Stories from Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Welcome to your brand-new shiny year from everyone at the Cherokee Public Library. May you have a great year with good health, love, laughter -- and literature! I am very excited about the new books and media we have added recently. Especially, the series books in both the Junior and Young Adult sections. ...

Boris Yeltsin served as the first president of Russia, his time in that office running from July of 1991 to December of 1999. This was a period of economic chaos and social upheaval in the fledgling democracy. Yeltsin survived two coup attempts, massive inflation and widespread epidemics of crime and corruption, as well as personal health problems...

June E. Miller of Paullina, 90 , passed away on Wednesday, December 31, 2014 at the Heartland Care Center in Marcus. Her services were held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, January 5, 2015 at the Zion Lutheran Church in Paullina, with Rev. Daniel Wagner officiating, and burial was in the Prairie View Cemetery in Paullina...

Funeral services for Gloria Mae Felten of Aurelia, 87, will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, January 9, 2015, at St. John's Church in rural Peterson, with Pastor Donald Andrews officiating. Burial will be in the St. John's Church Cemetery. Visitation at the Redig Funeral Home in Aurelia will be on Thursday from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., with the family present from 5 to 7...

Ronald W. Kracht of Peterson, 76, passed away Tuesday morning, January 6, 2015, at the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake. Funeral arrangements are pending at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee.

The members of the Senior Center are this month's featured artists at the Thiel Sanford Museum.

Mrs. Claus (Marlene Kelly) is retiring after 15 years of appearing at special events in the area during the holiday season, This included appearing in Cherokee's downtown lighted Christmas Parade, Breakfast with Santa at Spring Lake Park, and visits at the library, museum, elementary schools and Methodist Church. Kelly has also portrayed Mrs. Pockets, Mrs. Clown, and the Easter Bunny...

Predictions of heavy snowfall resulted in early outs at area schools on Monday. Snows starting late morning Monday resulted in snow accumulations of 5 to 6 inches. Bitter cold is expected to last through the week.

The members of the Senior Center, who meet each week at the Cherokee Community Center, are this month's featured artists at the Thiel Sanford Museum.

Aaron and Nicole Hinkeldey of rural Aurelia are the proud parents of the first baby of 2015 born at Cherokee Regional Medical Center. Harlan Paul was delivered at 3:34 p.m. on Friday, January 2nd, by Dr. Chris VandeLune. He weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.Harlan is the Hinkeldey's first child...

Friday's Chamber Coffee, at 9:30 a.m., will be at City Hall, 416 West Main Street. The Chamber's annual meeting will also take place at that time.

The red Iowa Heartland Regional Directory, produced by Colorlyne Directories, is now available at the Chamber of Commerce Office in Cherokee. There was an issue getting the books delivered to some sections of Cherokee, and businesses or individuals who did not receive one are invited to pick a book up at the Chamber of Commerce...

The 2015 Northwest Iowa Health and Wellness Fair will be held on Saturday, Jan. 10 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Alta Community Building in Alta. This event will help the community reach health and wellness goals in the coming year. Vendors will all have drawing for $15 to $25 items or gift certificates. ...

Nominations are now being accepted for the 25th Annual "Citizen of the Year Award," which is presented by the Mayor of Cherokee to recognize an individual who has made a significant contribution to the betterment of the entire community of Cherokee, outside of their chosen trade or profession...

DES MOINES --January is more than the start of the New Year for college-bound students and their parents; it also marks the availability of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2015-2016 academic year. The FAFSA is a standardized application used to determine eligibility for federal grants, loans and work-study funds from the federal government. ...

(This is the second of a three-part summary of major local events in 2014, organized by the month in which the article appeared): Magrey deVega was named the 2014 Cherokee Citizen of the Year. Pastor of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Cherokee, deVega has shown repeated dedication to the community on all fronts and was instrumental in leading the yeoman volunteer flood relief effort after the previopus year's tragic flood that severely damaged several Cherokee neighborhoods and businesses...

AURELIA - The initial local meeting of the Cherokee County landowners affected by the proposed Dakota Access oil pipeline will be held at the Aurelia Community Center today at 1:30 p.m. The landowners will be discussing the pros and cons of the proposed project and will welcome all comments and questions...

Monday's winter storm dumped up to eight inches of snow in Northwest Iowa, causing many early school outs around noon Monday and the postponement of several boys and girls basketball games Monday night throughout the Cherokee area. The Cherokee teams were scheduled to play a non-conference doubleheader at East Sac County and that has been postponed, as was Remsen-Union's boy-girl twin bill at River Valley, and the Ridge View boys hosting Manson NW Webster in Schaller...

1. Waverly-Shell Rock; 2. MOC-Floyd Valley; 3. Dubuque Wahlert;4. Spirit Lake; 5. Le Mars; 6. Gilbert; 7. (tie) Humboldt, Creston; 9. Central Clinton, De Witt; 10. Denison-Schleswig 1.IKM-Manning; 2. Hull Western Christian; 3. Iowa City Regina; 4. Monticello; 5. Cascade,Western Dubuque;...