Stories from Monday, May 12, 2014

DES MOINES - Volunteer school board members spend thousands of hours each year analyzing budgets, monitoring student achievement data, adopting effective policies, and making key decisions to ensure that each Iowa student receives an excellent education...

Parents, teachers, and child care providers are invited to explore the wonder of nature and the benefits it offers young children. Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach is hosting Nature Explore workshops May 19 in Cherokee, May 22 in Orange City, June 5 in Spirit Lake and June 12 in Sioux City. All workshops are from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. each night...

The early bird catches the worm. But what about the early birder and breakfast? The Cherokee County Conservation Board (CCCB) is hosting Breakfast with the Birds on Saturday, May 17 at Martin's Access beginning at 8:30 a.m. They'll meet in the South gate trailhead parking lot (by the new restrooms and campground). Bring your morning beverage of choice and the CCCB will bring continental breakfast items for the group...

The Artist of the Month for May at the Thiel Sanford Museum in Cherokee is Kimberly Baxter-Packwood of Ames. Baxter-Packwood started her artistic exploration at the age of nine, when she began sewing and doing craftwork, and she has been working in mixed media for approximately 20 years...

DES MOINES -- Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced Tuesday that his aide, Sandi O'Brien, will visit Cherokee County on Tuesday, May 20, at 1 p.m. at the Cherokee Regional Airport, part of a summer tour highlighting Harkin's partnership with Iowa communities through the years...

SIOUX CITY -- Morningside College's Keegan Bak, Matt Pitts, and Matt Young were all named to the 2013-14 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men's Golf Team, as selected by the league's head coaches. Bak, a junior from Hinton, had a scoring average of 78.8 strokes per 18 holes over the fall and spring seasons. He lowered his scoring average to 77.6 in the spring after he had an 80.4 scoring average in the fall...

Ridge View's Jason Kenny recently signed a Letter of Intent to participate in Track & Field, and Cross Country at Morningside College in Sioux City. Seated, left to right, Morningside Track Coach David Nash, Jason Kenny, Laurie and Kurt Kenny. Back, Ridge View coaches Randy Galvin and Katie Tesch. Photo contributed...

AURELIA - The Alta-Aurelia soccer team lost to Maurice -Orange City / Floyd Valley by a score of 8-1. The Warriors trailed, 3-0, at the end of the first half, and Alta-Aurelia's Michael Gonzalez scored his team's only goal in the second half. The score was 6-1 in MOC-FV's favor for much of the second half, before the Dutchmen added two more goals in the last minute and a half to make the final score 8-1...

BURNSIDE - The Twin Lakes Conference staged its annual conference championship track and field meet here on Tuesday, and the South Central Calhoun boys topped Manson Northwest Webster for the team championship,172.5 - 151, in a battle of two strong teams...

Emmetsburg rode the low medal scoring of two players to a boys Lakes Conference golf triangular victory at the Cherokee Golf Course, also featuring Le Mars and the hometown Braves. The E-Hawks totaled a 166 team score for the 9-hole match, followed by Le Mars 176, and Cherokee 195...

PRIMGHAR - The South O'Brien girls had golf duals against two War Eagle Conference opponents here on Thursday, and the Wolverines posted a narrow win in one match and suffered a narrow loss in the other - defeating Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn by a score of 216 - 218 and losing to Akron Westfield, 216-213...

Swimming lessons will again be offered to area youths through the Parks & Recreation Department, with early bird registration beginning from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 20 at the Bacon Aquatic Center. Public lessons cost $30 for ages five on up, and includes 10 45-minute sessions from Certified Water Safety Instructors. The first session is June 16-27, and the second session July 7-18...

The Cherokee Parks and Recreation Department hosted the annual Hershey Track & Field meet on April 24th. First place winners are invited to participate in the state meet at Marhsalltown on June 14th, where they to have a chance to go to Hershey, Pennsylvania for the National Finals...

As we approach the dangerous summer season, a time when the number of teen fatalities rises, let's make time to rally in defense of youth. In the recent past, senseless prom night tragedies with drinking and driving leading to tragic, fatal consequences have occurred too many times across the country...

Spencer slipped past the Cherokee Washington High girls in Lakes Conference tennis action here last week, claiming a 6-3 verdict. In varsity singles for the WHS club, Rachel Boyle beat Kate Wilkerson 10-5 at #1, Lauren Yearous lost 10-8 to Piper Swanson at #2, Angela Livezey defeated Tiffany Lovan 10-7 at #3, Jordyn Bingham lost 10-1 to Jenna Nissen at #4, Grace Teusink lost 10-2 to Kelsey Staples at #5, and Dusty Wright lost 10-7 to Kayla Shanks at #6...

SPENCER - The Cherokee Braves played it close but no cigar in an 8-1 Lakes Conference boys tennis match defeat to Spencer here last week. In varsity singles, the two #1 heavyweights in the conference - Cherokee's Brett Walker and Spencer's Alex Kaldahl - again battled to the wire, with Kaldahl winning 6-1, 2-6, (7-2 super tiebreak)...

KINGSLEY - The Alta-Aurelia track and field teams competed at Thursday's Kingsley-Pierson/Woodbury Central Invitational Track Meet, The team scores for the boys were not available, but individually, the Warrior boys had three 2nd place finishes - Ross Friedrich in the 1600 Meters, with a time of 5:06.81; the Shuttle Hurdle team of Bryce Radke, Jason Flaherty, Alex Larson and Jared Weiland, with a time of 1:08.16; and the 4 x 100 team of Trey Sliefert, Connor Napierala, Trenton Delp and Weiland, with a time of 47.44. ...

SAC CITY - The Alta-Aurelia golf teams had a rough outing here Thursday in a pair of Twin Lakes Conference dual matches against the East Sac County teams. The Alta-Aurelia girls lost their first dual of the season, as they were edged out by East Sac by a single stroke, 189-190...

The high school basketball coaches of Cherokee are organizing a fundamental basketball camp from June 9th to June 13th at the Cherokee Middle School Gym. The camp is open to boys who will be 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th graders this fall, and the camp will focus on teaching the fundamentals of basketball throughout the five days, with a variety of contests and fun games related to basketball which will help campers develop their skills...

May 11 Shelia Trapp of Washta May 11 Margaret Roethler of Larrabee

Jana Chase and Josh Naslund of Cherokee are happy to announce the birth of their baby boy on May 2, 2014. Emmet was born at 7:36 a.m., and he weighed 7 lb. 7 oz. and measured 19 1/2 inches long. Grandparents are Matt and Nancy Chase and Kevin and Tandra Naslund...

Evan and Jodi Johnson of Holstein are happy to announce the birth of their baby boy on May 2, 2014. Beckett Glenn Johnson was born at 7:27 p.m. and he weighed 6 lb. 12 oz., and measured 19 inches long. He was welcomed home by his big brothers, Brock and Bodie. Grandparents are Doug and Cindy Barry of Holstein and Larry and Rhonda Johnson of Galva...

DES MOINES -Volunteer school board members spend thousands of hours each year analyzing budgets, monitoring student achievement data, adopting effective policies and making key decisions to ensure that each Iowa student receives an excellent education...

Making up this year's Cherokee Washington High School Prom Court were, front row, left to right, Nick Bennigsdorf, Brianna Kellen, Yaritza Flores and Josh Haupert. Back row, Hannah Lewis, Nate Fowler, Queen Samantha Schoenherr, King Hunter Eaton, Blake Halverson and Mariah Collins. See more WHS Prom pictures in the "May Area Happenings" Photo Gallery. Photo by Doug Pierson...

Zane Young, Kevin Fajardo, and Alec Shultz were busy last week at the Lily of the Valley Schoolhouse in Cherokee. They spent a few hours doing landscaping work and cleaning the one-room schoolhouse as part of their National Honor Society volunteer projects. Photo by Mike Leckband...

The Cherokee School District Board of Education last week approved 2014-2015 salary and benefit contracts for non-union support staff and District directors, but delayed action on administration salary and benefits until a future meeting, pending evaluation of Chalstrom and the three District Principals, Neil Phipps, Larry Weede, and Barb Radke...

The location for another MidAmerican Energy 345,000 volt (kV) substation now doubles the focus of the O'Brien County Supervisors. As if the Highland Wind Farm issue wasn't enough for the Board to deal with, a 2nd planned substation surfaced at an April 29 Board meeting to compound matters...

MRSA is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that is resistant to several antibiotics. MRSA can cause skin and other infections. In a healthcare setting, such as a hospital or nursing home, MRSA can cause severe problems such as bloodstream infections, pneumonia, and surgical site infections. ...

Alice F. Fuhrman of Cleghorn, 101, passed away Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at Heartland Care Center in Marcus. Funeral services were held Saturday, May 10th, at 2 p.m. at the Cleghorn Presbyterian Church in Cleghorn. Rev. Peggy Hegeman and Pastor Bob Blair officiated...