Stories from Friday, February 19, 2016

Arlis Bechtel of Cherokee, age 85, passed away Monday, February 15, 2016 at the Cherokee Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, February 19th at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Cherokee. Pastor Chris Decious will officiate. ...

Richard D. "Butch" Bergert of Cherokee, age 72, passed away Friday morning, February 19, 2016 at his home after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. A memorial service will be held Monday, February 22nd at 10:30 a.m. at the Memorial Presbyterian Church in Cherokee. ...

The members of the Ridge View High School Chapter of Future Farmers of America (FFA) will be celebrating National FFA Week during the week of Feb. 21-28. The Ridge View Chapter has 29 currently active members, both boys and girls, and their advisor is Clay Drenth...

Through their "People Helping People" philosophy, North Star Community Credit Union strives to serve their members, their communities, and society as a whole. North Star Community Credit Union recently presented a $2,500 donation to Holstein's "Save The State Theatre" project...

Cherokee State Bank is pleased to announce that Jared Koch has been promoted to the position of Assistant Vice President/Trust Officer. Koch has been with Cherokee State Bank since 2012, serving loan and trust customers. Koch, a A native of Cherokee, Koch is currently President of the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce, and is also a member of the Cherokee Education Foundation and Knights of Columbus...

Cherokee Braves Mason Meitzenheimer, left, and Tyler Zeimen, right, flank their coaches, Ted Reis and Austin Todd, after winning District championships and advancing to the State Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines this week. Read all about area State qualifiers in Monday's Chronicle Times...

Cherokee senior multi- sport athlete Derek Nixon has signed a national letter of intent to play football at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls. Derek is seated with his mother Jodi. Back - Cherokee football coaches Lynn Jolly, Derek's father Mike Nixon, Travis Schipper and Kyle Schuck...

ROCK VALLEY - The post season didn't last long for the limping Cherokee Braves as they dropped a 71-42 Class 2A District opener to host Rock Valley here Monday night. The game was competitive in the first half before the Rockets mounted an 18-9 scoring run in the second quarter and then put it all away with a 24-6 third-period spurt...

The Cherokee Washington High girls sizzled from the perimeter cashing in 14-27 three-pointers (52 percent) on the way to a resounding 80-53 conquest of a good Humboldt team in Class 3A Regional semifinal basketball action here Wednesday night. The 14-8 Wildcats came to town ready to roll and battled fourth-ranked Cherokee on even terms throughout the first quarter despite having trouble coping with Cherokee's bothersome full-court defensive pressure - one of the many calling cards the 21-2 Lady Braves lay on the table whenever they hit the court.. ...

MARCUS - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn girls led all the way as they beat Harris-Lake Park, 64-33, in a second round Class 1A Regional Tournament contest here Tuesday. Sarah Dreckman and Ashley Hurd shared scoring honors for the Lady Eagles with 18 points apiece, while Rachel Meehan scored eight and Emily Moser seven. ...

MARCUS - Jacob Spieler scored 29 points, corraled 25 rebounds and blocked two shots in a dominating performance here Friday night, as his Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn Eagles led at all the stops on their way to a 65-51 win over Kingsley-Pierson in non-conference boys' basketball action...

HOLSTEIN - The Ridge View girls won a low-scoring basketball game here Tuesday against West Monona, 45-35, to advance to the next round of the Class 2A Regional Tournament. The Raptors had a balanced attack, as Megan Wiese led the team with 10 points and she was joined by Emily Egger, Beth Pickhinke and Harlee Wagoner, who each scored eight points. Wagoner led the Raptors on the boards with 13 rebounds, and Wiese hauled down eight...

ALTA - The Alta-Aurelia girls extended the narrow four point lead they held at the end of the 3rd qurater and posted a 57-48 win over South O'Brien in second round Class 2A Regional basketball play here Tuesday. The Warriors had three players, all sophomores, score in double figures - Mary Barnes 17, Lily Peterson 16 and Erin Lockin 10 - and senior Micah Barnes just missed, adding nine points for the Warriors of Coach Adam Rapp. ...

Washington High School students selected to perform at the Iowa High School Speech Association All-State Speech Festival on Feb. 20 at ISU in Ames gave a performance at the high school auditorium for fellow students and staff on Feb. 16. More All-State performers' photos are in the February Area Happenings Photo Gallery...

Five Washington High School band students were selected to play in Northern Festival of Bands honor band at UNI on the weekend of Feb. 11-13. Pictured (left to right) Addie Cosgrove (Bari saxophone), Glenn Zimmer (clarinet), Dusty Wright (trombone), Mason Timmerman (alto sax) and Kyle Johnson (percussion). Photo contributed...

Carrie Pruett, representing concerned parents, was at the Feb. 15 Cherokee School Board meeting to address the decision not to seek NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accreditation for the Early Childhood Learning Center...

The Board of Directors at Cherokee Regional Medical Center and UnityPoint Health announce the appointment of Matt Johnson, DPT, MHA, as President and CEO of Cherokee Regional Medical Center (CRMC) effective Feb. 22. Johnson began his career at CRMC eight years ago serving as a staff physical therapist. ...

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey recently encouraged Iowans to nominate deserving farmers for the 2016 Iowa Conservation Farmer of the Year Award. The award is given out each year to one statewide winner who is making outstanding contributions towards soil conservation and water quality. The award is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation...

REMSEN -- While some whole grade sharing decisions had been made between Remsen Union and Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn, one decision remained. Would there be faculty and staff cuts? Last Friday, that decision became clear when MMC/RU officials released the 2016-17 staff list...

Vivian E. Hickman of Iowa City,95, former resident of Storm Lake, died Tuesday, February 16, 2016. Her funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, February 19th, at the Gay & Ciha Funeral Service in Iowa City, where visitation will be held from 9 -- 11 a.m. on Friday, and burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery...

Thomas D. Boothby Jr. of Cherokee,age 92, passed away Sunday, February 14th, 2016, at Countryside Estates in Cherokee. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, February 23rd at 10:30 a.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, with Pastor Larry Ostercamp officiating, and burial will be at Oak Hill Cemetery in Cherokee, with military rites at graveside by L. ...

Among the many public bodies that have been working on budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, the Cherokee City Council and the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors have worked through their budget sessions, and a public hearing will take place in March...

The ruling class always strives to get the most labor for the least possible expense. The ideal situation from their point of view is slavery. During colonial times, and through more than eight decades after independence, the southern states had a plantation economy in which the ruling elites used slave labor imported from Africa or born in America from African ancestors...

The preliminary inspection of Company M was held at the armory Monday night and made a satisfactory showing before Inspecting Officer Colonel Hyatt of Webster City. Nearly all of the company were present. A fair sized crowd of spectators was present to witness the maneuvers...