Stories from Wednesday, December 24, 2014

LE MARS - The enigmatic Cherokee Washington High girls led all the way but the final buzzer here Friday night as a fortunate Le Mars club climbed the mountain late to abscond with a tense 54-52 Lakes Conference basketball victory. Cherokee, now 4-3 after heart-breaking one and two-point last-second losses to Spirit Lake and Le Mars, led at all the breaks on the road here Friday night, holding a 15-9 lead after the first quarter, a 29-26 lead at halftime, and a 46-36 bulge heading into the fateful final frame before the Bulldogs outscored them 18-6 going away and away they went.. ...

LE MARS - A 20-2 scoring tear in the first quarter propelled the tough Le Mars boys to an insurmountable early lead on the way to a 69-29 Lakes Conference basketball victory over the Cherokee Braves here Friday night. The 0-7 Braves could muster a scant two-point first quarter and a three-point fourth quarter to bookend a meager offensive output against the 5-1 Bulldogs...

MARCUS - Sarah Dreckman tallied 19 points, Ashley Hurd 13, and Alison Meehan 12 to guide a tough Marcus-Mriden-Cleghorn club to a convincing 59-36 War Eagle Conference girls basketball victory over Le Mars Gehlen here Friday night. The Lady Eagles controlled the game and the boatds throughout, with Jasi Vasher leading MMC in rebounding with six, while Dreckman and Taylor Johnston grabbed five each, and Meehan, Emily Moser, and rachael Meehan four each. ...

Folks returning to or visiting Cherokee over the Holidays can see a Planetarium program at the Sanford Museum and Planetarium, 117 E. Willow, on Sunday December 28 at 2 p.m. The 45-minute program shows how the night sky will appear that night. The program is free and the public is welcome...

Directly affected businesses, local financial institutions, economic development organizations, and the Cherokee City Council have all shown strong support for a revitalization project to improve the appearance and the longevity of downtown buildings in Cherokee, according to members of the Cherokee Historic Preservation Commission, who appeared before the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors at their Dec. 23 meeting...

The Cherokee County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement for blanket bonding coverage (liability protection) for the county with one agency, and new bonds for the three county offices that carry individual bond policies, with a different agency...

Each year, students in Films as Literature class at Washington High School write, produce, film, and edit a movie. The class is offered to juniors and seniors and is instructed by Jaylene De Vos. During the Spring Semester there were 24 students involved in the class and 8 movies were produced...

Tyson and Mikaela Otto of Lincoln, Nebraska are happy to announce the birth of their baby girl. Violet Verdene Otto was born on November 11, 2014, weighed 7 lb. 2 oz, and she was welcomed home by her big sister, Isla. Violet's grandparents are Ed and Brenda Otto and Verdene Paulsen, all of Cherokee. Her great-grandparents are Dick and Bev Keen and Marj Otto, all of Storm Lake, Lenora Paulsen of Davenport, and the late Arlin Otto, Wayne Paulsen, and Vernon and Waldene Lundell...

HOLSTEIN - Ridge View coach Jessica Christensen felt that her varsity girls' basketball team "finally put four quarters together and were able to control the game throughout" in their 48-43 Western Valley Conference win here over Odebolt-Arthur/Battle Creek-Ida Grove Friday...

HOLSTEIN - With the gym here filled to capacity, it was a great atmosphere Friday for a Western Valley Conference basketball doubleheader between neighborhood rivals Ridge View and Odebolt-Arthur/Battle Creek-Ida Grove. Though the home team came through in the girls' opening game, (see separate story) the Ridge View boys got off to a rough start in the nightcap, trailing 8-0 before they scored their first points, six minutes into the game...

Light on quantity but heavy on quality, the Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn wrestlers crowned two champions and two runners-up, and a fourth-place team finish at Cherokee's Paul Fuhrman Wrestling Invitational here Saturday. Claiming firsts were Drew Woodall at 106 pounds, and Ben McDaniel at 132, with Tristen Olson and Conner Holmes each placing second at 113 and 182, respectively...

LAWTON - Host Lawton-Bronson doubled the score 22-11 in the first quarter on the way to a 57-30 Western Valley Conference girls basketball victory over River Valley here Friday night. Jenna Knaack led the Wolverines with 11 points, and Payton Goettsch tallied eight. River Valley made just 8-28 field goals in the slow-paced game for 29 percent, and meshed 14-24 free throws...

HOLSTEIN - Ridge View wrestlers hosted the Raptor Duals on Saturday and came away with a 3-1 record on the day, improving their season's record to 8-8. South Central Calhoun won the tournament, going 4-0, and Ridge View placed 2nd with their 3-1 record. Alta-Aurelia, with a 2-2 record, placed third, Sioux City West placed 4th with a 1-3 record, and Coon Rapids-Bayard placed 5th with an 0-4 mark...

SPIRIT LAKE - The improving Cherokee Braves rang up five wins by fall against Le Mars and six against Spirit Lake in exciting Lakes Conference wrestling action here last week. Cherokee gave up three forfeits in a narrow 38-32 defeat to Le Mars, and gave up four forfeits in a tight 42-39 setback to the host Indians...

The Cherokee Braves notched a first, two seconds, and four thirds for an impressive showing at the annual Paul Fuhrman Wrestling Invitational featuring 10 area teams Saturday in Cherokee. Thanks to that haul, the young Braves placed second in the team race behind champion MOC-Floyd Valley which tallied 178 points, followed by Cherokee 135, Sheldon/South O'Brien 117, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 114.5, Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn 113, Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto 92, Kingsley-Pierson 88.5, Hull Western Christian/Orange City Unity Christian 64, East Sac County 24, Sioux Central 16.. ...

There is no Chamber Coffee this Friday (December 26th) or next Friday (January 2nd), due to the Christmas/New Year's holiday. Chamber Coffees will resume on Friday January 9th, 2015.

More and more farmers are staying active on the farm at an older age. One in four is at least 65 years of age. But eventually, these farms will be taken over by younger farmers. If the trend of the past continues, some farms will converge creating larger farms being operated by fewer people. This has caused a decline in both the number of people farming and the number of people providing support services to farmers...

For many children, there will be wishes galore coming true over the next two days. For the rest of us, there is always hope. I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday, enjoying family and friends, playing with new toys, having great adventures, and get to read a story or two. ...

On December 7th 2014 at 7 a.m. in Plano, Texas, Barbara Miller Hervey was welcomed home by her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, surrounded by her loving family. Barbara, 81, was born in Cherokee, Iowa on September 12th, 1933. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lee Merle and Maybelle Miller of Cherokee, Iowa, and is survived by her two sisters, Marla Hembree of Kansas City, Kansas and Patricia Thomason of Houston, Texas; her children, Valerie Maniscalco of Chicago, Ilinois, Tamara and Stephen Volner of Little Elm, Texas, Kyle and Barbara Wheeler of Tucson, Arizona; and Sean and Susan Wheeler of Loveland, Colorado; eleven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.. ...