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The state-operated website for coronavirus statistics on Thursday confirmed the death of a fourth Dickinson County resident related to COVID-19. "Unfortunately the Iowa Department of Public Health doesn't allow us to release the date of death and no longer are releasing the gender," Dickinson County Public Health Coordinator Katy Burke said. "The age range of the last Dickinson County resident who passed away with COVID-19 was 61-80 years."...

Consider it an extra credit project. Kirk Jefson of Forest City was the only person to run the University of Okoboji's Homecoming marathon this year. The U of O called off most of its homecoming events due to COVID-19, but Jefson and the local marathon are kindred. ...

With a Berkley flag flying from her bow and an American flag flying from her stern, the Queen II led boaters in a loop around West Lake Okoboji Saturday night in recognition of Berkley Bedell's passing. The former U.S. Representative and local businessman died Dec. 7, 2019, in Naples, Florida. A July 25 memorial service in Spirit Lake was postponed due to COVID-19. In lieu of a memorial service, arrangements were ultimately made to hold Saturday's Berkley Bedell Memorial Boat Parade...

Four criminal charges against a Carroll teen, including a felony weapons charge, have been dropped by the state of Iowa to allow a federal court to take over the case. Court records show Iowa Third Judicial District Judge Don E. Courtney allowed the charges against 19-year-old Buomkuoth Mach Lol to be dismissed in a June 18 decision. ...

I contemplated writing about key positive issues or programs that could be introduced after our next election. However, following President Trump's Rose Garden rant, his recent TV interviews, his rebooting of misinformation/politicizing the COVID-19 crisis and now his dispatching federal militia into sovereign cities managed by political opponents, it becomes more important we seriously study history of constitutional democratic demise! Trump's actions flaunt the concerns of Hamilton and other founders in creating the American presidency they perceived to be based upon trust of mutual toleration and institutional forbearance.. ...

More restrictions on entering the Dickinson County Courthouse are to be lifted next week. The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously for the courthouse move to its third phase of reopening for the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

A pair of high school softball heavyweights threw nothing by metaphorical haymakers at one another for seven innings Monday night. In the end, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley landed too many shots for Spirit Lake to handle, as the 15th-ranked Nighthawks upended the 12th-ranked Indians 16-10 in the Class 3A regional tournament championship in Spirit Lake...

The Harris-Lake Park baseball team enjoyed success this past season, winning four games during a shortened schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic. For their efforts, five Wolves earned postseason recognition. Senior Isaac Ihnen earned First Team All-War Eagle Conference and Second Team All-District honors after leading the Wolves in nearly every statistical category. Ihnen was a Second Team All-War Eagle Conference selection as a junior...

Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors recently announced a partnership with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to pilot a program to engage high school and college trap shooters in hunting activities. Based on the Shooting Sports Outreach Program that Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors launched in Kansas in 2019, the pilot program will engage student athletes from at least 15 different Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) teams, both college and high school, in dove, pheasant and waterfowl hunts...

Following the recent announcement surrounding postponement, the Clay County Fair has announced two ways to get a fair food fix in the month of August — Non-Profit Take Out Tuesdays and Fair Food To Go. "From the moment the fair was postponed, we knew our local nonprofits would be hurting," Clay County Fair & Events Center CEO Jeremy Parsons said. ...