Stories from Wednesday, April 15, 2015

As you know, the library is for everyone. It has certainly come a long way from the days-of-libraries-past whereby librarians in ground-gripper shoes and tweedy ensembles would look at us over their half-glasses and hush us with "shhh...shhh...shhh..." We did not dare make any sounds other than the rustle of pages and the unable-to-suppress sneeze. Days gone by for all that!...

As the weather warms, we see an increasing number of vehicles hauling yard and garden waste or large, bulky items to area landfills. The need for drivers to secure their loads can be a matter of life or death. According to the Foundation for Traffic Safety, there are about 25,000 crashes that are caused each year and there are 80 to 90 deaths (in North America) as the result of debris coming loose from vehicles...

Brooklyn Hoeppner won the 200 meters, placed third in the high jump, and ran on the fourth-place distance medley relay team to lead Cherokee at Friday's girls Class 2Aportion of the annual Tomahawk Relays in Cherokee. The boys Tomahawk Relays were canceled due to inclement weather Thursday night...

CHEROKEE - Sioux Central won the Class 1A team title at Friday's girls portion of the Tomahawk Relays in Cherokee, totaling 120 points to runner-up Odebolt-Arthur/Battle Creek-Ida Grove's 110. Alta-Aurelia was third with 77, followed by Central Lyon 75, East Sac County 72, Emmetsburg 70, Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn 55, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 55, South O'Brien 38, Le Mars Gehlen 30, Ridge View 24...

LE MARS - The Cherokee Braves golf team opened the season with a second-place finish at a triangular hosted by Le Mars and including Lawton-Bronson. Le Mars won after carding a 161 on their home court, followed by Cherokee 191, and L-B 231. Mason Pitts led th Braves with a 46, followed by Charlie Wych 47, Kam Johnson 47, Trey Valentine 51, Steven Lundquist 51, and Adam Cedar 52...

The visiting Denison-Schleswig Monarchs swept every match to ring up a 9-0 victory over a young, inexperienced Cherokee Braves tennis team here last week. In varsity singles action for Cherokee's boys, Eric Peterson lost 10-3 to Mitch Kinsey at #1, Collin Johnson lost 10-1 to Matt Moran at #2, Justin Kellen lost 10-0 to Spencer Pavley at #3, Cole Pingel lost 10-0 to Jesse Ayala at #4, Layne Reinhart lost 10-1 to Sam Weber at #5, and Bryan Rock lost 10-0 to Ben Moran at #6...

HOLSTEIN - The Sioux Central girls topped the team race at Monday's Russ Kraai Relays here with 171 points, followed by Alta-Aurelia with 125 points and Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn with 122. Lawton-Bronson took 4th, Ridge View and Storm Lake St. Mary's tied for 5th, and River Valley finished 7th...

John "Nick" Williams John "Nick" Williams, 63, formerly of Cherokee and Spirit Lake, passed away Friday morning April 10, 2015 at the Good Samaritan Society Specialty Care Community.in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Nick passed away after a long term struggle with complications resulting from a brain tumor that developed while he was serving in the United States Air Force...

April 14 - Pete Snapp of Cherokee April 15 - Jerry & Lois Chettenger of Cherokee

Shayla and Trent Kirchner are happy to announce the birth of their baby girl, who was born on April 6, 2015. Lilian Mae Kirchner was born at 9:17 a.m., weighed 9 lb. 02 oz., measured 21 1/4 inches long, and was welcomed home by her brother Jaxon and her sister Emma...

Jake and Chelsea Van Roekel are happy to announce the birth of their baby boy, who was born on April 7, 2015. Nathan John Van Roekel was born at 8:27 p.m., weighed 7 lb. 4 oz., measured 20 1/2 inches long, and was welcomed home by his big sister, Ariana...

Wesly Grohe of Cherokee, age 29, passed away on Monday, April 13, 2015. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 16th, at the Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee. Pastor Don Meyer will officate. Visitation at the funeral home will begin at 2 p.m. ...

Ronald Rickett of Cherokee, age 77, passed away at his home on Monday, April 13, 2015. A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 16th at Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee. Pastor John Erickson will officiate. There will be no visitation prior to the service, and burial will be at a later date. 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...

The Cherokee Symphony, under the direction of Maestro Ted Hallberg, will present its Young Artists' Concert Sunday, April 26, at the Cherokee Community Center at 4 p.m. Winners of auditions held earlier this year will be performing with the orchestra. The Young Artists selected include:...

Meeting in special session on Monday, April 13, the Cherokee School Board accepted the resignation of Larry Weede as middle school principal. Weede has been on paid administrative leave. Julie DeStigter, who had retired as superintendent of the River Valley School District, was appointed as the interim middle school principal at an April 6 meeting, and began her duties on April 7...

Vallery Fuhrman, who will be taking over as elementary and preschool principal in the Cherokee School District as of July, has lived most of her life in Cherokee County. She graduated from Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn High School, and then attended Briar Cliff College from 1994-98, where she earned her Bachelor's Degree. She then earned a Master's Degree from Morningside College,and subsequently earned a Specialist in Education Degree from the University of South Dakota...

The Tastes and Sounds of Cherokee, an annual food and music fundraising event for the Cherokee Music Boosters will be on Thursday, April 16, from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.at the WITCC campus in Cherokee. Proceeds go towards the music programs in the Cherokee School District. Funds are used in a variety of ways, including bringing in music programs for the students to watch; purchasing instruments and music; and sponsoring trips and related music experiences...

Joshua Allender, 36, who was arrested in October of 2014 after allegedly firing a gun at police officers, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday. Police responded to a call on Oct. 30, 2014 about a suicidal person in Cherokee. Officers say Allender refused to leave the home and fired a gun from an upstairs window...

"A Night on the Nile" is the theme that was chosen for this year's Ridge View Junior-Senior Prom, which will take place at the high school in Holstein this Saturday, April 18th. All Ridge View Juniors will be decorating for prom with an Egyptian theme during the day on Friday, April 18th, and any junior parents are welcome to help with the decorating. Sophomores and sophomore parents help with the clean up on Sunday, April 19th, beginning at 1 p.m. and ending by 2 p.m...

This Saturday, April 18, Marcus Troop 113 and Marcus Pack 113 will be coming to neighborhoods, starting at 8 a.m., to pick up donated food items for those living in Marcus, Meriden and Cleghorn. Please leave bags in a spot that is visible from the curb...

The Cherokee Community Theater presented 'Noises Off,'a quirky play -within- a- play comedy, at the Cherokee Community Center last Friday and Saturday evenings and at a Sunday matinee. The play will be performed again on April 17 and 18 during the evening and on April 19 at 2 p.m...

Candidates for Washington High School Prom King and Queen are, front row, left to right, Ryan Graham, Daniel Morris and Matthew Keyser. Back, Emilee McGee, Blair Adams, Cynthia "CC" Wiebersch, Hannah Burkhart and Miranda Liebsack. The prom takes place this Saturday, April 18th...

Sister Joyce Rupp, a former resident of Cherokee County, grew up on a farm in the Maryhill Parish and graduated from the Immaculate Conception High School in Cherokee. She returned to Cherokee on Saturday April 11th to give a presentation about her latest book 'Fly While You Still Have Wings,' and sign copies of the book at a reception at the Historic Cherokee Depot. ...