Stories from Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Never count this team out. That was the sentiment shared by fans as they filed out of the Spirit Lake High School gym Saturday night following the Indians' thrilling come-from-behind regional tournament victory over Sheldon. Trailing the Orabs for the better part of three quarters, the Indians made a late run -- thanks in large part to the stellar play of senior forward Emma Dau -- to earn a 53-52 win and keep their state tournament aspirations intact...

I've always stood by my man Kanye West. Even during the time he called out President George W. Bush saying he "hates black people," through his venture into a full-length auto-tune exclusive album and his moronic interruption of Taylor Swift's Grammy speech. ...

At this time of year, teams are just trying to survive and advance. After jumping out to a huge first-quarter lead over Sioux Central Tuesday, the Okoboji girls basketball team did just that, as they broke open a one-point game in the fourth quarter to earn a 67-56 win in the second round of the Class 2A regional girls basketball tournament...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team wrapped up its regular season slate with a win Tuesday night, as the Indians defeated visiting Jackson County Central 67-61. Ryan Kriener led the way with a game-high 24 points. Teammate Alec Henrickson had 22 for the Indians...

Newly constructed Apex Indoor Shooting Range already has their first high profile visitor. U.S. Rep. Steve King stopped by the Fostoria facility Tuesday afternoon to offer his insights on the second amendment. He realizes how important firearms have been in the annals of U.S history...

Arnolds Park Amusement Park will celebrate its 125th anniversary this summer in the Iowa Great Lakes. And marketing and communications director Di Lorenzen hopes the Iowa Great Lakes community will help put candles on the cake. An informational meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23, at the Iowa Great Lakes Welcome Center as the Park staff makes plans and seeks volunteers for the quasquicentennial...

The Spirit Lake community is still trying to come to terms with a pair of recent losses. A funeral service for Rev. Patrick O'Neal, age 44, of Spirit Lake, was held Thursday at Immanuel Lutheran Church. The well-traveled pastor's history of mission work took him to places including Korea and Jamaica. He was called to serve at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake in 2010...

The Lake Park City Council on Feb. 9 accepted Police Chief Joe Hoover's resignation, effective immediately. The council unanimously approved a severance package for Hoover as well. Hoover was on hand for the council meeting and the council thanked him for his service...

A Tuesday morning police pursuit turned up drugs, a weapon and led to the arrest of a Ruthven man. Police officers responded to a report of a possible drunk driver around 10 a.m. in the Pizza Ranch parking lot. They tried to detain 31-year-old Jeffrey Butler Jr. Ruthven, but he fled the scene as officers approached his vehicle,...

An egg processing plant will soon hatch 197 jobs in north central Iowa. The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) board recently awarded $9.7 million in tax incentives to Spirit Lake-based Rembrandt Enterprises to help pay for a new facility near Thompson in Winnebago County...

Gunter likes to jump when he runs, Bruno loves taking baths, Smokey is shy. Jan Donaldson, the newly-hired director of the Northwest Iowa Humane Society knows all the quirks and personalities of all the pets, or "kids," as she calls them, at the shelter in Milford...

When the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association was created in 1997, Journey, Bruce Springsteen and Elton John were topping the charts. Flash-forward 18 years to 2015 and the big names in rock 'n' roll include Hozier, Vance Joy and Imagine Dragons. The Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association is making changes of its own...

The Spirit Lake Police Department welcomed its newest officer Monday. Officer Hunter Clayton was certified by ILEA in 2014 and looks forward to working with the citizens of Spirit Lake.

Julie and I have been teaching instrumental music at Okoboji for many years. Julie started teaching at Arnolds Park in 1981 and I joined the staff at Okoboji in 1989. We both taught in the old Arnolds Park building before the additions were made to the high school and middle school in 1994. ...

For thousands of years, cannabis has been used to treat a wide variety of ailments. Until 1937, cannabis was legal in the United States for all purposes. At the present time, federal law allows for Americans to use cannabis as medicine. Despite this, 23 states, plus Washington, D.C. have a medical cannabis program. The current Iowa law is flawed and Iowans with serious health conditions are not able to obtain the medication...

The Okoboji boys basketball team led from wire to wire Monday night, as the Pioneers advanced in the Class 2A boys district basketball tournament with a 72-53 win over Estherville Lincoln Central in Hartley. "Just a really solid performance by our guys," Okoboji coach Ryan Paulsen said. ...

With seven straight buckets down the stretch of Saturday's Class 3A regional tournament contest with Sheldon, Spirit Lake's Emma Dau sent her team on to a thrilling one-point victory over the Orabs. The icing on the cake? The scoring outburst also put the Indians senior over the 1,000-point mark for her career...

In last year's regular season finale, Harris-Lake Park defeated Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire to earn a share of the Cornbelt Conference boys basketball title. While the two squads now play in separate conferences (H-LP in the War Eagle and GT/RA in the Twin Lakes) there was still plenty at stake as the familiar foes duked it out in front of a packed crowed in Lake Park on Friday in the final game of the regular season...

Spirit Lake, Okoboji and Lake Park boys and girls in grades 4, 5, 6 and 7 were honored as Council Champions of the 2015 Knights of Columbus Spelling Bee. The Iowa Great Lakes Council 5043 sponsored the competition Tuesday in the Spirit Lake Middle School music room...

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) announced that Tri-State Paving, and Oldcastle Materials Co., of Estherville has won a 2014 Quality in Construction Award for excellence in construction of an asphalt pavement. The company received its award on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at a ceremony during the association's 60th Annual Meeting in Marco Island, Florida...

January isn't education as usual at Spirit Lake High School. They can take a hands-on, expert-facilitated class in something they want to know more about as part of J-Term. A new collaboration with Iowa Lakes Community College resulted in 12 students taking the introduction to entrepreneurship for college credit this January...

Twelve girls and boys ages 9 to 14 were named champions of the 2015 Knights of Columbus district free throw championship and earned the right to compete at the regional level. The district battle took place Sunday, Feb. 8 at Spirit Lake High School and was sponsored and organized by the Knights of Columbus Iowa Great Lakes Council 5043...

Nov. 19, 1945 -- Feb. 3, 2015 Lyle Albers, age 69, of Spirit Lake, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, at Rochester Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. He was born on Nov. 19, 1945, in Howard, South Dakota, to Albert and Mary (Knowles) Albers...

June 10, 1970 -- Feb. 8, 2015 A funeral service for Rev. Patrick O'Neal, age 44, of Spirit Lake, was held Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015 , at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake. Burial will be at Lakeview Gardens Cemetery. Rev. Patrick Eugene O'Neal was born June 10, 1970 in Beaufort, South Carolina, the son of Gene and Beulah (nee Dommer) O'Neal. ...

Feb. 13, 1927 -- Feb. 7, 2015 A funeral service for Norma Boyer, age 87, of Spirit Lake and formerly of Harris, will be 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 21 at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Norma Blanche Boyer, age 87, of Spirit Lake, passed away peacefully in her home on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015. Norma was born to Justin and Jennie Anderson on Feb. 13, 1927, in Nobles County, Minnesota...

Jan. 14, 1921 -- Jan. 30, 2015 Evelyn Mary Johnson, 94, of Spencer, and formerly of Jackson, Minnesota, passed away peacefully Friday, Jan. 30, 2015, at Longhouse Nursing Home. Evelyn was born on Jan. 14, 1921, to Evelyn and Jack Schmitz of Jackson, Minnesota. ...

March 17, 1935 -- Feb. 10, 2015 A funeral service for Marilyn Moyer, 79, of Milford, formerly of Terril was held Saturday, Feb. 14, at the United Methodist Church in Terril. Interment followed at Fairview Cemetery in Terril. Marilyn Maxine Moyer, the daughter of Nellie Mae (Van Valkenburg) and Oscar Anderson, was born March 17, 1935 in Estherville...

March 1, 1959 -- Jan. 31, 2015 In loving memory Aundrea Renee (Gayle Ann) Ames of Rock Rapids was born in Spirit Lake on March 1, 1959 to Frank and Maye (Williams) Sangel. She was their fifth child of six. Andie Gayle attended Spirit Lake High School with the class of 1978 and received her General Education Degree from Iowa Lakes Community College where she also took a number of business and accounting courses...

The Iowa Lakes women's basketball team had its three-game conference win streak snapped Saturday in a 62-43 loss to ICCAC foe Kirkwood at home. The Lakers came out of the gates firing as they scored the first points of the game while playing aggressively at both ends of the court...

The Iowa Lakes men's basketball team fell to Kirkwood in a barn-burner on Saturday, 103-77. Three Lakers were in double figures on the day, as Lucas Smith, Trey Burkhall and Rachard Moody each had 13 points. Kareem Martin led Kirkwood with a game-high 21 points...

After taking 13-7 lead over Clay Central-Everly in the opening round of the Class 1A girls regional basketball tournament in Lake Park Thursday, it seemed as though Harris-Lake Park would cruise to the second round with a win. However, the Mavericks went on a 12-2 run to take a 19-15 lead in the second quarter and never looked back in a 61-54 win over the Wolves...

The Okoboji boys basketball team earned a 63-56 win over George-Little Rock on Friday. The Pioneers took a 15-12 lead after one, but the Mustangs battled back to lead 30-27 at the half. Okoboji cut into the Mustangs' lead with a 19-18 third-quarter score, before sealing the come-from-behind win with a 17-8 score in the final stanza...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team earned a narrow victory over visiting Sioux City West on Friday, edging the Wolverines 68-65. West took an early 18-17 lead, but the Indians closed out the first half with a 12-8 score in the second stanza to lead 29-26 at the midway point...

The 2015 Laker Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet took place on Friday, Feb. 13, in the S.E.R.T. Center on the Estherville campus of Iowa Lakes. The 2015 inductees into the Laker Athletics Hall of Fame were: Lorrie Grems Gardner, Women's Basketball, 1999-2001; Andy Soper, Men's Golf, 2006-2008; Ricca Soper Watt, Women's Golf, 2007-2009; Bob Wells, Football, 1954-1956 (Estherville Junior College); Jim Ricke, Football, 1959-1961 (EJC); Stephanie Ochoa, Softball, 2007-2009; Carlos Aponte, Baseball, 2001-2003; Arah Kleinschmidt, Volleyball, 2006-2008; Milton "Doc" Archer, Football, Basketball, Baseball, 1951-52, 1954-55 (EJC); and the 1995 Iowa Lakes Football Team.. ...