Stories from Monday, March 3, 2014

WEST DES MOINES, IA -- Hy-Vee, Inc., an industry leading grocery retailer with 235 stores in eight states, announced plans today for a major expansion of its Minnesota operations into the Twin Cities market. Hy-Vee has been a fixture in Minnesota communities since 1969 and currently has 17 employee-owned stores statewide, with approximately 5,100 employees...

Students from Northwest Iowa and Southeast South Dakota gathered at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Cherokee last Wednesday to compete in the 2014 TEAMS (Tests of Engineering Aptitude Mathematics and Science) competition. TEAMS is an annual competition for middle and high school students which is designed to help the students discover their potential for engineering...

MANSON - The 3rd time was not the charm for the Alta-Aurelia boys here Thursday night as the Warriors fell to Newell-Fonda, 64-47, in a Class 1A District final game. The Twin Lakes Conference rivals had met two previous times this season, and the Mustangs swept all three games. Alta-Aurelia finished the season with an excellent 19-6 mark, with half of their losses to the Mustangs...

ORANGE CITY -- Mariah Clyde, a student at Northwestern College in Orange City, and member of the college's A cappella Choir, will perform with the ensemble in churches, schools and retirement homes in 10 communities across Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and New Mexico March 1--10. Visit www.nwciowa.edu/choir-tour for concert times and details...

Cherokee and surrounding area residents are strongly encouraged to check temperatures of their water supply on a daily basis for the next few weeks to verify that they are not nearing freezing temperatures. The City is receiving reports from one or two additional residents a day for the past several days reporting that they have no water. Either their water meter or their service line is frozen...

The Cherokee City Council last week approved the first of three readings of a proposed ordinance that would raise the municipal water and sewer user fees approximately 6% (single person household) to 8% (multiple person household) in each of the first two years...

Hunter education is a mandatory program for anyone born after January 1, 1972 and is designed to introduce students to several life-long skills that are important to the many different types of outdoor recreational opportunities. The course teaches students basic survival and first aid skills, water safety, wildlife identification, and the basics of wildlife management, hunting laws, and firearm/archery safety. ...

On April 25, the Cherokee/Ida Drug Endangered Children (DEC) team is hosting "Light the Night DEC GLOW 5K," a fundraiser for drug endangered children in Cherokee and Ida Counties. The informal fun run will start at 8:30 p.m. and have 5K or one-mile options on the Cherokee Mental Health Institute Campus, with glow stops throughout the route...

Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, and the 'Sermons a la Carte' series at Cherokee's Memorial Presbyterian Church, 127 East Willow Street, will kick off that day as well. Ethan Sayler of Memorial Presbyterian Church will present a brief sermon on "The Raising of Lazarus" at 12 noon on Wednesday, and this will be followed by lunch, which is being provided this week by Memorial Presbyterian Church and Cleghorn First Presbyterian Church...

Patrick Schmitz, Executive Director, recently announced that Holly Galles, DNP, ARNP, has joined the staff of Plains Area Mental Health enter. Dr. Galles has years of experience in nursing, both within a family medical clinic setting and as a Nurse Educator at St. Luke's College - Unity Point Health. She recently completed her Doctorate in Nursing Practice through Creighton University, with an emphasis on Family medicine and Psychiatry,...

March 3 - Paul Kestel, Storm Lake

MANSON - The 3rd time was not the charm for the Alta-Aurelia boys here Thursday night as the Warriors fell to Newell-Fonda, 64-47, in a Class 1A District final game. The Twin Lakes Conference rivals had met two previous times this season, and the Mustangs swept all three games. Alta-Aurelia finished the season with an excellent 19-6 mark, with half of their losses coming at the hands of Newell-Fonda (24-0)...

A Note from the Executive Director - So here we are at a state girls' basketball tournament game at the Iowa Event Center and Wells Fargo Arena. We have purchased our ticket, so let's find a seat and watch the game. All we need are the teams, coaches, and officials, right? As Lee Corso would say on ESPN's 'College Gameday,' "not so fast, my friend."...

The 2014 Northwest Iowa Senior All -Star Wrestling Meet will be held at Washington High School in Cherokee on Friday, March 7. The annual event will get underway at 6 p.m. The Senior All Star Meet brings senior wrestlers from Northwest Iowa who qualified for the State Wrestling...

A local television station ran a story here Wednesday about a couple with a frozen water line. They live on an acreage and have been without water for almost three weeks. Because of the high cost of hiring someone with machinery to come and get water flowing again, the man of the house has set out to solve the problem himself. ...

As temperatures across the country continue to hover at or near historic lows, homeowners and business owners need to focus on avoiding property damages during the cold snaps. Keep indoor temperatures above 65 degrees Fahrenheit, when possible. This will help keep pipes inside walls from freezing...