Stories from Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Officials with the University of Okoboji recently announced the decision has been made to hold off on some traditional homecoming events. A number of events may yet move forward, but the marathon, triathlon, half-marathon and 10K run scheduled for July 17 will not be held this year...

Baby Shark Live! stage show will be held at Tyson Events Center,Sunday, June 13, 2:30 p.m. The live show is based on Pinkfong’s viral earworm and global dance phenomenon, Baby Shark. Fans of all ages will delight as Baby Shark joins up with his friend Pinkfong to take an adventure into the sea, singing and dancing through new and classic songs including Five Little Monkeys, Wheels on the Bus, Jungle Boogie, Monkey Banana and of course, Baby Shark...

Prairie Heritage Center will host Wings & Wetlands Saturday, May 15. Join in a morning of fun learning in the outdoors. Admission is free, and activities run from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. The schedule includes: • 8 a.m. - Morning Warbler Walk with Lee Schoenewe. Register by visiting https://www.mycountyparks.com/County/OBrien/Park/Prairie-Heritage-Center/Events/18550/Morning-Warbler-Walk.aspx...

An Alice Cooper tribute show has been added to the concert lineup at the Roof Garden Ballroom this summer. Almost Cooper, led by celebrity impersonator Bobby Jensen, will perform Thursday, July 1. Showtime is 6:30 p.m. and tickets are on sale now. An opening band will be named later...

Farmers continue to question whether climate change is driven by humans, the consensus of scientists worldwide, an Iowa State University researcher said Wednesday. ISU sociology professor J. Arbuckle, drawing largely from ISU’s Farm and Rural Life Poll, said farmers have become more open to conversations about carbon emissions and climate change...

Anglers are just days away from having their chance at winning $39,000. The 39th annual Walleye Weekend officially begins at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 1 and concludes at noon on Sunday, May 2. Entry forms are available at Fisherman’s Factory Outlet, Great Lakes Marine, Oak Hill Outdoor/The Hook Up, Kabele’s Trading Post, Stan’s Bait & Tackle, and at the Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce office. ...

Storm Lake firefighters were called to a house fire at 30 S. Windsor Circle Tuesday afternoon. The SLFD was called to the scene around 4:30 p.m., as the occupants were evacuating. Firefighters arriving on the scene observed a large amount of flame venting through the windows at the southeast corner of the home. They were able to enter and extinguish a fire burning in a back bedroom...

For the past two years, Spencer Police Officer Daaron Hansen has walked the halls at Spencer High School serving as the district’s school resource officer. Who knew that Hansen was also the school’s Prom Santa? On April 13, while parent volunteer Josie Hough was selling after prom tickets in the school, Hansen approached her. Admittedly a bit nervous about what was coming next — she does have two students at the school — she was both relieved and shocked when he made a $200 purchase...

The Holstein State Theater has been honored as a source of pride by First Cooperative Association and Cenex®, the energy brand of CHS. As part of this award, the Holstein Development Authority will receive a $5,000 grant from the cooperative. For the last several years, the Holstein community has worked together to preserve this hometown monument run almost entirely on volunteers. ...

Bea Walker performed “Juliet’s Waltz” in French from the opera “Romeo and Juliet,” during the Storm Lake High School Music Department Spring Concert Thursday night. Bea, a senior, was recently honored as Outstanding Performer for the Iowa High School Music Association solo/ensemble vocal music competition - a rare honor for Bea and the Storm Lake program. The piece she performed happened to be the same one her vocal music teacher, Joanne Tucker, had performed as a college student...

It’s time to spring into action. LifeServe Blood Center is the sole provider of blood products to community hospital patients and needs local blood donors to roll up a sleeve! Blood can’t be created in a lab and there’s no substitute for it. When a local patient needs a transfusion, that lifesaving liquid is provided by LifeServe blood donors...

It’s a question of social fairness that has grown increasingly pertinent for public health officials as more and more Americans receive their initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine - should vaccinated people, or those with antibodies have more freedom than those without or who have not been vaccinated? As some public spaces begin to open up, this conundrum is one that will also be faced by businesses across the country - does an airline prioritize a traveler who has had two vaccine doses over another who has only had one? Or do movie theatre chains have the right to deny a customer who refuses to be vaccinated?. ...

One of Iowa’s largest health care providers is going to court in an effort to block the creation of two new cardiac catheterization labs it says are unnecessary. UnityPoint Health-Des Moines, which owns and operates Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Blank Children’s Hospital, Iowa Lutheran Hospital and Methodist West Hospital, is challenging efforts by the Iowa Clinic Surgery and Endoscopy Center to establish the two new labs...

1 - Childbirth Class, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. KEC 4 - Storm Lake Community Blood Drive-LifeServe Blood Center, 12:30-6 p.m. St. Mark’s Lutheran Church 6 - Young at Heart, Speakers: Nancy Marshall & Melissa Iehl, BVRMC Fitness & Health Center, 10 a.m. Facebook...

Ruth Hoffman from St. Charles, IL recently sent her nursing cape to the BVRMC Nursing Honor Guard after a friend from the area told her about the new program offered. She was a nurse in Primghar, Iowa in a house, prior to the hospital being built. We asked Ruth to send us a photo of her wearing it. ...

Daniel W. Swain, age 86 of Cherokee, passed away Monday, April 19, at Careage Hills in Cherokee. Funeral services was held on Friday, April 23, at the All Saints Episcipal Church in Storm Lake.. Rev. Stacey Gerhart withofficiate. Burial will be at Gilman Cemetery in Ashton. ...

By Lori Korthals Iowa State University Extension Your child’s first words or steps… Potty training… First day of school… High school graduation… Yes, parenting is filled with milestones and stages. Foundational to these parenting stages is the fact that all children grow and develop at their own pace. ...

Witter Gallery’s online auction, open through April 30, features 12 works created by 12 local artists. Highlighted here are three of the twelve artists who share their personal background in art, and the origins of their pieces to be auctioned. For as long as she can remember, Anita K. ...

A Spirit Lake man recently convicted of attempted murder and domestic abuse is appealing his 25-year prison sentence. Teangelo Lamel Grice pleaded guilty to the charges about two weeks ahead of his March 16 jury trial, and a judge passed sentencing before the end of the month. ...

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office and Spencer Police Department are two of 27 agencies comprising the multi-jurisdictional High-risk Entry and Arrest Team serving parts of northwest Iowa and Minnesota. Due to new laws affecting law enforcement procedure in the state of Minnesota, the Clay County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday questioned Clay County Sheriff Chris Raveling how the HEAT team would need to adjust, as Iowa law and Minnesota law are distinct from one another...

By Adam Dublinske Pilot-Tribune Staff The Buena Vista Raceway will be starting its next season of races on June 2 and will run through August 25. Located in Alta the raceway has been a part of the community since the 1960s. Built in 1961 it was originally 1/5 mile in size with a half mile horse track on the outside. ...

For artist Charles Bade, it has been the year that almost wasn’t. Shows and his classes were shut down by COVID-19 - and then there was the diagnosis. Prostate cancer, he reflects, changed his life for the better. Bade, who lives and works in Denver, Colo., returned to his native Storm Lake last week to install a gallery of his oil paintings at Poor Red’s Bar and Grill, owned by his friend since childhood, Mark Redenbaugh. ...

“I’m jealous of you guys, having a farm right here.” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig traded in a suit for jeans and boots Wednesday, to explore the Buena Vista University Ag Experiment Station, expressing his envy in a conversation with freshman BVU student Maggie Albert, an agriculture and business freshman student working in the emerging farm experience program...

The Dual Language program at Storm Lake Elementary School is receiving high marks from district officials as it completes its first year. “It’s been phenomenal to watch,” Principal Barb Lange said. The program allows kindergarten students to learn in both English and Spanish - spending half of each day with instruction in each language. ...

NEWELL - The Newell-Fonda track teams hosted the first Mustang Relays on Friday and Alta-Aurelia competed in them. The Mustang boys placed second with 153 points and the Warriors placed fifth with 86 points. In the individual events for the Mustangs Ryan Greenfield won the 100 meter dash at 11.74 seconds, Carter Sievers got the gold in the 400 meter dash at 53.37 seconds and Alex Spangler won the shot put and discus throw events with throws of 44 feet flat and 134-00.75, respectively. ...