Stories from Thursday, March 22, 2007

AURELIA - Approximately 50 concerned citizens met at the Aurelia Community Center Sunday afternoon, March 11th, for a second town meeting concerning a new Community Center. The group first met on December 16, 2006, to hear a proposal from a City Council committee of Roger Redig, Dar Evans, and Mayor Jeff Bowen, concerning demolition of the current, 80-year-old community center, and construction of a new, larger facility on the same site...

Bernice M. Hanson, 86, of Quimby, died Thursday, March 15, 2007 at the Country Side Estates in Cherokee. Funeral services were held today, March 19, at 10:30 a.m. at the Quimby United Methodist Church. Rev. Carolyn Hollar will officiate. Burial will be in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City. ...

Casey and Shannon Trap of Washta are please to announce the birth of the daughter Ruby Kay Trapp. Born on March 8, 2007 at 7:12 a.m. she weighed 8 lbs. and 2 oz. and measured 21 inches long. Welcoming Ruby home was her sister Emma Cecelia Trapp. Grandparents are Larry and Donna Trapp of Washta and Cheryl Cabot of San Gabriel, Calif. also Scot and Kathy McMorris of Pleasant Hill. Great-grandparents are Emma Trapp of Washta and Alveda Payton of Thornton...

Nathan and Jenni Bush of Cleghorn are pleased to announce the birth of their son Garrit William Bush. Born on March 8, 2007 he weighed 7 lbs. and 13 oz. and measured 21 inches long. Welcoming Garrit home are five sisters, Annaliese, Katie, Isabelle, Jessica and Olivia...

Well folks, you should get out and travel around this country to have your eyes opened. Each time I go elsewhere, my appreciation for Iowa becomes stronger and stronger. The negative factors of our country are slowly creeping into Iowa and we need to take a stand for what we really want...

We cringe as we watch the Cherokee County Board of Health's laborious effort to prevent the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors from locating the Public Health Department under the auspices of the Cherokee Regional Medical Center as a cost-cutting process...

An 84-year-old convicted Iowa sexual predator currently housed at the Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders (CCUSO) in Cherokee remains in custody here because the nursing home he'd planned to move into has rejected him. A jury last month decided - against the state's arguments - that Carlton Ward, formerly of Fairfield, is likely too old to reoffend, and a Jefferson County District Court ordered him discharged from the Iowa Department of Human Services CCUSO facility on the Cherokee Mental Health Institute Campus.. ...

"Throw away" cell phones can create problems for the county communication center, according to Dave Skou, communications supervisor for the Cherokee County Law Enforcement Center and the 911 coordinator for Cherokee County. Skou noted that cell phones are increasingly replacing land lines for phone calls, including 911 calls. Of the 227 calls last month to 911 in Cherokee County, 65 percent were from wireless phones...

Bob and Karen Ferris of Meriden are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter Jessica to Tyler Kannegieter, son of Rob and Diane Kannegieter of Aurelia. Jessica is a 2004 graduate of Marcus Meriden Cleghorn High School and a 2006 graduate of Iowa Lakes Community College with a degree in Business Administration. She is currently working at First Coop in Aurelia...

The post-season honors keep rolling in for Cherokee senior guard Kylie Dilla, who last week was named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association All-State second team for Class 2A. Dilla has already been named first team IGCA All-District, and first-team All-Lakes Conference for her senior season as Cherokee's leading scorer. She earned those same distinctions last season...

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cherokee senior Kayla Messerole has been selected to play in the 2007 Gatorade All-Star Basketball game in Cedar Rapids March 31 and April 1. Messerole is one of the top 120 senior girls in Iowa chosen to participate, with 30 players in each class comprising the Gatorade All-Star game...

FORT DODGE - Iowa Central Community College freshman Jessica Hunecke of Cherokee has been selected to the All-Region first team of the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC). Hunecke, 6-0 post player for the Tritons, twice broke the single game school record for rebounds, and led the conference in rebounding at 12.8 per game. Hunecke shot 63 percent (163-259) from the field for the Tritons (16-16), and averaged a team-leading 13.1 points per game...