Stories from Friday, February 20, 2015

ROCK VALLEY - A dominating first quarter that saw the host Rockets forge a 20-4 lead, paced Rock Valley to a convincing 73-35 Class 2A boys District Tournament basketball opener over the beleaguered Cherokee Braves here Monday night. A four-pronged scoring attack by Rock Valley (13-9) led the assault featuring Marcus Van Kekerix 15 points, and Boyce Van Beek, Chase Van Driel, and Myles Van Maanen 11 each. The Rockets sizzled making 32-59 field goals for 54 percent and cashed in 4-6 free throws...

Ar-We-Va outscored River Valley 20-9 in the first quarter to grab a lead and make it hold up throughout for a 51-34 win in a Class 1A girls Regional Tournament opener last weelk. Alison Brown led the Wolverines with 16 points as River Valley managed just 10-47 field goals for a frigid 21 percent, and sank 13-24 free throws. Brown also had six rebounds and five steals to lead her team in those categories. Alycen Knaack had six rebounds and Jenna Knaack five for the RV girls...

Ridge View girls end season HULL - By winning their opening Regional Tournament game against Akron-Westfield, the Ridge View girls basketball team earned the dubious honor of facing 7-time State Champion Hull Western Christian Tuesday in a Regional semi-final matchup on the Wolfpack's home court...

GEORGE - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn boys traveled to George Monday night to face George/Little Rock in a basketball season closer, and the Eagles returned home with a 61-54 loss to the Siouxland Conference team, thanks to the Mustangs outscoring the Eagles by nine points in the last half...

MARCUS - Jacob Spieler scored 17 points and raked in 15 rebounds to lead Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn to a 58-51 boys basketball victory over Kingsley-Pierson here Friday night. Sam Hueser tossed in 16 points and pulled down 13 boards to combine with Spieler for nifty double-double performances in the win. Isaiah Petersen tallied nine points and snagged 12 rebounds as the winners dominated the boards throughout...

ALTA - Nicole Hamilton scored 14 points as Sioux Central edged Alta-Aurelia, 51-42, in a Class 2A regional tournament contest Saturday. Micah Barnes led Alta-Aurelia (9-12) with 21 points while Lily Peterson added 10. The Alta-Aurelia girls finished their season with a 9- 12 record...

The Senate Transportation Committee voted 9-3 to clear a 10-cent per gallon increase on Iowa's gasoline and diesel fuel taxes. The bill could go to the Senate floor as soon as next week. There is certainly no question that Iowa's aging roads and bridges need repairs...

In the face of ongoing brutality by Islamic extremists in the Middle East, our country is engaged in debate over whether we should regard such brutality as a manifestation of religion. In a recent speech at a prayer breakfast, President Barack Obama, called ISIS a "vicious death cult," and then said, "And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. ...

The Centers Against Abuse and Sexual Assault (CAASA) is holding its annual Women's Night Out (Pearls of Hope - Inspiring, Surviving, Empowering) at the Western Iowa Tech Community College Conference Center, 200 Victory Drive in Cherokee, on Saturday Feb. 28, from 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m...

Students from Mrs. Zwiefel's Transitional Kindergarten class recently delivered Valentine's cards to the dietary department at Cherokee Regional Medical Center. The students hoped the handmade cards would help the patients feel loved and cheer them up while they are under the weather...

Science presentations by 8th grade Cherokee Middle School students were judged at the Sanford Museum on Feb 9. Results were: 1st: Grace DeVega - Stopping the Tsunami: Man-made vs Nature-Made; 2nd: Josie Hodgdon & Asha Loutsch - Can't Run Away From DNA;2nd: Alexa Timmerman - Phantastic Ph; 2nd: Payton Slaughter & Kassidy Pingel- Oil Spoil; 3rd: Kiley Kennebeck & Lily Anderson - Do the Solar Thing;...

Superintendent John Chalstrom reported to the Cherokee School Board on Feb. 16 that a compromise is being considered regarding the earliest start date allowed in Iowa schools. Governor Terry Branstad favors the current law that requires starting the school year no earlier than the week in which Sept. 1 falls (in 2015, Monday, Aug. 31), unless a waiver is granted by the Iowa Department of Education...

Racers sprinted, each carrying a frying pan with a pancake, from the Cherokee City Hall to St. Paul's United Methodist Church at Tuesday's Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race.

The Cherokee Community Schools will be holding Kindergarten Round-Up on March 2 and 3. All children who will be 5 years old by Sept. 15 are eligible to attend. Those whose children do not currently attend a preschool in Cherokee are asked to call Roosevelt School (225-6760) to register their children for round-up time...

The 20th annual Cherokee County Recognition Banquet hosted by the Cherokee Area Economical Development Corporation is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, at the Western Iowa Tech Community College Conference Center in Cherokee. The popular event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour, followed by a Buffet Dinner, and awards and presentations...

MARCUS - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn Community School District Hall of Fame Committee is seeking nominations for the 2015 induction ceremony to be held at the Marcus Fair 2015. The purpose of the MMC Hall of Fame is threefold: 1. To honor people who have accomplished extraordinary feats in academics or extra-curricular activities; 2. ...

Amelia M. Evans Amelia M. Evans of Worthington, Minnesota, age 99, died, Monday, February 16, 2015 at Crossroads Care Center in Worthington. Amelia was born June 22, 1915 in Odebolt, Iowa to parents Charles and Emma (Landgraf) Auchstetter, and she attended school in Marcus, Iowa...

Keith West of Meriden,age 49, passed away Tuesday, February 17, 2015, at his home in Meriden. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, February 20th at Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee, with Pastor Jon Riggert officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. ...

The Congregational church was ablaze with light Monday evening when the C.SS.C., which when spelled at length means Congregational Sunday School Circus, gave its performance to which old and young were invited and responded in large numbers. Space wili not permit mentioning ail the stunts presented by this marvelous aggregation...

The Cherokee Community Theater has some terrific shows coming up! Auditions for the hilarious comedy "Noises Off" will be held this coming Monday and Tuesday, February 23-24 from 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. in the large conference room at the Cherokee Community Center, 530 W. Bluff St....