lake area roots is proposing a planned community development near Bel Air Beach at Lakeside. Dr. Doug Massop, Des Moines, and sisters Karen Keenan of Storm Lake and Rachael Kies of Des Moines and their families, envision turning the family’s farmland south of existing housing between the Lakeside outlet dam and the beach at Bel Air into numerous single family lots. Also proposed are areas of townhouses and twin villas...

Proteus, the Iowa-based health care nonprofit aimed at serving migrant farmworkers, held its first-ever mobile clinic in Storm Lake this week, hosted by Our Place multicultural center. The program plans to offer monthly clinics in Storm Lake, depending on need - branching out from its Fort Dodge permanent clinic. Other sites are located in Des Moines and Iowa City...

HOLSTEIN - The Ridge View Raptors hosted the Russ Kraai Relays on Monday and Alta-Aurelia, the Sioux Central girls and Storm Lake St. Mary’s came to compete in it. The Raptor boys won the event with 162 points. Alta-Aurelia took fourth with 95 points, Ridge View JV was in fifth with 38 and the Panthers had six points to come in sixth...