Stories from Wednesday, June 6, 2012

House Assistant Republican Leader Jeff Smith of Okoboji secured the GOP nomination in the newly-drawn Iowa House District 1 following a contested race Tuesday night. He edged rural Sibley farmer and area Tea Party favorite Kevin Wolfswinkel. Smith had 3,263 votes for 54.5 percent support. Wolfswinkel had 2,721 votes for 45.6 percent support...

Incumbent Greg Baloun of Lake Park is in line for a sixth term as Dickinson County Sheriff following a victory Tuesday night over fellow Republican Gary Owen. Baloun received 2,044 votes for 79.5 percent support. Owen received 526 votes for 20.5 percent support...

A plane hummed in the background just before 10 a.m. Monday as co-pilot Claude Cordelle crammed backpacks and duffle bags into the ultralight "Sky Ranger" plane flown by fellow Frenchman Thierry Barbier. It's a routine Barbier and his teams have repeated around the globe. Barbier's tiny white plane with orange and black trim has stopped in 83 countries. The view from above has given the pilot a world view...

Incumbent Greg Baloun of Lake Park is in line for a sixth term as Dickinson County Sheriff following a victory Tuesday night over fellow Republican Gary Owen. Baloun received 2,044 votes for 79.5 percent support. Owen received 526 votes for 20.5 percent support...

Incumbent Greg Baloun of Lake Park is in line for a sixth term as Dickinson County Sheriff following a victory Tuesday night over fellow Republican Gary Owen. Baloun received 2,044 votes for 79.5 percent support. Owen received 526 votes for 20.5 percent support...

Nursing a minor groin injury didn't seem to faze Brandon Stoll, who lined a walk-off single to center field as a pinch hitter to propel Spirit Lake to a 3-2 victory over MOC-Floyd Valley Tuesday in non-conference baseball action. Stoll drilled the game-winning hit up the middle with Nick Wetzeler standing on third base in the bottom of the seventh...

Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji seized control from the opening kickoff after senior Drew Brevik scored his first goal of the season in the game's second minute. The SLP-O midfielder, who converted three goals last season, helped put his team ahead 1-0 on a pass from Kade Heikens, helping lift his team to a 3-1 victory over No. 8 ADM of Adel Saturday, June 2 in the consolation finals of the Class 2A Boys Soccer Championship at Cownie Soccer Complex...

Senior striker Zubeen Azari shined on the state's biggest stage, lifting Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji to a resounding 4-1 victory over No. 2 seeded and third ranked Pella with his fourth hat trick and ninth multi-goal effort of the season Thursday, May 31 in Class 2A quarterfinals of the Boys State Soccer Championship at Cownie Soccer Park...

Juniors K.J. Veldman and Rachael Westergard rolled to a pair of dominant victories in the first two rounds of the Class 1A girls' state doubles tennis tournament to lock up a fourth place finish Friday, June 1 at Byrnes Park in Waterloo. "I was a little worried that Rachael might be intimidated as this was her first state tournament, but she didn't seem nervous at all and played better than I've ever seen her play," said Spirit Lake-Okoboji coach Bob O'Hara. ...

Okoboji freshman Alex Mankle recovered from an up and down opening round by lowering her score by five strokes with an 86 on the final day of the state girls' golf tournament at Adel's River Valley Golf Course on May 30. Mankle moved up to four spots into a tie for seventh place with an 86 on Day Two. ...

Wins against Clay Central-Everly have been hard to come by for Harris-Lake Park over the past half a decade, but they finished off a Cornbelt Conference doubleheader sweep of the Mavs with a pair of hard-fought wins Monday, June 4 in Lake Park. The two wins doubled the number of victories the Wolves have had against the Mavs over the past five years...

Spirit Lake ferociously rallied back from an early 12-2 deficit, only to fall short 14-13 after giving up two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of an exciting back and fourth contest against Spencer Monday, June 4 in Lakes Conference baseball action...

The Spirit Lake softball team couldn't slow down Spencer offensively and they weren't able to put up enough runs in a 13-5 loss Monday, June 4 at Tiger Field. "All I said to my girls after the game is that we've got to make the easy plays," said Spirit Lake coach Rachel Gerking. "We've got to make the easy outs. The outs that we're not getting are the outs that normal teams should make."...

The Okoboji baseball team remained unbeaten after its latest Siouxland Conference baseball win came in dramatic fashion Friday, June 1 with a walk-off inside-the-park home run to beat Central Lyon 2-1. "It was a huge confidence booster for us," said Okoboji coach Rory Marra. ...

The Okoboji softball team surged past Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley for a 13-3 victory in six innings to improve to 2-1 Siouxland Conference play Monday, June 4 in Milford. The Pioneers have now beaten defending conference champion West Lyon and the league runner-up Nighthawks in their past two Siouxland contests...

After falling victim to the rains in May, the snarl of winged sprint filled the air at Jackson Speedway for the first time in 2012 Friday night. The Spring Sprint Nationals, Double Down Showdown, featuring the Jackson Speedway Touring Sprint Series 360 sprint and the Interstate Racing Association 410 sprint brought a total of 60 cars to the historic half-mile dirt oval on the Jackson County Fairgrounds on June 1...

The Centers Against Abuse and Sexual Assault would like to send a sincere "thank you" to the members of Good Neighbor Fund, as well as the people in our community, for their generous donation to our agency. We recognize that there are many other deserving non-profit agencies in this county and feel honored that you chose to donate to CAASA...

Cutting property taxes is long overdue and would be a great way to create jobs in every Iowa town. That's why I'm so frustrated and disappointed that the House, Senate and Governor couldn't work together to pass bold, permanent property tax reform during the 2012 session...

Have you ever been asked to serve on a committee with a specific goal to attain? Have you said no because you were not sure the goal was attainable or you didn't want to take the time? When I was asked to be on a "Visioning Committee" at my church nearly six years ago I said yes, thinking that it would be a year or two commitment on my part to help steer the congregation through the process of finding land, selling our current church site and building a new church...

Partnering with the American Red Cross, the Dickinson County ISU Extension and Outreach office and the Dickinson County Public Health are once again hosting a babysitters training this summer. The first day-length session will be held June 13 at the Dickinson County Expo building in Spirit Lake. The second summer session will be held July 28 at the First Lutheran Church in Milford...

Feb. 5, 1947 -- May 30, 2012 A funeral service was held for William (Bill) Svendsen, 65, of Milford on Monday, June 4, 2012, at First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji. Burial was at Milford Cemetery in Milford. William "Bill" Ray Svendsen was born Feb. 5, 1947, in Milford, to Dale and Margaret (Askeland) Svendsen...

Aug. 22, 1945 -- May 23, 2012 A funeral service for Nancy Rae Nance, of Spirit Lake was held Saturday, May 26, 2012, at Turner Jenness Funeral Home In Spirit Lake. Nancy Rae Nance was born Aug. 22, 1945 in Morley, Iowa, to Perry and Clara Louise (Easterly) Joslin...

May 19, 1932 -- May 24, 2012 A funeral service for Marilynn JoAnn Houser, 80, of Spirit Lake was held Saturday, May 26, 2012 at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Burial was at Memory Gardens. Marilynn Jo Ann Houser was born May 19, 1932, in Spencer, the daughter of Harold and Helene (Geesman) Lighter...

May 29, 2012 -- May 30, 2012 Gabriel Brockshus Chavez of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, passed away Wednesday, May 30, 2012, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D.. He was born on May 29, 2012, in Sioux Falls, S.D., to Rey and Melanie (Brockshus) Chavez...