Stories from Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Dear Children, Slowly we go, step by step...closer to the holidays and a long school vacation. The library would be a handy place to go to get away from the cold weather, the holiday noise and traffic, and all those extra people at home when you need a little quiet time. Plus there is so much to do: books (of course), magazines, games, puzzles, always a craft project set out AND peace and quiet!!...

If not for the superstition that a picking up a penny conveys good luck, any such coin dropped on the sidewalk would stay there until it was swept away along with other debris. Adages involving the penny date back to when the coin was more than just a nuisance...

Maureen Kohn of Cherokee, 84, passed away Monday, December 8, 2014, at the Cherokee Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 13, 2014, at Immaculate Conception Church in Cherokee, with Father Dan Guenther and Father Gene Sitzmann officiating. ...

Thomas Selk of Larrabee, 67, passed away Sunday, December 07, 2014, at the Fort Madison Health Center in Fort Madison, Iowa. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 11, 2014, at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cherokee. ...

ALTA - Alta-Aurelia coach Chris Abaray said his boys' 63-59 Twin Lakes Conference basketball win over Storm Lake St. Mary's here on Friday "wasn't pretty, but we will take this win and move forward." Coach Abaray gave credit to St. Mary's for playing scrappy and putting together nice runs to keep the game close when Alta-Aurelia had opportunities to put the game away. ...

SERGEANT BLUFF - Tyler Zeimen placed fourth, Matt Stines fifth, and Isaac LaFleur sixth to pace the Cherokee Braves at Saturday's rugged Sergeant Bluff-Luton Wrestling Invitational featuring 15 teams. Zeimen posted a 3-2 match record for his fourth-place finish at 160 pounds, pinning Michael Trageser of West Sioux in 1:14; losing by falll to Brandon Sorgenfrei of Papillion LaVista, Neb. ...

CORRECTIONVILLE - The River Valley girls outscored Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire 17-5 in the fourth quarter to pocket a hard-earned 32-25 basketball victory here Friday night. After trailing 20-15 heading into the final frame, the Wolverines had to regroup after GTRA went on a 10-1 scoring run in the third quarter to take the lead before River Valley's comeback in the fourth decided it...

CORRECTIONVILLE - Visiting Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire went on a pivotal 20-2 scoring run in the second quarter to provide enough cushion to prevail 62-52 over River Valley in boys basketball action here Friday night. The Wolverines outscored the Titans 50-42 in the other three quarters but that looming second-period deficit bit them in the end...

HOLSTEIN - The Ridge View girls started out slowly in their non-conference basketball game with Clay Central-Everly here on Friday, but they were able to come out of the halftime break fired up, picking up the defensive effort and getting a spark from freshman Beth Pickhinke, who Raptors coach Jessica Christensen said "really stepped it up and was incredibly aggressive."...

HOLSTEIN - The Ridge View boys rolled to a 62-19 win here on Friday night over a young Clay Central-Everly team, in non-conference basketball action, which Raptors' coach Ken Slater said was "a nice way to end a successful week." Slater was happy that he was able to get in some good work, and he was also able to get all of his players some game experience...

LE MARS - Le Mars Gehlen outscored Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn 42-16 in the second half to claim a convincing 79-38 War Eagle Conference boys basketball victory here Friday night. Isaiah Petersen and Jacob Spieler paced the MMC boys in scoring with 11 points apiece, and Conner Hansen added seven. Spieler snagged nine rebounds to lead that category for the Eagles, and Petersen grabbed seven boards. Spieler also led his team in steals with three...

LE MARS - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn girls put the hammer down in the second half to outscore Le Mars Gehlen 27-12, including an 11-4 run in the third quarter on the way to a 51-33 War Eagle Conference basketball win here Friday night. Sarah Dreckman and Jasi Vasher led the Lady Eagles with 13 and 11 points respectively, while balanced scoring saw Brooklyn Treinen add eight, Ashley Hurd seven, and Alison Meehan six. ...

MANSON - The Alta-Aurelia Warriors and Ridge View Raptors each traveled to Manson NW Webster on Saturday, December 6th, to compete in the Doug Wood Wrestling Tournament. The Warriors finished fourth in the team standings, just six points out of third, and Ridge View was not far behind, finishing in sixth place in the team standings among the 12 teams who competed. ...

Nevada vs. Louisiana-Lafayette in the New Orleans Bowl Utah State vs. UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl No. 22 Utah vs. Colorado State in the Las Vegas Bowl Western Michigan vs. Air Force in the Idaho Potato Bowl South Alabama vs. Bowling Green in the Camellia Bowl...

Questions were many on Dec 2 when Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), an Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) utility specialist, a Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) representative, landowners and the public met in Sheldon and Cherokee for Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) informational meetings...

Santa will visit the Sanford Museum on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for the next two weeks. The museum is not only in the Christmas spirit when Santa is there but through the month of December. Over 20 trees decorated by local organizations are on exhibit at the Sanford Museum in the annual Festival of Trees display...