Stories from Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Iowa Lakes Community College has announced the hiring of the first-ever swimming coach in college history. Johnathan Jordan will be the new head swimming c for the inaugural fall 2011 season. "I look forward to the challenge of building a team from the ground up for both Iowa Lakes Community College and the Emmetsburg area," said Jordan. ...

There were fireworks -- the ooohhh and aaahhh kinds -- in the skies following Saturday's Hall of Fame and Jackson County Fair night races and lots of ooohhhs and aaahhhs on the track as well. But when the final checkers fell, a new driver visited victory lane in the Forbes Meats 360 sprints as Matt Juhl of Estherville would pilot his 09 sprinter to a sweet victory after a red-flag on lap 13 after a tumble in turn one by Spirit Lake driver Greg Valentine, who was uninjured. ...

He can't buy a lottery ticket. He can't vote. He's barely old enough to drive a car. There are plenty of things 17-year-old Matt Weeks of Spirit Lake isn't old enough to do. Tearing up a golf course isn't one of them. One year after Algona native Josh Manske became the tournament's youngest champion at 19 years young, Weeks put the field on notice that another young gun is ready to contend at the Northwest Amateur, shooting 7-under-par 65 Thursday on the first day of the annual event...

Jan. 21, 1955 -- July 15, 2010 Douglas Milton Taylor was born January 21, 1955, in Spencer, the son of Duane and Janice (Mac Collin) Taylor. He graduated from Milford Community High School and continued his education at Morningside College and Iowa Lakes Community College...

Roy E. Caskey, age 94, of Willmar, died Friday morning, July 16, at Rice Care Center in Willmar.

Dawne Howell and Ryan Schmidt both of Spirit Lake are pleased to announce their engagement. An Aug. 21 wedding in Spirit Lake is planned. Parents of the couple are Retha Howell of Fort Dodge, and Ron and Barb Howell of Nunnelly, Tenn., as well as Lori and Steve Arnold of Fort Dodge and Mark and Shelly Wheaton of Janesville, Wisc...

After the 30 years building success and an ever-increasing roster of talent, the coordinators of the 30th annual Art in the Park are glad to see history repeating itself.

Chad Lindsay, left, of Spirit Lake, ate 66 hot chicken wings to win the Inaugural Chicken Wing Eating Contest at Pioneer Days Saturday, July 24 in Milford. Shown, left to right, are Lindsay, Chicken Wing Chairman Chris Hinshaw and second place winner Joe Walker of Arnolds Park, who ate 61 wings. Ten persons entered the contest. Lindsay took home $50 and a trophy...

When I thought I wanted to be a business minor (surprisingly it's a little hard for an English major to wrap her head around accounting, weird), I took an Informational Systems class. It's just a fancy way of saying we had to learn how to use different computer programs in order to keep track of large amounts of information. They should have just taught us to how to manage a Facebook page, it would have been more helpful...

Several law enforcement officers from the Iowa Great Lakes were en route to Arizona Monday as they pay their respects to a former colleague who died in the line of duty.

In just 30 minutes Monday morning, tragedy struck at the family farmstead of Tina Ritzer, claiming the life of one of her cats, critically inuring her horse and leaving Ritzer with a lot of questions.

The Dickinson County Attorney's Office plans to pursue enhanced charges against James Michael Naujock for a history as a habitual offender, according to court records filed Friday.