Stories from Monday, September 22, 2014

In less than two weeks, the baseball-playing career of Derek Jeter will come to an end after two decades of stellar play. With several World Series rings, yearly All-Star selections, more than 3000 hits, and a career batting average of over.300, the election of "The Captain" to baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in five years, when he'll be eligible for the first time, seems to be a foregone conclusion. ...

OLD SCHOOL: Wanted: School bus drivers. Must have valid DL, be tall enough to see over dashboard and feet to reach pedals, operate manual door opener and warning light switch, hardly any felonies, wear clothes. Apply at school. NEW SCHOOL: Wanted: School bus drivers. ...

The growing problem of a shortage of school bus drivers threatens the transportation programs of many rural Iowa schools, including Cherokee and several surrounding districts. Among the many reasons for this job pool drain are: *Cumbersome state and/or federal restrictions and mandatory testing on-line and face-to-face chasing some applicants away, including retirees who may not be well-versed in computer technology...

DES MOINES - Cherokee attorney John M. Loughlin was recently elected by his peers in Judicial District 3A to serve on The Iowa State Bar Association's Board of Governors. He will serve a multi-year term on the board, which is the policy-making body of the ISBA...

Jeremy and Christa Blake of Mapleton are happy to announce the birth of their baby boy, who was born on September 15, 2014. Thatcher Drew Blake was born at 12:50 a.m. He weighed 8 lb. 14 oz., measured 22 inches long, and was welcomed home by his big brother, Daxten, and his big sister, Rowan...

The Cherokee County Conservation Board (CCCB) is hosting a Halloween Hike on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Silver Sioux Recreation Area. The night will be filled with activities for everyone from 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. The evening will begin with trick-or-treating in the campground. ...

MARCUS - Marcus Lumber's crew is busy gearing up for its 3rd Annual Ladies Night Out Event scheduled on Thursday, Sept. 25 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. This totally free, hands-on informative event has become a tremendous local hit with close to 500 area women attending last year's open house. ...

CORRECTIONVILLE - The Correctionville American Legion Auxiliary is hosting the third Annual Military Appreciation Day on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the the River Valley High School from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Service organizations, such as the Woodbury Veterans Affairs, Patriotic Outreach, Sioux Falls VA Center and the Red Cross, will be on hand from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. to answer questions and provide direction for Veteran's benefits...

DES MOINES -- Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey recently encouraged farmers and those living in and traveling through rural Iowa to stay safe this harvest season. Northey issued the reminder as part of National Farm Safety and Health Week which runs from September 21 to 27...

Alta-Aurelia celebrated its Homecoming on Friday September 12th, and Mitchell Fritz and Katelynn DeRoos were crowned as the 2014 Homecoming King and Queen. For photos of the Alta-Aurelia Homecoming Parade, see the 'Alta-Aurelia Homecoming' Photo Gallery...

The members of the 2014 Cherokee Washington High School Homecoming Court were revealed on Friday at the WHS Auditorium. This year's candidates for Homecoming Queen are, left to right, Emily Haselhoff, Sydney Hart, Libby Peterson, Jasey Stowater, and Sara Ramirez. Candidates for Homecoming King are Hunter Morrow, Derek Dewitt, Derek Bechtel, Jacob Kindwall, and Christian VandeLune...

SIOUX RAPIDS - The Alta-Aurelia varsity boys' Cross Country team totaled 64 points to edge Spirit Lake by four points and come out on top of a strong 13 -team field at Thursday's Sioux Central Cross Country Meet. The Warrior boys were led by Michael Swanson's time of 18:09, which placed him 8th among 72 runners. ...

The Cherokee Athletic Boosters are hosting a Braves' Homecoming Football Tailgate Friday night when rated Spirit Lake comes to town for a Class 2A District game. Hy-Vee is sponsoring the meal from 5:30 -7 p.m, which includes a marinated turkey tenderloin sandwich, brownie, chips, and drink for $5. An extra sandwich is $3...

MARCUS - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn volleyball team picked off two wins at a truangular here last week, beating Remsen-Union 3-0 by game scores of 26-24m 25-23, 25-14; and West Sioux 3-2 on game scores of 16-25, 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 15-5. Alison Meehan paced the MMC hitters in the win over R-U, with a 17-18 effort and six kills, followed by Sarah Dreckman 14-16 and four kills, Emily Moser 7-7 and three kills, Haley Moser 11-18 and two kills, and Jasi Vasher 8-11 and three kills...

SLOAN - Ridge View defeated Westwood 3-1, and West Monona 3-0 in a volleyball triangular here last week. Game scores for the Raptors were 25-19, 25-13, 24-26, 25-22 in the win over Westwood; and 25-17, 25-17, 25-15 over West Monona. Karlen Lamp led Ridge View hitters past Westwood with a 26-33 effort and six kills, followed by Kyra Hoffman 26-30 and 12 kills, Emily Brosamle 21-27 and 11 kills, and Taylor Muckey 8-9 and three kills...

MAPLETON - River Valley lost two matches against rugged competition at the Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto volleyball triangular here last week, falling 1-3 to Woodbury Central and 0-3 to host MVAO. Game scores in the loss to Woodbury Central were 19-25, 25-16, 19-25, 21-25; and 14-25, 15-25, 13-25 against MVAO...

FORT DODGE-The Storm Lake High School Girls Swim Team had another great meet here on Thursday, September 18 at the Gary Winkler Invitational. The final team scores from the meet were: Spencer 300, Sioux City Metro 229, Boone 207, Storm Lake 193, Fort Dodge 170, Des Moines North 62 and Algona 50. The team placed sixth at this meet last year; so this was a great improvement. The team broke four records during the meet and had many impressive swims...