Stories from Friday, October 31, 2014

I left Cherokee in August of 2008 after nearly 18 years of working at Cherokee newspapers, first the Cherokee Daily Times, then the Chronicle, then the Chronicle Times. An opportunity arose to return to the community when staff writer Mike Leckband decided to pursue other interests. I was contacted by my former supervisors and long-time colleagues Paul Struck and Troy Valentine. They knew that I was between jobs and inquired as to whether I'd be interested in returning to the Chronicle Times...

By now, we have grown tired of what seems to be an endless roll of campaign commercials and attack advertising that has many believing this batch of political candidates are either incompetent, ill-equipped, or merely puppets on a string for big money barons and not-so-secret agendas...

The Farmers store at Marcus was broken into Sunday night and over $100 worth of goods taken. The people of Marcus are getting tired of the recurrence of these burglaries. Sheriff Huber was notified Monday morning and sent to Manning, Iowa, for blood hounds. Tuesday morning R. W. Bilileck arrived with his pair of trained dogs...

The Cherokee County Auditor's Office was humming with activity on Wednesday as members of the Auditor's Officer were busy testing the voting machines for next week's election. Left to right,Brian Gerjets, Cherokee County Democrat Co-Chair, who witnessed the testing; Lynn Winterhof, poll-worker; Kris Glienke, County Auditor/Commissioner of Elections; Emily Heidesch, Auditor's Assistant; and Jason Kline, Auditor's Technology Assistant...

The Cherokee County Board of Supervisors voted at the Oct. 28 meeting to withdraw from the Sioux Rivers Mental Health & Disability Services Region. The state is divided into 15 regions as of this year. The transition from county-based mental health services to multi-county services resulted from changes in state law and went into effect this year...

Taylor Miller and Cody Duhn of Storm Lake are happy to announce the birth of their baby boy, who was born on October 23, 2014. Logan Rodney Duhn was born at 7:06 a.m., weighed 7 lb. 13 oz., measured 21 1/2 inches long, and he was welcomed home by his big brother, Leeam. Grandparents are Diana Duhn and John Bartholomew...

Nathan A. Phipps II, DVM of Cherokee, age 84, passed away Monday, October 27, 2014, at the Cherokee Regional Medical Center. Funeral services are being held at 10:30 a.m. today (October 31, 2014) at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cherokee. ...

Richard D. Jensen,of Cherokee, 84, passed away Saturday, October 25, 2014, at the Cherokee Villa. A Memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, 2014, at the Calvary Lutheran Church in Irene, South Dakota, and burial will take place at the Turkey Valley Cemetery in Irene. There will not be a visitation. The Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.greenwoodfuneral .com...

Neal R. Johnston of Cleghorn, 49, passed away at his home on Wednesday, October 29, 2014,with his family by his side. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, 2014, at the First Church of Christ in Cherokee. Pastor Tom Lewis will officiate. ...

Open enrollment for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act begins Nov. 15, and Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach is offering a free workshop to help local residents understand how to make "Smart Choices" for purchasing health care coverage...

The Cherokee City Council, at the Oct. 28, meeting, approved a change in the way the city disposes of abandoned properties to get them back on the tax rolls and no longer city maintenance obligations. The past practice was to put them all of for auction at the same time, a practice that resulted in the sale of three properties...

The Cherokee City Council continued discussion on possible reorganization of city departments to save money in administrative salaries during the Oct. 28 meeting. The need for cost saving changes resulted from the closing of the Tyson plant which not only diminished the tax revenue from the plant but also eliminated revenue from contracts Tyson had with the city for providing water and treating wastewater...

The Cherokee City Council heard a report on a street rebuild project on North Roosevelt Avenue from John Meis, consulting engineer of professional engineering services. The cost estimate has increased considerably since the original proposal was presented to obtain a federal grant. The grant has been approved for $420,000 of the original estimated cost of $525,000...

Rick Stewart is running for U.S. Senate from Iowa; however, Stewart is not your "regular candidate." He is an Independent and has no political ties to either the Iowa Republicans or the Iowa Democrats. Funding has been his main hurdle during this campaign, but that hasn't stopped Stewart from thinking outside the box when it come to getting his message out...

A skilled Cherokee Wahington High volleyball team fought to the bitter end but couldn't combat the firepower of Sergeant Bluff-Luton to fall 3-1 in Class 3A State Regional action here Monday night. The visiting Warriors claimed game scores of 20-25, 25-20, 25-10, 25-19 to subdue the WHS girls, who end their stellar season with a 21-16 match record while competing in the toughest 3A conference (Lakes) in the State...

REMSEN - Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn swept all three games from Remsen St. Mary's to move on in Class 1A Regional Volleyball Tournament action here Tuesday night, posting game scores of 25-23, 25-22, 25-16. Alison Meehan led Eagle hitters with 20-22 and five kills, followed by Sarah Dreckman 19-21 and nine kills, Haley Moser 14-21 and 10 kills, Emily Moser 11-11 and five kills, and Jasi Vasher 5-5 and one kill...

1. Clear Lake (11),2. Spirit Lake (2), 3. Williamsburg, 4. Sioux Center, 5. West Union North Fayette, 6. Hampton-Dumont,7. Baxter CMB,8. Cascade,9. Albia, 10.Mediapolis Others receiving votes: Clarinda, Central Lyon-GLR , Dyersville Beckman, South Tama...

HARTLEY - The South O'Brien girls fell to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in Class 2A Regional volleyball play here on October 21 by game scores of 15-25, 22-25, 21-25. The loss ended the Wolverines season with an 8-18 season record, and they were 4-7 in War Eagle Conference play...

ORANGE CITY - The Alta-Aurelia volleyball team's 20-win season came to an abrupt end here on Tuesday as they were defeated, 3-0, by host Unity Christian in Class 2A Regional volleyball action. Game scores were 25-8, 25-10, 25-11. Jenna Snyder paced the Warrior hitters with 11-11 and four kills, followed by Izzy Hinkeldey 11-14 and six kills, Micah Barnes 10-13 and one kill, and Lauren Rohwer 4-5 and two kills...

SCHALLER - The Ridge View volleyball team took a 24-10 mark into Tuesday's Class 2A matchup with Hinton (17-17), but the Blackhawks beat the Raptors, 27-25, in the first game, then went on to take the next two games as well, by game scores of 25-14 and 25-18, putting an end to the Raptors' season...

Jared and Heather Kirkeby of Cherokee are proud to announce the birth of their baby girl, who was born on October 15, 2014. Jocelyn Ruth Kirkeby was born at 7:39 p.m. and she weighed 8 lb. 7 oz. and measured 22 inches long. Grandparents are Ryan and Hope McCollam of Cherokee and Al and Wilma Kirkeby of Brandon, South Dakota...