Stories from Monday, February 11, 2013

Go ahead, do something sweet on Valentine's Day. Thursday is Valentine's Day, and we desperately need a distraction from the boring winter and same-old, same-old routine we too often fall into - and the emotional doldrums that have accompanied them. This year - as much as any other in recent memory - we all need a little love...

Zach and ReNae Smith of Cherokee are happy to announce the birth of their baby girl. Reagan Lynn Smith was born at BV Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake at 2:07 p.m. on January 13, 2013, and she weighed 7 lb. 3 oz. at her birth. Reagan's grandparents are Mark and Becky Patterson of Cherokee and Lowell and Paula Smith of Aurelia.; Great-grandparents are Ron and Darlene Schmillen of Marcus; and Alma Hendrickson of Lakefield, Minnesota is her great-great- grandmother...

Cassy Joines and Justin Frederick of Cherokee are happy to announce the birth of their baby girl on February 4, 2013. Regan May Frederick was born at 10:10 a.m., and she weighed 8 lbs. 0 oz. and measured 20 inches long. Grandparents are Holly Dolph, Larry Joines, and Jeff and Julie Frederick...

Patricia "Pat" Ann Bittner of Cherokee,65, passed away Wednesday, February 6, 2013, at a hospital in Sioux City due to a brief illness. Funeral services were held on Saturday, February 9, 2013, at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cherokee. ...

REMSEN, IA -- Mid-Sioux Opportunity, Inc. is accepting applications for two $250 Richard Hatz Scholarships. Recipients of the scholarships are chosen based on their prior service to their community and their plans to further that service through educational advancement...

Cherokee Regional Medical Center is offering the Kenneth Hobson Memorial Scholarship for a graduating high school student interested in a health care career. Area high school counselors have received applications for distribution to interested candidates. Applications can also be found online at www.cherokeermc.org...

Pictured here are five generations of a family who recently gathered together - left to right, Grandma Jodie (Gravenish) Vaughan, of Windsor, Colorado; Great-great Grandma Mary Gravenish-Blair of Meriden; Great- Grandpa Dennis Gravenish of Cherokee; mother Breanne Vaughan; and (sitting) Breanne's son, Bosh Sobczak of Windsor, Colorado...

The Cherokee 3rd Grade Traveling Boys' Basketball Team recently captured first place in a tournament at Lawton-Bronson. Members of the team include, front row, left to right, Trey Benson, Joe Benson. Back, Mason Carver, Ryan Brown, Jacob Hodgdon, Quinton Olson, Will Lugar. Photo contributed...

The River Valley Boys' basketball team played on February 1st. River Valley pulled off a conference win against Westwood. The Wolverines had a tough first half going into halftime up by seven. River Valley came out on top 56 - 45. River Valley's top scorers were Brennan Riedemann with 25 points and Mason Alitz with 19 points. Mason Alitz led the Wolverines in rebounds with 8, and Brennan grabbed 7...

River Valley girl's faced Siouxland Community Christian Monday, February 4. The score going into half time was 23-21 River Valley. The final score was 42-39. Leading scorers for RV were Olivia Goettsch with 11 points, Bailey Fitch with 9 points, and Carley Burke with 7 points. Leading scorer for SCC was Anna Lockling with 16 points. Leading rebounders for RV were Olivia Goettsch with 9 and Carley Burke with 7...

1. Western Christian; 2. Lawton-Bronson; 3. IKM-Manning; 4. North Linn; 5. North Butler; 6. Manson-NW Webster; 7. Panorama; 8. West Marshall; 9. Hudson; 10. Aplington-Parkersburg 1. Central Lyon; 2. Newell-Fonda; 3. Bedford; 4. Ar-We-Va; 5. Burlington-Notre Dame; 6. Grundy Center; 7. Colo-Nesco; 8. Adair-Casey; 9. Meskwaki Settlement;...

Cherokee All-State 6'5" 260-pound offensive lineman Stetson Dagel last week signed his National Letter of Intent to play football for Coach Joe Glenn and the Division 1AA University of South Dakota Coyotes. A repeat All-District performer who also played basketball and competed in track and field for the Braves, he is the younger brother of Iowa State Cyclone Redshirt Freshman offensive lineman Brock Dagel, a 2011 Cherokee graduate. ...

MARCUS - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn girls hosted Remsen St. Mary's in first round Class 1A Regional Tournament basketball play on Thursday, and after a 15-15 standoff in the first quarter, the visiting Hawks moved ahead and ultimately ended their War Eagle Conference rival's season with a 47-32 victory...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Saturday mail may soon go the way of the Pony Express and penny postcards. The Postal Service said last week that it plans to cut back to five-day-a-week deliveries for everything except packages to stem its financial losses in a world radically re-ordered by the Internet...

It's 10 o'clock on a summer night along a gravel road anywhere in Iowa. In the farm pond next to the road a raucous chorus of male frogs are making themselves heard as they vie for mates. A volunteer stands clipboard in hand, ear cocked, mentally sorting out each of the calling species and the number of individuals using this seemingly ordinary pond...

The 28th annual Sermons a la Carte program begins on Wednesday (Ash Wednesday). This is a program offered by the Cherokee churches each Lenten season. Ministers from the different area congregations take turns delivering a message each Wednesday from 12:05 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Presbyterian Church, 127 E. Willow St. in Cherokee, and congregations from around the area also take turns serving a delicious lunch following the service at 12:30 p.m. The cost of the meal is $3...

Standing in front of the new Cherokee Yacht Club, currently under construction in Koser Spring Lake Park, are representatives of the Cherokee Washington High School class of 1958. Front row, left to right, Colleen Harmon, Paul Furhman, Dian Pearse. Back row, Dennis Dilocker, Don Witcombe, Doris Carlson, Carolyn Van Amberg. Others in the class also contributed, bringing the donation of this special WHS class to $1,625! Thank you WHS Class of 1958 for remembering your roots!...

Devoted organizers of Cherokee's annual Great Pancake Day Race advise that this year's event will not be held Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) due to ongoing refurbishing of the host, St. Paul United Methodist Church in Cherokee, extensively damaged by fire one year ago...

Coming soon from the frozen tundra of northern Minnesota/Wisconsin is a group playfully dubbed "The Cherokee Connection." Included in the group are authors, designers, leaders and musicians who focus on peaceful connection through story and song, offering both to residents of Cherokee on Saturday, February 16...

Coming soon to Cherokee - from the frozen tundra of northern Minnesota/Wisconsin - is a group who have playfully dubbed themselves "The Cherokee Connection." Included in the group are authors, designers, leaders and musicians who focus on peaceful connection through story and song,and they will be offering both to residents of Cherokee on Saturday, February 16...