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Scaring for a cause

A dilapidated hearse and a sadistic clown greet visitors.
Calling themselves “Northwest Iowa’s Best Haunted Attraction,” the non-profit Bango Haunted Crib in Schaller invites you to tour the refurbished popcorn factory and visit the attached Bango …

Local candidates split over LGBTQ, water quality issues

Candidates disagreed, but all remained civil at a forum sponsored by SALUD and PFLAG Sept. 30 at Buena Vista University. Topics on the agenda were water quality, immigration, LGBTQ-related issues and …
The City of Storm Lake is negotiating with a new operator for its beleaguered miniature golf course.  The operator of the 18-hole miniature golf course sold to Severson Properties, an …
Youth at Sunday’s Youth Justice Action Month event compete in a friendly game of dodgeball at Seneca Park.
The community came together at Seneca Park on Sunday for Youth Justice Action Month. Youth from Midwest Christian Services, foster care groups, and families from surrounding counties spent the …
The white Toyota Prius allegedly stolen from 117 N. Main St. in Alta was found here near the intersection of Ontario and West Milwaukee.
Held without bond for being ‘unauthorized alien’ Four teens – one of them an adult undocumented immigrant – were arrested in connection with a string of car burglaries around Storm …
A youngster fastens the seatbelt before riding the seat belt convincer. Below: At the bottom, Maggie Reyes has survived the ride. The sign facing the passenger says, “Remember this ride is voluntary,” and warns heart patients, back patients, those who have had hernia surgery and others not to try it.

Storm Lake Fire Department Open House

The Storm Lake Fire Department gave visitors a big jolt and the inspiration to wear a seatbelt as part of an educational activity at its open house Sunday. The Iowa State Patrol’s Seat Belt …

Council pumps the brakes on The Breeze

Councilman Don Piercy: city ‘backed into a corner’ as condo work grinds to halt The Storm Lake City Council rebuffed Shawn Foutch’s request to renegotiate the completion deadline for phase …

Supervisors pass on traffic surveillance

The Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors rebuffed a request to install traffic monitoring software that’d assist Sheriff Kory Elston and Engineer Bret Wilkinson.  The supervisors …

Alta City Council discusses incoming businesses: Andale Mex Grill and Dollar General

The Alta City Council approved a liquor license for a new Mexican restaurant — Andale Mex Grill on Oct. 5.  The owners of Andale, current residents of Lake View, showed up to observe the …

Court rejects constitutional challenge to SLPD stop

A district court judge determined a Minnesota man’s constitutional rights were not violated during a stop he claimed was unreasonably prolonged due to racial profiling.  Judge Kristi J. …

DNR to zap Spring Lake with Rotenone this fall

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is renovating Spring Lake’s fishery in Cherokee, which was clouded with turbidity and infested with rough fish as a result of the 2024 floods.  Fisheries Biologist …

Sweet home Alta

Nashville artist Lawson Harris entertained the crowd from a stage set up downtown.
Alta Hometown Days brought lots of activity to downtown Saturday afternoon and evening. The event was organized by Alta Hometown Pride in conjunction with Scooters on Main. Bounce houses, a balloon …

Beaver Pride

The marching band and cheerleaders form an alley for the team to run through at the beginning of the game against Simpson College.
Fans surrounded Peterson Field last Saturday for Buena Vista University Homecoming
Iowa Capital Dispatch

Cake Dig pink diamond won by husband for wife

Angel Guerra and Linda Miller duke it out in the final round of the cake dig to find the buried gem buried in the cake. Guerra snagged it to win the .67 carat pink diamond.

Paxtons Jewelry hosted their annual balloon bash and cake dig on Saturday to benefit Buena Vista Regional Medical Center P.I.N.K. during breast cancer awareness month. BVRMC P.I.N.K. provides free …

Bridge accepts $10K grant

The Bridge of Storm Lake is grateful to Variety-the Children's Charity of Iowa for their generous $10,000 grant. They plan to use the funds to help renovate their warehouse area into a recreation, …

New playground at Kading

Playground equipment is going up at Sunrise Pointe by Kading. The playground was part of early plans of the development. Top: The arrow points to the location of the playground near the intersection …

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Storm Lake Times Pilot 10-9-26

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Sports
Kampbell, Schwint help SL boys finish sixth in Cherokee Invite, girls 10th
Ridge View defeats Alta-Aurelia to clinch playoff berth
Alta-Aurelia serves up win over GTRA on Pink Out Night
Sioux Central scores 33 unanswered points to beat Belmond-Klemme
SC’s Weber achieves 500th career dig
Kampbell becomes first SL athlete to receive all-Siouxland Conference honors
Heath Kampbell became the first Storm Lake athlete to receive all-Siouxland Conference honors as he finished in the top 15 overall at the inaugural Siouxland Conference meet on Tuesday at Spencer. …
Ridge View finishes fourth in Western Valley Conference tourney
Ridge View participated in the Western Valley Conference tournament semifinals on Monday at Moville and the Raptors were defeated by OABCIG 25-9, 25-17. Hannah Brown led the Raptors in hitting …
SL spikers drop pair of matches in Siouxland Conference tournament
Storm Lake played in the Siouxland Conference tournament on Tuesday and the Tornadoes dropped both of their matches at Orange City. Storm Lake was defeated by No. 2-ranked MOC-Floyd Valley 25-2, …
Sioux Central comes up short in pair of Twin Lakes Conference matches
Sioux Central hosted a Twin Lakes Conference triangular on Tuesday and the Rebels came up short in five sets in both matches. Sioux Central was edged by South Central Calhoun 20-25, 19-25, …
BVU women’s golfers have highest conference finish in 21 years
Hannah Swanson placed seventh and Peyton Hartman tied for eighth to help lead the Buena Vista women’s golf team to a third-place finish in the American Rivers Conference tournament on Tuesday. It …

BVU men, women edged by Wartburg in soccer

Jacob Freund scored his third goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough as Wartburg edged Buena Vista 2-1 in a men’s soccer match on Tuesday at Waverly. Wartburg jumped out to an early 1-0 …

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Wernimont overall champion as SC finishes third in OABCIG Invitational

Lucos Wernimont finished first overall to help Sioux Central to a third-place finish in the OABCIG Invitational on Monday at Ida Grove. Denison-Schleswig won the meet with 64 points. Sioux …

Chavez places eighth to help RV girls finish third in OABCIG Invitational

Destiny Chavez finished eighth overall to help Ridge View to a third-place finish in the OABCIG Invitational on Monday at Ida Grove. Manson Northwest Webster won the meet with 52 points. Ridge …

Opinion

Reading signs in the sky

Gulls floated against a blue autumnal sky just off Storm Lake. Finally, combines are in the fields sweeping up corn and beans as if they might be worth the effort amid the trade bluster. It’s …

Editorials: Corporate welfare

The Republicans running things announced last week that they are locating a $15 billion steel mill in Southeast Iowa, near Keokuk and Fort Madison in hard-pressed Lee County. Knowing next to nothing …

More opinion

This will probably be the most expensive election in Iowa history, judging by all the money that’s being spent on political advertising. The political ads seemingly run non-stop. I’ll bet …
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart came to Storm Lake on October 3 to inspire volunteers who are working to get out the vote. Canvassing strategies in the past have focused on visiting the party …
I’m about to show my age again in this article. In the last article I wrote, I talked about some of the cool stuff that you can find on YouTube. Now, I’m going to chat about things that make me …
Rick Morain
Election analyst Nate Silver says the outlook for the Nov. 3 general election strongly favors Democratic candidates. But he adds that Republicans have one major advantage: money. Will that be …
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Family & Friends

Cake Dig pink diamond won by husband for wife

Angel Guerra and Linda Miller duke it out in the final round of the cake dig to find the buried gem buried in the cake. Guerra snagged it to win the .67 carat pink diamond.
Paxtons Jewelry hosted their annual balloon bash and cake dig on Saturday to benefit Buena Vista Regional Medical Center P.I.N.K. during breast cancer awareness month. BVRMC P.I.N.K. provides free …
Leigh Madsen, left, of the Alta PEO chapter, has no trouble selling an Iowa State bowl cozy to Holly Cullen of North Liberty.
A ton of pumpkins, or at least it looks like it, were put up for sale in front of the parish center where St. Mary’s Fall Bazaar & Bake Sale took place Saturday. Vendors were set up in the …
Storm Lake St. Mary’s fifth and sixth graders traveled to Sioux Rapids to enjoy an afternoon at Gabrielson Park –– Gustafson Lake. Conservation staff instructed students on canoeing, and then …
Matt Pearson, left, new president of the Storm Lake Hy-Noon Kiwanis Club, presented a plaque Monday noon to outgoing president Steve Mead in recognition of Mead’s leadership of the club during the …
Front row from left: Sandra (Tscherter) Witt, Merri (Kolb) Johnson, Christy (Anderson) Hyndman, Nancy (Galvin) Webb, Connie (Ballantyne) Ludwig, Denise (Gustafson) Fredericksen and Kelly (Peterson) …

Buena Vista Co. Conservation Events

Fall Fun Day Join the Buena Vista County Conservation Staff for the annual Fall Fun Day on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 1-3 p.m. All the fun will take place in the Timber Ridge Campground at Buena …
Briar Cliff Homecoming King and Queen Emma Erickson and Derek Schering.

Erickson crowned Queen at Briar Cliff University

Seniors Emma Erickson and Derek Scheuring have been crowned Briar Cliff University’s 2026 Homecoming Queen and King. They were selected from a court of ten seniors chosen by their classmates for …

City celebrates volunteerism with appreciation event

The City of Storm Lake’s fourth annual Volunteer Appreciation Reception will be held Thursday, Oct. 15 at King’s Pointe Resort ballroom, 5:30-7 p.m. The informal evening event is organized …

P.E.O. scholarships available

Sioux Rapids P.E.O. Chapter GJ announces that applications are being accepted from area post-secondary women students for scholarships of $500 to be awarded in November 2026.   We have moved our …

Upcoming Blood Drives

Thank you for confirming your 2026 blood drive dates. St. Mark Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 12:30-5:30 p.m. United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall on Friday, …

Seasonal closing dates set for outdoor facilities

    It's been a fantastic summer, but like the season, all good things must come to an end. Soon the City of Storm Lake Parks Department will put some of our outdoor facilities into …

Delta Dental of Iowa announces Dr. Kevin Duque of Storm Lake as one of first four recipients of revolving loan funds

Just months after launching the Delta Dental of Iowa Revolving Loan Fund, $1.25 million has been distributed to four rural dental practices, supporting 45 jobs while strengthening access to dental …

When trucks look like toys
My Favorite Recipe

UnityPoint welcomes Dr. Jorge Vendrell

We are happy to welcome Dr. Jorge Vendrell, Buena Vista family medicine physician at UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine –– Buena Vista, and his wife Norma, who moved to Storm Lake in August. They …

Reading incentive

St. Mary’s K-5 are doing a reading incentive tied to the country's 250th birthday. It will promote daily reading and share key facts about our country's history, landmarks and monuments. Daily …

Please join us to celebrate Mavis Aronson’s 100th birthday. An open house will be held for her on Sunday, Oct. 11 from 2-4 p.m. at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Albert City. No gifts, please.
Caring Paws Rescue, the new animal shelter for Storm Lake and Buena Vista County announces that they have set up accounts at local grain elevators.   Farmers may deliver grain to the following …
The Buena Vista Parkinson’s Support Group will hold  its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, October 13 at 1:30in the library at St Mark Lutheran church. Program by Emily Gutzmann from the …
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
At Witter Gallery: Color and motion
SLHS play in the works
Muscles and endurance in last year’s stein holding-contest, presided over by Troy Hogrefe.
Prost! Raise a glass for 5th annual Oktoberfest

Musica, juegos, rifas, danzas — it’s Fiesta Latina

Selekto Show will entertain with a mix of cumbia, bachata, salsa, merengue and rock en español.

Get ready for Fiesta Latina on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 12-6 p.m. at Storm Lake Middle School. This year’s lineup will be bigger than ever with new live music and performers, a selection of …

Calendar of events
Obituaries
Diane White
Diane S. White, 83, of Alta died Oct. 14, 2026, at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake. Memorial Mass will take place Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic …
Deanna McDonald
Deanna “Dee” McDonald passed away suddenly on Sept. 29, 2026, at Deerfield Retirement Community in Urbandale. Private family services will be held at a later date. Fratzke & Jensen …
Shirley Hatlelid
Shirley Hatlelid, 91, of Storm Lake died Oct. 13, 2026, at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake. Funeral services will take place Monday, Oct. 19, at 10 a.m. at Northwest Christian …
Roger Waggie
Roger Waggie, 95, of Rochester, Minn., formerly of Newell, died Oct. 10, 2026, in Rochester. Graveside services will take place Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 11:30 a.m. in St. John’s Cemetery in rural …
Ethel Pounds
Ethel Louise (Kuhlman) Pounds was born on Sept. 6, 1945, to Frederick and Roberta (Clough) Kuhlman in Des Moines. Ethel left this earth on Sept. 14, 2026, at 81 years of age. Ethel grew up in …
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