Sioux County Edition · No. 6 ·
A $1.55 million Orange City sale + $100K for a video board?
About a 9-minute read · covering Orange City, Sioux Center, Rock Valley, Hull, Alton, Granville, Hospers and every gravel road between.
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Coffee & County
Five minutes on what's happening from Orange City to Rock Valley.
Good morning, Sioux County.
Make it four. Boyden-Hull swept St. Edmond Wednesday night, so four Sioux County volleyball teams are headed to Coralville next week. Before that, there's a playoff football Friday, Halloween on Saturday and an extra hour of sleep Sunday. Pick your costume and set your clocks.
● Four county teams are in the state volleyball bracket, starting Monday.
● This week’s home sales, from a $187,000 condo to a $1.55 million industrial building.
● A Hull school leader spent 48 hours in a 4-by-6 cinderblock hut. On purpose.
● Early voting ends Monday at 4:30 p.m.
OUT THE WINDOW
FRI ☁️ 52° / 47°Showers tonight | SAT 🌦️ 61° / 50°Morning showers | SUN 🌥️ 63° / 53°Mostly cloudy |
Cloudy and cool today, with showers tonight. Halloween has a 50% chance of morning showers, but trick-or-treat time looks mostly dry (20% chance). Rain returns Monday with possible storms, and Election Day has a 70% chance of showers.
Forecast for Sioux County from the National Weather Service →
THIS WEEKEND · NEXT WEEK
Fall back Sunday, vote by Tuesday
● Clocks fall back one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1.
● Vote early in person at the courthouse in Orange City through Mon., Nov. 2, at 4:30 p.m.
● Election Day is Tue., Nov. 3.
● Questions: Sioux County Auditor, 712-737-2216
TOP STORY
Four county teams are going to state
Boyden-Hull swept St. Edmond 25–19, 25–18, 25–19 Wednesday at Spencer to win the Class 1A Region 2 title. That puts four Sioux County teams in next week's state volleyball tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville. The brackets came out Wednesday night.
| CLASS | QUARTERFINAL | DAY |
| 4A | #6 Sioux Center vs. #3 Clear Creek Amana | Mon. |
| 3A | #1 Western Christian vs. #8 Roland-Story | Tue. |
| 3A | #2 MOC-Floyd Valley vs. #7 Wilton | Tue. |
| 1A | #2 Boyden-Hull vs. #7 Gehlen Catholic | Tue. |
● All-area 1A matchup: Boyden-Hull and Gehlen Catholic meet in the quarterfinals, so Northwest Iowa is guaranteed a 1A semifinalist.
Go: Classes 4A and 5A open Monday. Classes 1A, 2A and 3A start Tuesday. Check ighsau.org for match times.
PRESENTING SPONSOR
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WHO BOUGHT WHAT
This week's sales, by the numbers
Qualified sales dated Oct. 17–23, the latest the Sioux County Assessor has posted. Homes are listed by block.
| HOMES | |
| Sioux Center, 1300 block of 11th Ave. NE Built 2005 · 1,220 sq. ft. | $330,000 |
| Sioux Center, 100 block of 2nd Ave. NE Built 1910 · 1,608 sq. ft. | $265,000 |
| Sioux Center, 700 block of 1st Ave. SW Built 1954 · 876 sq. ft. | $232,000 |
| Hull, 1400 block of Division St. Built 1929 · 1,266 sq. ft. | $195,000 |
| Orange City, 700 block of 2nd St. SE Condo unit · built 1992 · 1,152 sq. ft. | $187,000 |
| BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL | |
| Orange City, 1401 8th St. SE Light-manufacturing plant · about 30,700 sq. ft. on 2.6 acres · built 1990, expanded through 2004 | $1,550,000 |
The Orange City plant sold for about 50% more than its $1.03 million assessed value. In Rock Valley, 18 homes this month have been recorded as sales to a government or tax-exempt buyer.
On the market
995 Colonial St., Sioux Center · $869,000 · 4 bed, 4 bath, 5,111 sq. ft., built 2012 · Century 21 Signature Real Estate.
984 15th Cir. NE, Sioux Center · $380,000 · new 3 bed, 2 bath ranch, 1,253 sq. ft. · Team Realty Services.
117 Central Ave. SE #204, Orange City · $340,000 · 1 bed, 2 bath condo, 1,100 sq. ft. · axisre.net.
35.6-acre farm, Sioux Center · $1,850,000, about $52,000 an acre · Vision Realty.
Sponsor Who bought what. Real estate agent, home builder or mortgage lender? Put your name on this section. Hit reply.
AROUND THE COUNTY
Hull: 48 hours in the Cinderblock Inn
Hull Christian School supporters gave $11,400 at last Saturday's Rally Day Sale to send head of school Randy Ten Pas into a 4-by-6-foot cinderblock hut for 48 hours. He checked in at 1 p.m. Tuesday and out at 1 p.m. Thursday. The whole evening raised more than $85,000. It continues his 18-year tradition of doing something unusual for the sale.
Read the full story at the N'West Iowa REVIEW →
Sioux County: $175,875 for storm debris cleanup
FEMA awarded Sioux County Secondary Roads $175,875 to help pay for debris removal after the June 2024 storms and flooding, Sen. Chuck Grassley's office announced Tuesday. It's separate from the $4.3 million Rock Valley recently got for its water and sewer systems.
Read the full story at Sioux County Radio →
Rock Valley: Could ads pay for a $100,000 gym video board?
The Rock Valley School District is looking at a Daktronics video board for its new gym and invited local businesses to hear about sponsorships. The superintendent's early estimate: about $100,000 for a video board, compared with about $50,000 for a regular scoreboard. Business partnerships would help pay for it, with extra money going to an activity fund for students. The district is also looking at ads on its livestreamed events.
Read the full story at the Rock Valley Bee →
FROM THE BLEACHERS
Playoff football tonight
Tonight, 7 p.m.: West Sioux hosts West Monona in the Class A round of 16, and Sioux Center plays at Sioux City Heelan in Class 3A.
Round of 16 matchups at the N'West Iowa REVIEW →
College this weekend
● Dordt hockey hosts Nebraska tonight, 7 p.m., at Vernon Ice Arena.
● Dordt football hosts Waldorf Saturday, 1 p.m.
● Dordt men’s soccer hosts Midland in a GPAC tournament quarterfinal Saturday, 5 p.m.
● Dordt vs. Northwestern volleyball is Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., in Sioux Center.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Sioux Center: Felony OWI charge after traffic stop
A 41-year-old Sioux Center man is charged with third-offense OWI, a felony, after a traffic stop at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday on Seventh Street Northwest. Police allege he swerved, crossed the centerline and registered a .135 preliminary breath test. He's also charged with driving under suspension and without a required ignition interlock.
Read the full story at Sioux County Radio →
Rock Valley: Second person charged after officer was hit
A 28-year-old Rock Valley woman is charged with reckless driving, failing to yield to emergency vehicles and running stop signs. Police say she followed the pickup of the 47-year-old man accused of hitting a Rock Valley officer Oct. 21 and wouldn't yield, so patrol cars had to pass her in oncoming traffic. He's charged with attempted murder of a peace officer, and his preliminary hearing is Nov. 3.
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MARKETS
At the elevator
| FUTURES | CLOSE | CHANGE |
| Corn (Dec) | $4.51¼ | −½¢ |
| Soybeans (Nov) | $12.19¾ | −4¾¢ |
| Live cattle (Dec) | $226.30 | −$1.02 |
| Feeder cattle (Nov) | $346.47 | −27¢ |
| Lean hogs (Dec) | $59.82 | +$1.22 |
Thursday’s closes. Corn barely moved, soybeans and cattle slipped, and hogs bounced back $1.22 after Wednesday's drop.
Harvest check: as of Oct. 25, Iowa's corn harvest was 47% done, 20 points behind the five-year average, and soybeans were 78% done, per USDA. Rock Valley got 0.62 inch of rain that week, one of the few wet spots in the state.
Stocks: A record one-day drop for Alphabet, Google's parent company, pulled Wall Street lower Thursday, even though most stocks rose. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 7,720.39, the Nasdaq lost 1.4%, and the Dow slipped 132.54 points to 52,342.56. The 10-year Treasury yield eased to about 4.99%.
Mortgage rates: the 30-year averages 7.24%, down from 7.32%, and the 15-year 6.60%, down from 6.68%, per Freddie Mac's weekly survey released Thursday. It's the lowest 30-year rate this month.
Sponsor our Markets section. Co-op, ag lender, financial advisor or equipment dealer? Put your name on this section. Hit reply.
NEW IN TOWN
No new openings crossed our desk this time.
Opening, moving or expanding? Hit reply. New businesses get a free mention.
NOW HIRING
Jobs around the county
| Associate athletic director Dordt University · Sioux Center · Full-time | Apply → |
| Farm and commercial truck drivers Justin Dragstra Trucking · Sioux Center | Apply → |
| Network technician Premier Communications · Sioux Center | Apply → |
| Payroll coordinator Pizza Ranch · Orange City · Full-time | Apply → |
| Healthcare jobs Orange City Area Health System · Orange City | Apply → |
| Journeyman electrician J Electric · Hull | Apply → |
More local openings are posted at Sioux County Radio's Job Hunter.
Hiring in Sioux County? Hit reply to post your job here.
COMING UP
On the calendar
FRI 30 | Playoff football, 7 p.m. “Hotel Próżnia,” Dordt student show, 7:30 p.m., Fourth Avenue Theatre. Free. |
SAT 31 | Halloween.Hawarden Trunk or Treat, 4–5 p.m., Hawarden Community Center lot. Hallelujah Party, 5:30–7:30 p.m., Dordt Recreation Center. Free; come in costume. |
SUN 1 | Clocks fall back one hour at 2 a.m. Ladies Night at Bomgaars, 5–8 p.m., Orange City: 20% off regular prices, and 5% of the night's sales go to Orange City Area Health System. |
MON 2 | Last day to vote early, until 4:30 p.m. State volleyball opens in Coralville. Escape Room for Adults, a 1920s murder mystery, 6 or 7:30 p.m., Sioux Center Public Library; register at siouxcenterlibrary.org. |
TUE 3 | Election Day.Culver’s of Sioux Center Share Day for Wreaths Across America, 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m. |
THU 5 | One Book, One Sioux County panel on the 1857 Spirit Lake Massacre, 7 p.m., DeWitt Library, Northwestern College; register at onebookonesiouxcounty.org. Blood drive, 1–6 p.m., 251 N. Main Ave., Sioux Center. |
FRI 6 | Youth Theatre: “The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood,” 7 p.m., Te Paske Theatre, Sioux Center Middle School. Jazzed Up Big Band, the 16-piece band from the Roof Garden Ballroom, 7 p.m., B.J. Haan Auditorium, Dordt. Free. |
EN ESPAÑOL
Cuatro equipos del condado van al torneo estatal
Boyden-Hull, Sioux Center, Western Christian y MOC-Floyd Valley jugarán en el torneo estatal de voleibol en Coralville. Sioux Center juega el lunes; los demás, el martes.
Vote por adelantado hasta el 2 de noviembre
Puede votar en persona en el juzgado de Orange City hasta el lunes 2 de noviembre a las 4:30 p.m. El día de la elección es el martes 3 de noviembre. Y no olvide: el domingo a las 2 a.m. se atrasan los relojes una hora.
📍 DID YOU KNOW? · ROCK VALLEY
Before it was Rock Valley, the town's post office went by other names: Rock Mills and Rhodes Corner.
Source: IAGenWeb Sioux County →
Know a fun fact about your town? Hit reply.
ONE GOOD THING
Orange City makes a ‘best small cities’ list
Orange City is No. 12 on retired geography teacher Charles Nathan Anderson's list of 40 in his book “In Search of Eden: America's Best Small Cities.” He pointed to the Dutch-themed downtown, the cost of living, Northwestern College and the town's winter sunshine. “Orange City is very unique and special,” he told the REVIEW.
Read the full story at the N'West Iowa REVIEW →
GOOD TO KNOW
A mammogram takes about 15 minutes
As Breast Cancer Awareness Month wraps up, Sioux Center Health's radiologist encourages yearly mammograms starting at 40, and earlier for some women. Talk with your provider about what's right for you. The visit usually takes about 15 minutes. You can schedule through the patient portal or at 712-722-8116.
Read the full story at Sioux County Radio →
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