Stories from Monday, August 28, 2017

As a member of the first “television generation,” I have spent a fair amount of time in front of “the boob tube.” In my early youth (through the age 14 or so), we had all of two channels to choose from - Channel 4 (KTIV) and Channel 9 (then KVTV), both out of Sioux City. ...

The Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency hosted a full scale Hazardous Materials exercise on Wednesday Aug. 23. The scenario for the event included two vehicles and and a tanker truck carrying diesel fuel. The "accident" took place in front of a county park with several people in the immediate area. The simulation called for one of the vehicles to be a hybrid car, significant because they have a bank of batteries that can overheat and ignite following an impact...

At the Aug. 22 meeting of the Cherokee City Council, the council members discussed with Richard and Karen Swain, owners of Swain Motor Company, about exploring the possibility of selective demolition of the former Wilson School building. The Swains use an annex of the Wilson building, built after the school was originally built, as one of the locations for operating their business. The rest of the Wilson School building is unused and has been declared a public nuisance by the city...

Loretta (Nioce) Rosenthal, 93, of Cherokee died August 24, 2017, of complications due to pneumonia and COPD. Loretta was born on December 5, 1923, near Mayetta, Kansas, the daughter of Charles and Alice Nioce. She graduated from Holton High School and worked as a telegraph operator for the railroad in Remsen and as a secretary for Olsen Transfer in Cherokee. ...

I watched and wondered in fascination in the many days leading up to and then during last week’s eclipse, that I watched on the TV Weather Channel while incapacitated at the time. The prevailing message uttered by millions before, during and after was “Do Not Look At The Sun - It Will Blind You! You must have special glasses.”...

The unofficial enrollment count shows a growth of enrollment in the Cherokee School District from the previous school year. This is according to data presented at the Aug. 23 meeting of the Cherokee School Board. The official enrollment in school districts across the state is based on a count taken on Oct. 1 (presumably Oct. 2 this year since the 1st is on a Sunday)...

The Cherokee School Board has slated an informational public forum for Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 5:30 p.m. at the gym-cafeteria at Roosevelt Elementary School. This will be an informational meeting regarding the options being considered by the school district regarding the future of the elementary school in the district...

If you stood inside the new Marcus Fair building right after it was built you would have seen a great wide open space to be used for many years to come. But with the wide open space comes additional expense in making it into a place of use and comfort. ...