Stories from Wednesday, September 28, 2016

It's time to talk about Page 4. It's as much more your page as it is ours. When students feel uncertain about where their next meal is coming from, you tell us about it. When the local blood drive or fundraising effort was a success, you tell us that, too...

Demolition began Wednesday on a fire-damaged Spirit Lake home that was also the location of past drug activity. The Spirit Lake City Council decided to move forward with its plan to demolish the house at 1405 Gary Avenue at its Tuesday meeting . The home suffered heavy smoke damage during a fire on June. 11...

A week of celebration and fanfare culminated in a dominant performance by the sixth-ranked (8P) Harris-Lake Park football team on Friday night, as the undefeated Wolves dusted the Siouxland Christian Eagles 75-6 on homecoming. "I thought it was great," H-LP coach Lane Gunderson said. ...

Thursday night's volleyball battle was a class of two Lakes Conference titans, as top-ranked Western Christian topped the 10th-ranked Indians in Spirit Lake. The two squads entered the night on a combined 19-0 win streak, as the Wolfpack were winners of nine straight and the Indians had won their previous 10 matches...

The 10th-ranked Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire football team used its one-two punch of quarterback Jacob Conlon and running back Kolton Roth to earn a dominant road win over Kingsley-Pierson on Friday night. It took awhile for the offense to start clicking, however, as penalties in the Titans' first offensive drive and a fumble on their second had GT/RA stumbling out of the gate...

Spirit Lake fell behind early, but overwhelmed Algona late in a 55-14 road win over the Bulldogs on Friday. The Indians got out to a hot start, scoring on just their second play from scrimmage as senior Brock Tvedte took sweep 36 yards to pay dirt to give his squad a 6-0 lead after a missed two-point attempt...

Okoboji made history on Friday night, as this year's crop of gridiron athletes topped Emmetsburg for the first time in school history. The Pioneers came back from a 14-6 halftime deficit to top the E-Hawks 20-14. "There were several times when we could have hung our heads in frustration," Okoboji coach Jon Allen said. ...

Spirit Lake's Kourtney Delperdang picked up her fifth straight win of the season on Tuesday night, as the sophomore crossed the finish at a meet hosted by Western Christian in 19 minutes, 48.86 seconds. Last year's state runner-up left the next closest runner -- Woodbury Central/Kingsley-Piersons Suzanne Putze -- in the dust. Putze finished in 20:01.63...

Okoboji volleyball coach Eric Thompson told his squad they win or they learn. Well, Tuesday was a learning night for the Pioneers, as they fell in straight sets to MOC-Floyd Valley at home. "I've seen us make a lot of growth as of late and I think we are still on an overall upward trajectory," Thompson said. ...


The Okoboji volleyball team fell 3-0 to Siouxland Conference foe Boyden-Hull on Thursday. The Pioneers stuck with the Rockets in the opening set before falling behind 1-0 in the match with a 25-23 loss in the first game. Boyden-Hull then jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a 25-20 win in set two before finishing off the night with a 25-16 win in the third and final game...

The Okoboji boys and girls cross country teams were in action Thursday at the Warrrior Invitational hosted by Sioux Center. While the boys placed ninth overall, the Okoboji girls earned a runner-up finish behind team champion Bishop Heelan. The Pioneer girls were led by Magan Christopherson, who placed second individually with her time of 20 minutes, 20.39 seconds...

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire volleyball team came out of the gates Thursday night with energy, but ultimately fell to East Sac County in straight sets. East Sac County won 25-10, 25-11 and 25-3. "Our girls came out with more intensity tonight than they normally do," GT/RA coach Ashley Dreeszen said. ...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball team lost a narrow match with South O'Brien on Thursday, as the Wolves fell to the Wolverines 3-1. South O'Brien took an early 1-0 lead with a 27-25 win in the opening set, but H-LP bounced back to win set two by a score of 25-23. The Wolverines regained control with a 25-19 win in the third set and ended the night with a 25-14 win in the fourth and final set...

In mid-August, I had the opportunity to attend the Prairie Lakes Conference. It was one of the most interesting and educational conferences I have attended and addressed all areas of water quality. One of the threads that came through was a statement taken from conference summary. "Everything in the world is connected, and a vibrant example of that is where prairie and lakes meet. A mutual admiration society, these two ecosystems affect each other and depend on each other...

I have many memories of catching walleyes at night: Big walleyes and lots of 'em. From Leech Lake in northern Minnesota to Little Bay de Noc in the Upper Peninsula to Clear Lake in north central Iowa and all the way out to the Missouri River below the dam in Pierre South Dakota. Great memories!...

The Prairie Lakes Delta Waterfowl Chapter of northwest Iowa is holding its third annual banquet Saturday, October 8 at the Dickinson County Expo Building in Spirit Lake. Doors open at 5 p.m. giving those in attendance to look at all of the raffle, silent auction and auction items and participate in a variety of games and raffle opportunities. Supper will take place at 7 p.m. with Edgewater BBQ providing a pulled pork supper with all of the trimmings...

Fall is a great time to plant trees and the DNR State Forest Nursery is gearing up for fall orders. Bare-root seedlings can be purchased for 50 to 90 cents per seedling plus tax, shipping and handling, for large-scale plantings, depending upon species and size. For smaller areas, like acreages and backyards, create-a-packets consisting of up to four species totaling 200 seedlings may be purchased for $190. Smaller songbird packets can be purchased for $45 each...

Forty goats are the new ecosystem managers at McIntosh Woods State Park on Clear Lake and they are taking their roles very seriously. For six weeks they will clear targeted areas of woody invasive vegetation that is overpowering the native plants in the park...

The Harris-Lake Park cross country team was in action Monday at a meet hosted by Alta-Aurelia. The Wolves were led by Sorya Lagnaux, who placed 10th individually in the girls race with her time of 23 minutes, 58 seconds. Avery Heikens followed in 19th place with her time of 25:31. Grace Elser was 36th in 27:14, and Skylar Forbes was 38th in 27:44...

The Okoboji volleyball team earned a runner-up finish at a tournament hosted by Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Saturday, as the Pioneers went 3-2 overall. "Overall for the day, 3-2 was a good day to us," Okoboji coach Eric Thompson said. "Ending up second in the tournament was a great confidence boost and continues to help our girls gain the confidence and experience we need to put together another good run at the end of the season and into tournament play."...

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire volleyball team dropped a trio of matches at a tournament hosted by Alta-Aurelia on Saturday. The Titans lost to Remsen St. Mary's (21-17, 21-18), Akron-Westfield (21-10, 21-13) and Cherokee (21-6, 21-9). Emma Feldhacker led the Titans with nine kills on the day...

The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire volleyball team lost a tough home match with West Bend-Mallard on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The Titans lost the opening stanza 20-19 and the second 25-14 before pushing the Wolverines past 30 points in the third, as the hosts fell 32-30 to end the night...

Morningside College's women's golf team shattered its school record for low score to win the team championship at the Northwestern College Red Raider Fall Invite held Sept. 22 at Landsmeer Golf Club in Orange City. The Mustangs carded a team score of 315 to take eight strokes off their previous record score of 323 first set in 2003 and matched at last week's Briar Cliff Lila Frommelt Classic...