Stories from Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Pheasants Forever and a coalition of partners recently announced a new project in southwest Iowa to stimulate outdoor tourism, rural economies and ag production. The initiative - Southwest Iowa Communities for Pheasants and Farming – focuses on development of wildlife habitat and public access on private lands to enhance outdoor recreation opportunities while increasing agricultural profitability in the region...

Though they be but little, they are fierce! The least weasel (Mustela nivalis) is the smallest species of true carnivore, coming from the order Carnivora. They are found across North America, Europe, and Asia, primarily in grasslands, pastures, and shrubby areas...

Recently Mike Frisch and I got together for an afternoon of fishing. Our plan was to chase largemouth bass on a lake that is very similar to lots of other lakes across the Midwest. What Mike and I re-learned that afternoon always helps us catch more fish at any time of the year...

Although there were many highlights at the recent Okoboji Blue Water Festival, one of the most anticipated events was the water quality/Natural Resources protection issues panel discussion. With Bill Maas, president of the East Okoboji Lake Improvement Corporation and John Lundell, chairman of the Clear Creek Watershed Management Association and mayor of Coralville, acting as co-moderators, the panelists spent the better part of two hours in a spirited give and take over key environmental issues.. ...

The 13th-ranked (3A) Spirit Lake volleyball team went 4-2 at a tournament hosted by Humboldt on Saturday. The Indians' losses came to the host Wildcats (2-0) and top-ranked (3A) Kuemper Catholic (2-0). They defeated South Central Calhoun (2-0), Fort Dodge (2-0), Emmetsburg (2-0) and Grand View Christian (2-0)...

The eighth-ranked (1A) Harris-Lake Park volleyball team went 4-2 at a tournament hosted by Clarion-Goldfield on Saturday. The Wolves defeated Clear Lake (2-1), Belmond-Klemme (2-0), Eagle Grove (2-0) and North Butler (2-0). They fell to Clarion-Goldfield-Dows (2-0) and South Hamilton (2-1)...

The Okoboji volleyball team kicked off the 2018 season at a quad in Spencer on Thursday. The Pioneers went 0-3 against Spencer, Manson-Northwest Webster and South O'Brien. Okoboji fell 2-1 to the Cougars, winning 21-17 in the opening set before dropping the second (21-15) and third (15-6) sets...

The Spencer girls swim team traveled to Sioux City on Tuesday to start the 2018 season. The Tigers came away with eight top-five finishes, including four runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes. Emma Ver Steeg earned three runner-up finishes. She placed second in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.69 seconds, the 50-yard butterfly in 29.36 seconds, and the 50-yard backstroke in 28.54 seconds. Ver Steeg also placed fourth in the 100-yard individual medley in 1 minute, 9.60 seconds...

Editor's Note: This is the second installment of a weekly series previewing prep football in Dickinson County. Dickinson County teams went 2-1 to start the season last week. Spirit Lake and Harris-Lake Park both picked up convincing road victories, while Okoboji suffered a 66-0 loss at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. ...

Spirit Lake senior Kourtney Delperdang won her second straight individual title of the 2018 cross country season on Tuesday. Delperdang, who ran away with first place at Spencer the previous week, dominated the field once again, this time at Brooks Golf Course...

Three-time state meet qualifier Kourtney Delperdang kicked off her final prep season with a win at Spencer on Thursday, Aug. 23. Delperdang earned back-to-back top-10 finishes at state before finishing 57th in Class 3A last season as a junior. Following the 2017 state meet, her coach, Tim Heinitz, said he expected his star runner to bounce back quickly...

The13th-ranked (3A) Spirit Lake volleyball team went 2-0 to win the Okoboji Invite Thursday in Milford. The Indians defeated both Estherville Lincoln Central and Okoboji on the night. Spirit Lake coach Beau Dielschneider was pleased with his team's progress from the Saturday's tournament in Humboldt, where the Indians went 4-2...

Okoboji struggled in all aspects of the game Friday night in the Pioneers' season-opening road loss to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. The Hawks pounded the Pioneers for 409 rushing yards in a 66-0 win. "Going in, we knew it would be a tough matchup for us," Okoboji coach Jon Allen said. ...

After giving up a 47-yard rushing touchdown early Friday night, the Harris-Lake Park football team — comprised mostly of sophomores and juniors — responded with 34 points in a 34-12 season-opening road victory over North Iowa. "I thought our guys really competed well," Harris-Lake Park coach Lane Gunderson said. ...

A 26-13 loss to Spencer in Week 4 was the beginning of the end for Spirit Lake last season, as the Indians finished the year 5-4 and out of the playoffs for the second straight season after winning the 2A state championship in 2016. On Friday, the Indians exacted some revenge with a 27-13 road win over the Tigers in the 2018 season-opener...