News

Eighteen members of the Cherokee Quilt Batts made 35 snap pouches during a three-day retreat at the Cleghorn Community Center. The pouches are made especially spent shell casings that are fired by local VFW Honor Guards after a military salute at a veteran’s funeral. ...

At its June meeting. the Cherokee School Board approved the District’s bids for fuel, dairy, and bread vendors for the 2022-23 school year, the dairy and bread bids as provided by Food Services Director Cara Jacobson, and fuel bids as presented by Transportation Director Rachel Mallory...

Cherokee Daycare applied for and received a significant $582,900 grant through the State of Iowa specifically for daycares during the COVID-19 crisis. Debbie Nelson, Board of Directors President, explains "It was quite a process to obtain the grant, but with the help of every board member, and the Child Care Resource and Referral staff, we were able to get the grant that was was greatly needed for upgrades that the daycare didn't have funding for...

QUIMBY - The long-standing traditions of children’s parades, BINGO, carnival rides, cake walks, the church food stand, and, of course, the FREE watermelon, have been bringing generations to this otherwise quiet Iowa town. Beginning Friday, June 24th, and continuing Saturday, June 25th, there are events for almost every member of the family to enjoy...

The dust is settling from our April 1 purchase of the Storm Lake Pilot Tribune and Cherokee Chronicle Times, so it seems an apt time to report on what condition our condition is in. We think we broke even over the past couple months. It’s hard to tell precisely as bills we didn’t know about continue to plop on John’s desk, and the unravelling of newspapers from their former corporate chain can leave chunks of income floating in the great betwixt until it gets pinned down...

QUIMBY - The long-standing traditions of children’s parades, BINGO, carnival rides, cake walks, the church food stand, and, of course, the FREE watermelon, have been bringing generations to this otherwise quiet Iowa town. Beginning Friday, June 24th, and continuing Saturday, June 25th, there are events for almost every member of the family to enjoy...

With tensions peaking among parents after the deadly Texas school shooting and other mass shootings in schools and elsewhere, an alleged issue with malfunctioning doors at the Cherokee Middle and Elementary School campus fueled rumors and accusations in Cherokee...

Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC sent Executive Vice President over Engineering, Stephen Lee to the June 14 O'Brien County Board of Supervisors meeting to brief the supervisors on recent progress and developments with Navigator's proposed Heartland Greenway carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) pipeline system...

Morningside announces spring 2022 Dean's List   Morningside University Vice President for Academic Affairs Chris Spicer announced the 454 students named to the Dean's List for the spring semester of the 2021-22 academic year.        The Dean's List recognizes Morningside students who achieve a 3.67-grade point average or better and complete at least 12 credits of coursework with no grade below a "C-." Students that achieved a 4.0-grade point average are denoted with an asterisk (*)...

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, a spokesman for Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS), the company proposing a liquid CO2 pipeline through Cherokee County, presented all the positives involved in the project, including a projected $2 million annual property tax payday for the county...

It appears the contract agreement regarding the proposed F Avenue paving project between Cherokee County and Little Sioux Corn Processors (LSCP) found binding by a District Court judge, was finalized by LSCP lawyers before the Supervisors signed off on it...

Cherokee eighth grader Brody Cowan is sitting high in the saddle these days. The local cowboy recently earned the 2022 State Championship in Saddle Bronc Steer Riding competition, and was also recognized by the Iowa Junior High School Rodeo Association as the 2022 Reserve Champion All-Around Cowboy...

Of the few local races in Cherokee County at Tuesday’s Primary, Republican Dave Skou defeated incumbent Republican Wane Miller for the District 3 County Supervisor post, garnering 1,042 votes to Miller’s 332. In the District 4 Supervisor’s race, Republican Cheryl Ellis ran unopposed, collecting 1.197 votes...

Marcus native, Anna Erdman, to serve as primary therapist

SUTHERLAND - There will be a ceremony in Sutherland on Saturday, June 18 at 1:00 P.M. to honor James P. Martin, Iowa’s last living Civil War soldier He passed away in 1949 at the age of 101, also one of the last in the country. The ceremony will be held at Waterman Cemetery southeast of Sutherland. Martin was born in Scotland, grew up in Wisconsin, and served in the 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery in the Civil War. Later, he moved to the Sutherland area, farming and becoming a prominent citizen...

Work have been under way at the Roorda Dairy anaerobic digester site 5 miles west of Paullina in O’Brien County, with the tank crew assembling the 55 foot tall, 110 foot diameter digester reactor tank.\ Anaerobic digester systems are the coming thing in livestock operations, capturing the methane gas from manure storage sites and selling it to natural gas companies, transported through small pipelines. ...

Derek Scott, County Sheriff, and Rick Singer, Plymouth County Chief Deputy, presented information to the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors’ May 24 meeting on the current 1980 Peacemaker Armored Vehicle that is used for a multi-jurisdictional emergency response team. Plymouth County is asking for funding to purchase a new vehicle that will carry up to 12 individuals and their equipment...

The Cherokee County Auditor’s Office reminds voters that polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 for the Primary Election. All residents in Iowa must vote in the precinct they live in on Election Day. Voters are asked to carefully review polling location information as precincts and polling places have changed for many residents...

Buena Vista University congratulates more than 500 students who were named to the Spring 2022 Dean's List. Local students who were named to BVU's Dean's List include: Jacquelyn Cosby of Sutherland Caitlyn Ebert of Washta Courtney Johnson of Cherokee...

As another corn and soybean planting season wraps up, there’s an evolving issue that too many Midwest Corn Belt farmers probably don’t want on their minds. While attending the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) required landowner’s informational meetings last fall regarding the two proposed Midwest carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) pipelines, several pro and con arguments were articulated...

At the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors meeting May 10, Debbie Erpelding and Jenny Marshall representing Aurelia Day Care, provided an informative update on services provided to area families and requested county funding for equipping rooms for the 87 children being served...

Iowa school districts’ lunch programs will not be featuring free lunch next school year. The free lunch program for students was parr of the federal government coronavirus rescue funding program no longer applicable. Cherokee Schools Food Service Director Cara Jacobson reports that letters will be sent out to parents after July 1 to fill out the necessary paperwork for the existing Free/Reduced lunch program next school year for eligible families. ...

Last week a judge ruled in favor of Little Sioux Corn Processors’ lawsuit against Cherokee County to pave a 3-mile stretch of F Avenue from County Road C-16 south to the ethanol plant. Initially placed in the county’s 5-year roads program, the project was later removed after costs doubled and more pressing roads and bridge work was identified...

MARCUS -The MMCRU-Marcus Campus will host a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, May 25 at 10:30 a.m. on the south side of the elementary school directly north of the football stadium. The new facilities will be constructed over the next 1 1/2 years...

The eagerly anticipated greenhouse project proposed to enhance Washington High School’s science department with hands-on learning, has been tabled into the future. The school received a single bid for the initially estimated $200,000 project, and it totaled $437,000, prompting the School Board to nix the greenhouse at this time...

The Cherokee School Board Monday night approved eight employee contract extensions, two resignations, and two internal transfers. Among those contract extensions was the appointment of Jason Spooner as Washington High School Activities Director, replacing former AD Josh Landhuis who will now serve as Middle School Activities Director and continue teaching 5th grade math. ...

IDOT and City contractors working on the downtown Highway 59 curb, storm sewer and sidewalk portion of the job sunk to new depths Saturday afternoon when digging uncovered an unknown void under the sidewalk in front of the Chronicle Times building. Unbeknownst to workers, the newspaper building’s unused north basement room extended out under the sidewalk and dirt, sand and concrete fell into the void as it was uncovered...

In making the decision to purchase the historic Cherokee Lewis Hotel last fall and invest in the community, developer Zachary Zoul said, “We have been very impressed by the Cherokee community. The City and local business and economic development officials have demonstrated a positive and progressive approach to community development. City and local officials have been very supportive of the preservation of the Historic Lewis Hotel and encouraging of our plans...

Sanford Museum’s May Artist Susan McCulley says she has always had an affinity for animals, so it should be no surprise that wildlife consistently emerges as the main theme for her artwork. Her connection with animals shows through in her scratchboard portraits. Scratchboard is a white or colored surface that has been covered with black ink. The black ink is then scratched away leaving a “subtractive drawing,” which leaves the surface underneath showing through...

In the early 1990s volunteers formed the depot group to Save the Depot in Cherokee. The depot had been considered for demolition. Organizers named their group Depot Renovation, Inc., and in those early years they planted Ash trees in the yard south of the depot and the express building. The trees grew and thrived as evident by the accompanying photo taken during the Fall Family Festival in September 2021...

The city assisted in writing a community catalyst and downtown housing grant with Simmering-Cory. The city has been notified that the downtown housing grant for 231 W. Main St.(Lewis Hotel) was funded for $600,000 to renovate and add 6 new apartments. This will be a pass-through grant funding...

Credits city ‘partnership’

Tickets for the 56th annual Cherokee PRCA Rodeo Thursday through Saturday, June 2-4 are now on sale at the Chamber of Commerce office at 201 W. Main St. Save money by purchasing your tickets in advance at www.cherokeerodeo.com or by stopping in the Chamber office through May 31...

Listed at $480,000 by its former owners, the new owner/developer Zoul Properties, LLC, last fall purchased the historic Cherokee Lewis Hotel for $420,000 with plans now ongoing to renovate and develop commercial spaces in the 122 year-old, 3-story, downtown structure...

The Cherokee Chamber of Commerce invites you to join us at the 56th Annual Cherokee PRCA Rodeo June 2-4, 2022. The event features 7 PRCA & WPRA events once again at the Cherokee County Fairgrounds. The popular NW Iowa rodeo classic that attracts fans from throughout the Midwest, is produced by the nationally renown Barnes PRCA Rodeo Company of Cherokee and Peterson. That family-owned operation has produced the Cherokee Rodeo all 55 years to date!...

Several students at MMCRU were recently awarded the opportunity to participate in the Skills USA program competing at the state leadership and skilled trades competitions in various events. They had numerous students medal in the top three in the state. That qualified them to compete at the nation level in Atlanta, Georgia this summer...

LE MARS - For the second time in less than a month, the Le Mars Daily Sentinel, the Shopper’s Guide and the Remsen Bell have a new owner. It was announced Friday that Iowa Information Media Group purchased the papers from Hallmark Media II, the company that had acquired the products on April 1 from Rust Publications. The sale was effective May 1...

The Cherokee Chamber of Commerce invites you to join us at the 56th Annual Cherokee PRCA Rodeo June 2-4, 2022. The event features 7 PRCA & WPRA events once again at the Cherokee County Fairgrounds. The popular NW Iowa rodeo classic that attracts fans from throughout the Midwest, is produced by the nationally renown Barnes PRCA Rodeo Company of Cherokee and Peterson. That family-owned operation has produced the Cherokee Rodeo all 55 years to date!...

Accepts R.J. Thomas Mfg. marketing position

OKs sewer project for new locker plant

Pledges $45,000 for Meriden FD truck

At what age is one a “senior citizen”? Google says the term typically refers to someone who is retired and above the age of 60 or 65, so while this article is in the “Senior Scene” section, the Country Cruisers Dance Club is hardly a “senior citizens” group. The social aspect of the club may appeals to many, but dancing offers great health benefits and can keep you “feeling young.”...

Featuring Iowa Senate, House candidates

Cherokee County not one of them

ARP funds, expenditure adjustments cited

In a City Council report on radio KCHE this morning, the Cherokee mayor reproted that “Main Street” was closed due to construction. Actually, U.S. Highway 59 is under construction but is NOT closed as motorists are free to travel in their single lanes...

The Iowa Transportation Commission’s 5-year plan (2022-2026) that includes an estimated $30 million for projects in Cherokee County is under way. Major Cherokee County projects proposed in the 5-year plan are replacement of the Iowa Highway 3 by-pass bridge, paving of U.S. ...

The $30 million IDOT highway improvement projects now under way in Cherokee County were aided and encouraged by the Cherokee Area Economic Development Corporation (CAEDC), and city and county efforts. In December of 2018 CAEDC hosted the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and leaders from around the county to discuss critical transportation projects in Cherokee County...