Stories from Monday, October 17, 2016

Keith M. “Pete” Grayson of Cherokee, 65, passed away Wednesday, October 12, 2016 at his home in Cherokee. Memorial services will be held on Friday, October 21, at 10:30 a.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, with Pastor Robin Thomas officiating, and burial of the cremains will be in the Cedar Cemetery in Larrabee. ...

EMMETSBURG-The Storm Lake Girls’ Swim Team got back on track with a win in a dual meet with Algona here Thursday night. The final score of the meet was 106 to 73. The Tornado swimmers won five of the eight individual events as well as all three relay events. ...

LAURENS - The 4th seeded Alta-Aurelia volleyball team upset top seeded East Sac County Thursday in the semifinals of the Twin Lakes Conference Volleyball Tournament finals here before falling to Pocahaontas Area/Laurens-Marathon in the Championship Game...

Chuck Fangman of Cherokee, age 74, passed away at Cherokee Specialty Care on Friday, October 14, 2016. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, October 18 at the Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee, with Father Dan Guenther officiating...

Door-to-door inspections of all properties in Cherokee County have been under way since September as part of a reappraisal project that the Cherokee County Conference Board and the County Assessor approved in 2014. The Assessor's Office is assisted in this project by Vanguard Appraisals, Inc. of Cedar Rapids at a contracted cost of $709,000. According to the Assessor’s Office, money for the project was set aside beginning in 2014 in the Assessor’s budget to fund the appraisals...

Engineer Richard Hopper with Jacobson-Westergard & Associates, Inc. presented his summation for a likely Drainage District (DD) #5 cleanout repair to the O'Brien County Board of Supervisors at their Oct. 4 meeting. Hopper's conclusions were in the DD #5 Preliminary Engineering Report he'd compiled after his firm's engineering study that looked into the badly deteriorated and aging DD #5 located in rural north central O'Brien County...

Engineer Richard Hopper with Jacobson-Westergard & Associates, Inc. presented his summation for a likely Drainage District (DD) #5 cleanout repair to the O'Brien County Board of Supervisors at their Oct. 4 meeting. Hopper's conclusions were in the DD #5 Preliminary Engineering Report he'd compiled after his firm's engineering study that looked into the badly deteriorated and aging DD #5 located in rural north central O'Brien County...

MidAmerican Energy announced that power was shut down briefly in part of Cherokee on Thursday in order to replace a piece of equipment. Power was shut off to 146 customers from 2:07 to 2:33 p.m. The term customer refers to each location where electricity is metered, so affects more than 146 individuals. One of the customers was Washington High School...

Jake and Chelsea Van Roekel of Cherokee are the proud parents of a baby girl, born on October 11, 2016. Katrina Jo-Ann Van Roekel was born at 6:33 a.m., weighed 7 lb. 0 oz., and measured 19 1/2 inches long. She was welcomed home by her big brother Nathan and her big sister, Arianna Giddings. Grandparents are Kevin and Melinda Meister of Alta, Kevin and Kris Van Roekel of Cherokee, Orin Harris of Phoenix, Arizona and Julie Bradstreet of Sherburn, Minnesota...

Alexandra Scrheiber and James Powell of Cherokee are happy to announce the birth of their little girl, Piper Mae Powell, who was born on October 10, 2016. Piper was born at 2:04 p.m, weighed 7 lb. 7 oz., and measured 20 inches long, and she was welcomed home by her big sister, Kyla Arbegast...

According to a new report by CTJ, ITEP & USPIRG titled “Offshore Shell Games 2016,” American firms are avoiding up to $718 billion in U.S. taxes on $2.5 trillion in profits held offshore. The report found that nearly three-quarters of America’s biggest companies avoid U.S. taxes by setting up subsidiaries in tax haven nations— countries where corporate tax rates are minimal or nonexistent, financial transparency murky and tax-law enforcement lax...

Throughout rock and roll music’s 60+ year history, the early death of some of its stars has certainly made its mark, starting with the February 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson. Though the death of these three was certainly not their fault, the same can’t be said for some of the others who died “long before their time,” with drug and/or alcohol abuse contributing to the early deaths of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Keith Moon and Amy Winehouse, among others, shooting incidents claiming the lives of Marvin Gaye, John Lennon and Sam Cooke, and cardiac problrms resulting in the deaths of Bobby Darin and Roy Orbison.. ...

In the business world today, one of the most widely talked about issues is corporate social responsibility. This is where a company works to have a positive effect on the public. Corporate social responsibility isn't just limited to large companies. Small businesses have a proud and extensive tradition of “making a difference,” on a local level. Businesses and companies often support and encourage their employees to volunteer in the community...