Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Sorted by date Results 1201 - 1225 of 1412
• Arrested after pursuit in Spirit Lake A Royal man was arrested following a pursuit in Spirit Lake early New Year’s Day. According to the Spirit Lake Police Department, an officer clocked a Chevrolet Tahoe on Highways 9 and 71 traveling 49 mph in a 25 mph zone. The vehicle pulled into the Hy-Vee parking lot but as the officer got out of his vehicle, the Tahoe fled the scene and headed north on Peoria Avenue, reaching speeds reported in excess of 100 mph. As he approached 140th Street, the driver attempted to continue northbound on 240th Ave...
Northwest Iowans hoping for a white Christmas got their wishes answered with a vengeance on Dec. 23. A blizzard immobilized the region with freezing rain, snow and high-speed winds. Travel was not advised and many vehicles were stuck stranded after going in the ditch. On Thursday morning, there were six vehicles including one semi ditched along Highway 18 between Hartley and Everly. The day started with a freezing drizzle that gradually transitioned into snow. According to the National Weather...
Though in-person events may have been few and far between this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 still had plenty of storylines. The biggest ones revolved around buildings – Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's new elementary school opened, Clay Central/Everly sold its former 7-12 grade building and a grain elevator exploded in Royal. Also gracing the pages of the Sentinel-News were more heartwarming stories, like the one detailing a viral video of the late Bonnie Linder's wave to school children i...
Anyone planning to change their properties in Everly will enjoy a streamlined permitting process if the city council gets its way. Mayor Brad Behrens on Dec. 21 proposed removing the requirement that makes building permit applicants submit a sketch of their project to scale. Behrens said several people have had issues with trying to draw out their plans on graphing paper, and he didn’t feel like it was necessary. “It’s the same problem all the time,” he said. “This policy was not made for a town of 600. It was made for a town of 10,000....
With more than 300,000 Americans dead and millions sickened, there's no denying the biggest story of 2020. The first local COVID-19 story to grace the pages of the Sentinel-News ran in the March 5 edition. Eventually, the virus shut down schools, canceled countless events and affected local residents in numerous ways, be they personally, economically or otherwise. The following timeline focuses on some of the biggest local headlines from the pandemic during the last nine months. • 'Prepping for...
• Vehicle struck from behind Whiteout conditions contributed to an accident that occurred on Dec. 23 at 1:35 p.m. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office reported that a 2021 Hyundai driven by Jeri Wescott, 61, of Hartley, was stopped in the 1200 mile of Highway 18 due to whiteout conditions. Her vehicle was struck from behind by a 2018 Toyota driven by Luis Martin Cota, 43, of Sibley. No injuries were reported. Damage to the Hyundai, owned by Kirk Wescott, was estimated at $5,000 and damage to the Toyota, owned by Dethmers Manufacturing, was lis...
It only seems appropriate that Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School musicians should go to Music City USA for their upcoming music trip. Nashville, Tenn. is the destination for the music department's trip that is scheduled for March of 2022. The announcement was made by vocal director Kristi Wingert during the holiday concert on Dec. 13 and the school board gave its official blessing on Dec. 21. It will be the third consecutive time that high school instrumental and vocal students will head to...
There's no doubting Jerry and Carole Klein's Christmas spirit. The couple's home has become legendary in Hartley thanks to its elaborate holiday displays each December. You can't miss it, either. A quick drive through the Kleins' First Street Southwest neighborhood will prove they're the perennial Christmas cheer champions in Hartley, a title in which they take pride. "I don't want to put it up the same exact way every year. I try to change it up," said Jerry. "I like to see if people notice."...
Just like their fishing lures, Dave and Cindy Hennings aren't letting the big one get away. The Hartley couple has grown their small tackle business into quite the catch over the past decade. Dave started dabbling in creating his own lures roughly 15 years ago, and eventually spun his hobby into Hennings Tackle. "The business is kind of growing itself, and we're just going to ride with it and do what we can," he said. "It's still very much a mom and pop deal." Dave has been an avid outdoorsman...
Nobody can say Tara Patrick doesn't believe in herself. The owner of Backroads Biker Leather Shoppe in Everly was told by a small business expert in 2006 that her store would never make it in a town with a population of 600. Fourteen years later, she's still laughing. "He said I was stupid to do it in Everly and it wouldn't last six months," Patrick recalled. "He said, 'Don't you understand that location is everything for retail?' I laughed at him and said that he didn't understand bikers. If bi...
The end of the COVID-19 pandemic came closer to reality in Hartley this week. Community Memorial Health Center received its first shipment of the Moderna vaccine on Monday. According to administrator Dr. Janette Simon, CMHC was the first nursing home in O'Brien County to receive doses of the vaccine. One-third of the staff and all consenting residents received their first shots Monday afternoon. The second dose will be administered 28 days later. "It is difficult to express to you how relieved...
Responding to the impact the coronavirus pandemic has on Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School students' ability to complete community service hours, revisions to the citizenship credit requirement were approved by the board on Dec. 21. According to board policy, students must accumulate a minimum of 40 "citizenship points" in order to graduate. Each point is the equivalent of one clock hour a student expends in performing uncompensated "service for others." Additionally, criteria for admission...
• Traffic Harmony Jene Cooley, Archer, Registration Violation. Jenny Lynn Baier, Royal, Failure to Maintain Control. Joshua David Sybesma, Archer, Speeding. Joshua James McPeek, Sheldon, No Proof of Insurance. Kimberly Jo Howell, Ashton, No Proof of Insurance. Ashley Nicole Van Briesen, Sioux Center, Speeding. Katie Jean Rohlfsen, Paullina, Registration Violation. Amanda Jo Dessel, Paullina, Failure to Use Child Restraint. Scott L. Steinbeck, League City, Texas, Speeding. Elissa Alverda Elaine Frederes, Cleghorn, Speeding. Melanie Neufeld Funk...
Above-normal temperatures have permitted several maintenance projects by the City of Royal to either be completed or still done this winter. With no snow to plow, city employees Sherman Nielsen and Lance Kruse have tackled tree trimming and removal at the site of a proposed street near the Great Hall of Royal. With trees removed there as well as at Memorial Park, stumps remain and Nielsen suggested they be taken out while the ground is dry and frozen. “Stumps from those we cut last winter weren’t done in the summer,” Nielsen explained. “One...
Christmas came early Monday for 18 families in the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Community School District. Organizers of the H-M-S Giving Tree doled out 147 gifts to 49 school-age children. The project is in its second year and supported entirely from community contributions. "We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the response that our second-annual project has received. People were really thoughtful with their gifts," said Jenna Hemiller, wife of H-M-S High School Principal Nate Hemiller. "Overall,...
The best Christmas present of 2020 is on its way to O'Brien and Clay counties. The first shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are headed to northwest Iowa, according to a statement Monday from Sanford Health. The shipment is expected late this week at some of Sanford's rural locations, with first vaccinations prioritized for frontline health care workers and long-term care residents as determined by the CDC. Community Memorial Health Center Administrator Dr. Janette Simon said...
More than a week after Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley reported its first COVID-19 infection among its residents, nothing has changed. Administrator Dr. Janette Simon reported Tuesday that no new cases had been found after the latest round of testing on Monday. The same was true for the nursing home's staff members, all of whom received negative results Tuesday. "Usually when COVID gets inside a long-term care facility it spreads like wild fire," said Simon. "We were able to contain...
Though many folks are looking forward to flipping the calendar to 2021, the New Year won't be welcomed with a bang – at least not in Hartley. The city council on Monday agreed to keep the current ordinance as-is following a request from a resident to allow fireworks Dec. 31-Jan. 1. Hartley has one of the more strict fireworks ordinances in the area, as residents are only allowed to fire away July 3-4 from 10 a.m-11 p.m. "I'm really not in favor of it," Mayor Rodney Ahrenstorff said of c...
The boards of directors of First Cooperative Association, of Cherokee, and Alceco, of Albert City, have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to conduct a unification study between the two cooperatives. According to a joint news release, the boards of directors of both cooperatives believe now is the right time to conduct the study due to marketplace dynamics that are “changing dramatically.” The release stated each cooperative is “financially strong” and can approach the opportunity from “a position of strength while ensuring local ownership...
• Traffic Scott Lee Smith, Orange City, Contempt. Timothy Houston Moore, Centerville, Speeding. Austin Traver, Paullina, Seatbelt Violation. David Alberto Vazquez Ruiz, Hartley, Speeding. Radu Popovici, Schaumberg, Ill., Speeding. Kayla Koster, Paullina, Registration Violation; No Proof of Insurance. Enrique Chavez Salazar, Sheldon, Speeding. Brittany Nicole Sumner, Cherokee, Speeding. Diana Lyn Jorgensen, Tulsa, Okla., Registration Violation. Shawn Rooney, Sheldon, Failure to Respond to Steady Red Light. Brent Allen Noteboom, Paullina, S...
Royal's skyline is going through some big changes. Demolition of Ag Partners' main grain elevator complex started Friday at the company's location in the north part of town. The structure suffered a massive explosion in August caused by "a grain dust incident," according to Ag Partners, and has been sitting empty awaiting demolition ever since. The site is expected to be cleared by the end of the month. A single excavator with a multi-processor equipped with demolition jaws methodically has...
The holiday season hit the heart of Hartley last Saturday during the Chamber of Commerce's first-ever light parade. Decorated fire trucks, an ambulance, cars and a few other vehicles snaked their way through town during the event. Santa and Mrs. Claus even made an appearance, waving to adoring onlookers from the back of the fire department's vintage truck. The parade was held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of traditional events like lap visits with Santa and the holi...
The CDC has announced new quarantine guidelines for individuals who've come into contact with someone infected with COVID-19. The guidance of a 14-day quarantine period is still considered the safest way to prevent the virus' spread; however, two additional time periods have been suggested. Now, an individual can end their quarantine 10 days after contact if no symptoms have occurred during daily monitoring. Additionally, if you get a negative test on day 7 and if no symptoms occur during daily...
After remaining coronavirus-free for the first nine months of the pandemic, Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley on Monday reported the first infection among its residents. Administrator Dr. Janette Simon said the individual is exhibiting no symptoms and is completely isolated from other residents in the facility's containment area. No other residents had tested positive as of Tuesday, and the latest round of staff testing on Tuesday revealed no positive infections. Simon said the staff's...
• Hartley woman arrested on drug charges The Clay County Sheriff’s Office stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation at the intersection of Highway 18 and 160th Avenue on Dec. 3 at 10:07 p.m. During the investigation it was determined that the driver, Shelly Ohrt, of Hartley, was allegedly in possession of methamphetamine and was placed under arrest. She was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance-3rd Offense Methamphetamine and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was held in the Clay County jail to appear before the magistrate. • Dr...
