FIRE DESTROYED A STORAGE SHED ATTACHED TO A GROCERY STORE ON THE CITY'S WESTSIDE THIS AFTERNOON.

INVESTIGATORS SAY THE BLAZE AT WEST 26TH AND MYRTLE MAY HAVE STARTED FROM A CHARCOAL GRILL THAT WAS IN USE IN THE SHED.

SMOKE AND FLAMES WERE VISIBLE WHEN FIREFIGHTERS ARRIVED.

AUTHORITIES SAY THE GROCERY STORE SUSTAINED SMOKE DAMAGE AND THE SHED IS A TOTAL LOSS.

NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED. THAT FIRE OCCURRED AROUND 3:30 FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

SIOUX CITY'S HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE ROSE BY OVER FIVE PERCENT IN THE LAST YEAR.

FIGURES RELEASED BY THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SHOW THE RATE ROSE TO 84 AND A QUARTER PER CENT, A FIVE-POINT-ONE PERCENTAGE GAIN OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

SIOUX CITY'S GRADUATION RATE IS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE STATE FOR URBAN SCHOOLS, BUT STILL TRAILS THE OVERALL STATE AVERAGE OF 88.3%.

STORM LAKE HAS THE WORST HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE IN THE STATE AT ONLY 57.4 PER CENT.

THE STATE AVERAGE ACTUALLY DROPPED BY HALF A PER CENT IN 2010-11 FROM 88.3 THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

STATE EDUCATION SPOKESMAN JAY PENNINGTON SAYS IOWA HAS ONE OF THE BEST GRADUATION RATES IN THE COUNTRY.

 
FIVE OF THE BIGGEST DISTRICTS IN THE STATE, SIOUX CITY, CEDAR RAPIDS, COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA CITY AND WATERLOO SAW GRADUATION RATES RISE IN 2011.
  

SIOUX CITY EAST WILL PLAY FOR THE IOWA 4A STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER A THRILLING 60-56 DOUBLE OVERTIME VICTORY OVER ANKENY.

EAST WON DESPITE 22 TURNOVERS IN THE GAME AND OVERCAME ANKENY'S SLOWDOWN TACTICS IN THE 4TH QUARTER TO TIE THE GAME AT 45 ALL.

AN ADAM WOODBURY BASKET WITH SIX SECONDS LEFT IN THE FIRST OVERTIME TIED THE GAME AT 51. WOODBURY LED EAST WITH 17 POINTS & 12 REBOUNDS.

WOODBURY WOULD FOUL OUT WITH 2;42 LEFT IN THE 2ND OT, BUT FREE THROWS DOWN THE STRETCH CARRIED THE RAIDERS TO THE WIN.

 EAST TAKES A 21-3 RECORD INTO THE STATE TITLE GAME SATURDAY NIGHT.  ANKENY ENDS THEIR SEASON WITH THEIR FIRST LOSS AT 24-1.

YOU'LL HEAR THE GAME ON KSCJ BEGINNING AT 7:45PM SATURDAY.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME STARTS THIS WEEKEND, AND BESIDES SETTING YOUR CLOCK AN HOUR AHEAD SATURDAY NIGHT, THERE'S ONE MORE THING YOU SHOULD DO TO IMPROVE YOUR HOME SAFETY.

JESSE PEDERSEN OF THE SIOUX CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT'S TIME TO CHANGE THE BATTERIES ON YOUR SMOKE DETECTORS:

AND PEDERSEN SAYS IF YOU'VE HAD THE SAME SMOKE DETECTORS FOR SEVERAL YEARS, IT MIGHT BE WISE TO REPLACE THEM:

 PEDERSEN RECCOMENDS A MINIMUM OF ONE SMOKE DETECTOR ON EACH LEVEL OF YOUR HOME.
 IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN A HOME INSPECTION FROM THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, YOU MAY CONTACT THEM AT 279-6377