John Cullen

Normally we Cullens try to stay out of the news, but last week we made a little of it ourselves when a big thunderstorm ripped apart an ash tree in our front yard. Mary and I were pictured with the downed tree in last Friday's Times Pilot. We weren't alone; there was a lot of damage elsewhere in Storm Lake and around Buena Vista County. A house on Shoreway Road took a hit to its roof from a large tree nearby.

On Saturday Storm Lake joins the rest of the nation in celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States of America. It was on July 4, 1776, that our nation's founders, meeting in Philadelphia, signed the Declaration of Independence, marking our freedom from the dictatorial king of England.

Thunderstorms brought strong winds and heavy rain to Connecticut on Saturday evening , knocking out power to more than 3,500 Eversource customers as of 8 p.m., according to the electric company.

There were about 52,000 power outages across Connecticut Sunday evening after about 100,000 late Saturday night.

Have you ever noticed that whenever you do something nice for someone, it makes you feel good? Even little things, like holding the door at the Post Office for someone juggling an armful of mail.

Storm Lake’s Star Spangled Spectacular, Iowa’s biggest Fourth of July event, had another successful celebration of our nation’s birthday Saturday. The Big Day was kicked off by the Big Parade …

At 8:20 p.m., Eversource reported 1,516 customers without power, including 906 in Watertown and 324 in Waterbury.

At 9:50 p.m., Eversource reported 642 customers without power, including 323 in Waterbury and 96 in Norwalk.

“The Odyssey” is one of the most-hyped movies in years. We've been hearing about it for months, and it finally opened last weekend in Storm Lake and across the nation. The three-hour epic starred Matt Damon and was written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who has made some blockbuster movies in recent years, most recently “Oppenheimer,” the 2023 story of the development of the atom bomb.

We were bummed last week by the announcement that St. Mary's High School is ending its athletic program after a century of competition. Beginning this fall the former Panthers will compete as Tornadoes on Storm Lake High School sports teams.