Stories from Thursday, January 29, 2009

James and Tiffany Johnson are pleased to announce the birth of their son. Weston Michael Johnson was born on Dec. 28, 2008 6:01 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs. and 5 oz. and measured 19 ½ inches long. Welcoming Weston home are his brother, Wyatt and sister, Whitney...

Michael and Trisha Gordon of Loveland, Colo. are pleased to announce the birth of their first child, a daughter, Kenadee Grace. She was born on Dec. 30, 2008 at 10:35 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs. and 4 ½ oz. and measured 19 ½ inches long. Grandparents are Steve and Susan Casey and William and Cheryl Gordon of Cherokee...

Wilbur F. Haley, 89, of St Joseph, Missouri, formerly of Cherokee & Mechanicsville, died on Jan. 23, 2009 following a lengthy illness. Funeral services were held on Tuesday Jan. 27. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee. Rev. Ethan D. Sayler officiated. Visitation will be today from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Inurnment will be at a later date in the Meriden Cemetery. Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com...

I've have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Last week marked an end of an "error." That error was President George Walker Bush. I want to focus on a few items that I think represents how bad of a president he was. First on my list is the response to Hurricane Katrina. ...

Nothing says winter like a hearty and delicious meatloaf. In fact, food trends watchers predict that meatloaf will be popular in this next year. They say 2009 is all about getting back to the basics and that classic foods that everyone grew up with is making a comeback. There are some really fun and creative ways to entertain with meatloaf, including some great and unique ideas to entertain guests with meatloaf...

A superb comeback in the final minutes went for naught here on Jan. 23, as a talented Spencer team nicked the battling Cherokee Braves, 56-55, at the buzzer, as Cherokee's final, game-winning shot came up just short. The Braves' loss was Heart-break City, as they withstood the Tigers' initial salvo of draining 6-8 three-pointers in the first half to mount a 33-21 halftime lead...

The undefeated and Class 3A rated Spencer girls rushed to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter, expanded that to 37-11 at halftime, and raced away to a 71-28 demolition of a youthful Cherokee team in Lakes Conference basketball here on Jan. 23. Freshman Jackie Wilson led Cherokee with seven points, while Katie Sambrano and Shelby Dilla aded five each. Kelly Gerdeman led Spencer with 16 points...

MARCUS - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn wrestlers rolled over tough Sioux Center and Hinton squads in a double dual here on January 19th, defeating the Warriors 36-30 and the Blackhawks, 67-6. Jerad Letsche pinned both of his opponents to pace the Eagles, and Tyler Pearson won both of his matches by decision...

The youthful Cherokee Braves split a Lakes Conference double wrestling dual here on Jan. 22, defeating Estherville-LC 42-30, and succumbing to a strong Spencer team, 61-6. Pin winners for Cherokee were Calvin Conley at 152 pounds, Patrick Loughln at 160, Tyler Lundsgaard at 171, and Nick Keith at 215...

One of the goals for the Cherokee County Veterans Affairs Office for 2009 is a more aggressive out-reach program. According to the Cherokee County Veterans Director, Dana Evans, the office will be focusing on meeting with area clubs and organizations to get them more involved with the county veterans needs. "I'll be getting out of the office and see more people and just visit with them to get the word out," said Evans...

SIOUX CENTER - Thirty-three Dordt College students and three Dordt employees served as mission volunteers in Nicaragua, Belize, and the Dominican Republic in January through the college's A Mission OutReach (AMOR) program. Ryan Johnson, a college senior from Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn, participated in the international service/missions opportunity that has been offered annually to students at Dordt College since the 1980s. ...

Mongolia is a large country. As I mentioned in a previous article, if you placed Mongolia on top of the United States it would reach from Denver to New York. A country this large means travel is going to be a little tricky (and it is). As Peace Corps Volunteers we are spread throughout the country. ...