Stories from Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Cherokee School Board approved a series of resignations at the regular meeting on Monday. The resignations include part-time middle school instrumental music teacher Ken Leander, middle school language arts teacher Cindy Taylor, bus driver Richard Bergert, high school secretary Bobbi Heath and several coaching positions...

Kentucky Derby memories The heart-warming story of the stunning Kentucky Derby victory of Barbaro, trained by Michael Matz, hero of the Flight 232 disaster, gripped the attention of many of us here in Siouxland the weekend of May 6. I loved it, but I have always been a huge fan of the Churchill Downs classic. ...

Earmarks hijacking The egregious use of earmarks to obtain federal funding for pet projects has become so widespread that many elected officials act as if they are obligated to grab as many dollars as they can to curry favor with constituents. What amounts to fiscal plunder is made even worse when earmarks are attached to vital funding bills, making it difficult to vote them down for fear of losing appropriations for essential programs...

The children of Dale and Helen Sturgeon, Sherry, Susan, Michael, and Connie, are honored to announce on June 10, 2006, an anniversary party celebrating sixty years of marriage for their parents. The event will be held at the home of their daughter, Connie Sturgeon Holmer in a beautiful mountainous setting in the Poudre Canyon just west of Fort Collins, Colo...

Neither Kim Rupp, county health nurse, nor Aimee Barritt, county emergency management coordinator and environmental health director, were pleased with comments from state health officials in a recent meeting with them. Rupp told the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that state officials asked what they could do to help with the meningitis problem experienced in Cherokee County...

The U.S. Congress and the President seem to be at a loss on how to deal with the problem of illegal immigration. Using the military to secure the border would create a massive perpetual expense. Treating illegal immigrants as felons would also create a massive perpetual expense. In order for this to be an effective deterrent, there would need to be hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants put into federal prisons...

The deadline of June l for the All-School Picnic reservations is just two weeks away. This is just a reminder to those who haven't already sent a check for tickets, or plan to purchase them at the Chamber of Commerce, to put it at the top of their "to do" list. ...

STORM LAKE - The Cherokee Washington High boys golf season came to an abrupt close in Sectionals here last week, the Braves finishing eighth in the 8-team tourney at Lake Creek Country Club here. Host Storm Lake won the Sectional team title after carding a 343, followed by Estherville-LC 359, Spirit Lake Park 363, Algona 363, Spencer 364, MOC-Floyd Valley 374, Le Mars 384, and Cherokee 410...

The ABC Committee (Association for the Beautification of Cherokee) is a small group with a big task, and they could use some help. The committee, which numbers from 7 to 10 people, is making a concerted effort to make the town look especially appealing for the two big events of the summer- the annual rodeo and the Sesquicentennial celebration...

Valley Bank & Trust is building a second bank facility in Marcus along side Highway 143, right off of State Highway 3. The bank is expanding their services to accommodate customers on the west side of Cherokee County. At the same time, the bank believes it will complement the new planned business park in Marcus while helping Marcus grow...

In its first year of operation, the Work Based Learning program at Washington High School is off to a good start, Larry Hunecke, high school principal, informed the school board on Monday. The instructors of the class for seniors are Tim Stoneking and Matt Malausky, who also teach other business classes...

This weekend will see graduations at many area high schools, good reason for celebrations. However, celebration does not need to involve risk of tragedy. Too often, young people across the country celebrating this right of passage to adult responsibilities become the victims of alcohol or drug related accidents...

What we'll need in the future People have never been good at predicting the future, especially not in predicting how future technology will affect our lives. When the concept of a computing machine was new, no one seemed to know what practical use it would be put to other than the earliest application of calculating ballistics...

Laird Waller in proud to announce the engagement of his mom, Dawn Munger of Peterson to Michael Fuhrman of Larrabee. Dawn is he daughter of Doris Munger and the late Donald B. Munger of Peterson. Michael is the son of Wayne and Pat Fuhrman of Sutherland...

James and Nancy Nelson of Quimby with Randy and Donna Reed of Aurelia and Marvin and Bernadine Timmerman of Paullina announce the engagement and approaching marriage of their children. Emelee Nelson the daughter of James and Nancy Nelson is a 1993 graduate of Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn High School and a 1997 graduate of South Dakota State University. She has a bachelors degree in Sociology and is currently employed at the Civil Commitment Unit in Cherokee...

Teachers are everyday heroes that rarely get recognized or even thanked for their outstanding work and efforts. The students in Miss Meribeth Adams' fourth grade class at Roosevelt Elementary decided to do something about it. They nominated Adams for the "Totally Awesome Teacher" award and she won. ...

It is said that his crazy act is no way mild. Look out he's coming, "The Wild Child", Troy Lerwill, will perform at each night of the 2006 Cherokee PRCA Rodeo scheduled for June 1-3. This years rodeo promises entertainment for a wide variety of audiences from horse and bull enthusiastics to those who like to ride the two wheeled horses...

Jim and Helen Bartlett of Cherokee are celebrating their 50th anniversary with an open house on Sunday, June 4 from 2-4 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee. Hosting the event are their children and grandchildren. No gifts please.

The plans and colorful, entertaining events are being finalized for the upcoming 2006 Cherokee PRCA Rodeo scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, June 1-3 at the Cherokee Fair Grounds. Cherokee's 40th annual PRCA Rodeo includes performances at 7:30 p.m. each day by the world's top cowboys and cowgirls who covet the high-quality shows produced by Barnes/MJM Rodeo of Cherokee and Peterson...

The Bacon Aquatic Center/Gillette Park committee has announced the raffle of a popular John Deere Gator CX with all proceeds supporting the Aquatic Center/Gillette Park fund drive. The Gator CX was available for raffle thanks to a donation from the employees of Builders Sharpening in Cherokee...

The Cherokee County Board of Supervisors approved a 36-month contract with Iowa Telecom for telephone service. The contract is expected to save the county about $2,000 a year and provide expanded service. Doug Jensen of Iowa Telecom was present at the Tuesday supervisor meeting and at a previous meeting to discuss the new service...

There's good news and bad news about the Cherokee Sesquicentennial being held from June 29 - July 2. First, the good news : It appears there will be many former Cherokee residents aas well as other visitors coming to town for at least part of the weekend...

If National Guard troops are indeed sent to the Mexican border, it would not be the first time. The precipitating situation is certainly not the same as it is now, but the very first time that National Guard troops were called upon to assist in a federal matter also involved guarding the Mexican border, exactly 90 years ago, in 1916...

As much as immigration issues have been in the news in recent weeks, it's surprising that we've heard so little about how the United States wound up with 9 million to 12 million illegal immigrants (estimates vary based on who's doing the guessing). With all kinds of laws on the books to regulate the human flow across borders, we still managed to wind up with millions of people who shouldn't be here...

Ethel Anderson will be celebrating her 90th birthday on Sunday, May 28 at the First Baptist Church in Cherokee from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Stop by and wish her a Happy Birthday.