Stories from Wednesday, March 16, 2016

All these wonderful seasonal changes: daylight savings time (yay), warmer and longer days (yay), all the fun things to do at the library (double yay!) and so much more. I planned many engaging activities for a wide range of interests and tastes and I hope this month will bring lots of young patrons through the library doors...

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has proposed legislation that would set the annual cost of pension and benefits of former presidents at a little more than $200,000 a year. That may sound rather generous to many taxpayers and it is, but far less generous than what taxpayers actually pay...

DES MOINES - Damon Struve, a 6-2 senior from Class 1A State Basketball champion South O'Brien, was selected for the First Team Class 1A All State team announced Monday by the Iowa Newspaper Association (INA). Struve averaged 18.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 4.6 steals per game for the 25-3 Wolverines. He was the only player named from schools in the Chronicle Times coverage area...

ROCKWELL CITY - The Twin Lakes Conference Sportsmanship Rankings for winter sports have been released. Conference schools' athletes, coaches, students and adults are each ranked for the sportsmanship they displayed at events, and Alta-Aurelia had the top rating among wrestling teams...

This Friday's 9:30 a.m. Chamber Coffee will be hosted by Farm Bureau and ISU Extension at their offices, located at 209 Centennial Drive.

Patricia L. Kass of Cherokee, 90 , formerly of rural Marcus, passed away on Friday, March 11, 2016 at Careage Hills in Cherokee. Funeral services will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church, rural Marcus, with Rev. ...

David Dean Phipps of Cherokee, age 68, passed away Friday, March 11 at a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 22, at the Meriden Evangelical Free Church, with Pastor Larry Ostercamp officiating, and burial will be at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Cherokee. ...

Alyn and Sara Sargent of Aurelia are happy to announce the birth of their daughter, who was born on March 7, 2016. Emberley Alivia Sargent was born at 1:57 a.m., weighed 6 lb. 1 oz., and measured 20 inches long. Emberley was welcomed home by her two big brothers, Kenley and Brantley Sargent, and her grandparents are Kenny and Donna Steward of Cherokee and Terry and Donna Sargent of Quimby...

Nathan and Amber Ullon of Storm Lake are happy to announce the birth of their baby boy, who was born on March 9, 2016. Kyler James Ullon was born at 5:25 p.m., weighed 8 lb. 6 oz., and measured 19 1/2 inches long. His grandparents are Jim Moller of Cherokee, Dave and Judy Ullon of Sioux Falls, and Dale and Lisa Reinert of Storm Lake...

North Star Community Credit Union Recently donated $25,000 to the Sanford Museum to help update and enhance the Museum and Planetarium. Jeff Hayes, President/CEO of NSCCU, said, "When my family was first looking at moving from Rhode Island to Cherokee, my wife, Kimberly, was excited at the aspect of moving to a small Midwest town that has such classic amenities as a museum, planetarium and a symphony. ...

March 15 - Chuck Wooley of Cherokee March 16 - Doug Davis of Aurelia

The 2016 City of Cherokee Citizen of the Year is George Wittgraf. Witgraf has been a member of the Cherokee community for nearly four decades. George and his family moved from Des Moines, where he was working for the then Lt. Governor of Iowa, Arthur Neu. George started a law practice in Cherokee...

The Cherokee School District is hoping for clarification regarding funding for the upcoming fiscal year (beginning in July) before the school board approves the budget at its April 4 meeting. Superintendent Kim Lingenfelter explained at the March 14 school board meeting that the Republican governor, the Democrat controlled senate and the Republican controlled house of representatives all have a different number as far as the increase in aid for K-12 education in the state, a figure that was previously referred to as allowable growth in the funding formula.. ...

A new street sweeper for the city of Cherokee is much faster and more effective than the one it replaced. It also takes more water. It is filled from fire hydrants. Street department employees seen here with the new sweeper are Randy Rupp, public works director Armond Rider, Seth Thill and Todd Larsen. Thill is the primary operator of the sweeper...