Stories from Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Second grade students at Harris-Lake Park Elementary were asked what they hoped for in the coming year. The youngsters wrote down an array of goals and wishes. Here are their answers: in 2020 I wish for 1 more elf. a chalk board a jar of candy. — Austyn...

At the start of 2019, I became only the second U.S. senator from Iowa to be sworn in as Senate president pro tempore, one of only two constitutional officers in Congress. As the most senior lawmaker in the Senate Majority, it's an honor to serve in this leadership position on behalf of Iowans...

From my family to yours I wish you a safe and prosperous New Year and new decade. May 2020 bring you blessings and Gods face to shine upon you. As I prepare to head to Des Moines for our 2020 session, I want you to know how thankful I have been to represent you these last five years. I look forward to doing great things in Des Moines this upcoming year and keeping Iowa on the right track...

Last week the serial anti-Trump letter writer dredged up 10-year-old rumors attacking President Trump's character. It seems that Democrats are the masters of personal attack rather than explaining why his policies are ineffective. If it is difficult to attack the policies, then digging up dirt on the person is the only recourse remaining...

Do you want to have more meaning in your life? Do you want to do something that is satisfying and of great service to your community? Then deliver meals to shut-ins during your lunch break! We are currently experiencing a shortage of drivers in the Milford area and need your assistance. This is a great opportunity for businesses to add us to your employee volunteer program and for local churches to fulfill their community driven ministries...

July 9, 1931 — Jan. 2, 2020 A funeral service for Ardyce Scheppmann, 88, of Spirit Lake, was held Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, at First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji.  Burial was at Our Redeemer Lutheran Cemetery in Lakefield, Minnesota. Ardyce LaVonne Scheppmann passed away peacefully at home surrounded by loving family on Jan. ...

July 17, 1929 — Jan. 3, 2020 A funeral service for Betty Lou Willison of Milford was held Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020, at Faith Community Church in Milford. Burial was at Milford Cemetery. Betty Lou Wallace was born July 17, 1929, on the farm near Milford to Cecil and Mary (Moritz) Wallace. ...

Oct. 13, 1942 — Jan. 3, 2020 A funeral service for Sherry Ahrenstorff, age 77, of Lake Park, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, at the United Methodist Church in Lake Park.  Internment will be at Silver Lake Cemetery. Cheryl "Sherry" Dee Ahrenstorff, the daughter of Eldean Leora (Rogholt) and George William Pirlet, was born Oct. ...

Nov. 7, 1930 — Dec. 30, 2019 A funeral service for Shirley Nelson, 89, of Lake Park and formerly of Spirit Lake, was held Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Burial was at Lakeview Gardens in Spirit Lake. Shirley (Culbertson) (Haagenson) Nelson, daughter of Merle and Edna (Meyer) Culbertson, was born Nov. ...

Sept. 28, 1967 — Dec. 30, 2019 A funeral service for Todd Dykstra, age 52, of Spirit Lake, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, at First Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake. Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10, at First Presbyterian Church...

March 2, 1928 — Dec. 30, 2019 A funeral service for Wayne Krieger, 91, of Dickens, was held Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Terril. Burial was at a later date at Fairview Cemetery in Terril. Wayne Ivan Krieger, was born the third of six children on March 2, 1928, to Claude and Herma (Leighter) Krieger at home in Milford Township...

Marquita Sade Diamond Towns, age 29, of Spirit Lake was charged with drug/narcotics violation and no high risk insurance at 12:24 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, in the 1 block of 27th Street in Spirit Lake. Dawn Marie Harris, age 38, of Hartley was charged with driving while license suspended and driving while license denied/revoked due to a previous charge of operating while intoxicated at 10:52 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, near the intersection of 30th Street and Highway 71 in Spirit Lake...

Milford Memorial Library is hosting a Glow Game event for grade 4-12 students at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14. Come compete in Glow-In-The-Dark Bowling, tic-tac-toe and more. This is a free event with no preregistration required. All materials will be provided by the library. ...

A March 10 trial date has been set for a Terril man accused of second-degree sexual abuse. Riley Ray Jackson entered a written "not guilty" plea to the Class B felony charge on Friday. The Spirit Lake Police Department filed a criminal complaint on suspicion that 21-year-old Riley Ray Jackson used or threatened to use force to sexually assault an adult female victim on Nov. 11, 2018...

A new Dickinson County Attorney took the oath of office in 2020. The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors voted in mid-November to appoint Amy Zenor to the role of chief prosecutor in the Iowa Great Lakes. Her swearing in Thursday morning was one of the first agenda items during the board's special Thursday session. Zenor succeeds Jon Martin, who stepped down from the position at the end of the year...

She entered on a whim at the age of 9, thinking the opportunity probably wouldn't come around again. It's been seven years, and Spirit Lake High School sophomore Carlie Jo Ahrenstorff now feels she and the other contestants in the National American Miss pageant are a family — or a NAMily, as they call it. ...

College students and retirees alike were trying to find a seat as Democratic candidate for president Tom Steyer made a campaign stop in Spirit Lake Friday morning. The stop highlighted the billionaire candidate's new campaign office at 605 Lake St., which Steyer noted is the only campaign office in the city. Steyer told the crowd he has been touring the state and the country in an effort to lend voters an ear while looking them in the eye...

After collecting nominations for all of December and holding a community-wide voting Jan. 2, the Winter Games Committee has officially tallied up the votes. The group is pleased to present the 2020 University of Okoboji Winter Games Cheerleaders: Andrew Fisher...

The Okoboji Foundation’s annual grant application for vital capital projects in the Lakes Community is available online at okobojifoundation.org. Click on the "grants" tab. Application deadline is March 1. The foundation has two grant divisions: Community needs grants consider requests of $500 to $24,999 and are reviewed by Youth in Philanthropy and adult grant committee...

The northwest Iowa Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) has hired DeNeitt VanDenBroeke as the new Dickinson County Coordinator. VanDenBroeke began her position on Jan. 6 on the Spirit Lake campus of Iowa Lakes Community College. "I'm very excited about my new role as the Dickinson County RSVP Coordinator and look forward to meeting and working with current and new volunteers who so generously share the gift of their time and talents with others in the community," VanDenBroeke said...

Volunteering has been a part of Lakes Regional Healthcare's history since before the first patient received care, and is still an integral part of the organization. For more than 60 years, LRH volunteers have assisted patients and staff in various ways, such as escorting and transporting patients throughout the facility, providing companionship to patients, delivering patient meal trays to cancer patients as they receive chemotherapy and assisting gift shop customers...

The Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association is pleased to announce the 2020 Inductees for the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, who will be inducted during the Induction Spectacular Weekend held September 5-6 in the beautiful Iowa Great Lakes. The 2020 Inductees into the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame include:...

A singer/songwriter and photorealist will help launch the 55th year of programs at the Pearson Lakes Art Center. Founded in 1965, the Pearson Lakes Art Center has focused on broadening horizons through the arts for more than 50 years. For more information or to become a member, please contact the Art Center at 712-332-7013, by email info@lakesart.org, or visit the website at www.lakesart.org...

Never say never and never say always with fishing but when it comes to catching big crappies through the ice, there are a few lessons that seem repeating. Doesn’t matter if you find crappies suspended over basins or classic wintering holes. Could be shallow weeds or pencil reeds. Maybe sharp breaking basin or channel edges. Perhaps you are fishing flooded brush piles, cribs or submerged timber...

As a Midwestern boy, it seems strange to say that I’ve always been drawn to water, but ultimately this interest changed my life forever.  I was fortunate to grow up in a time where playing and exploring the outdoors was the natural thing for a child to do. My days were spent exploring the woods, rivers and lakes of northern Iowa. It was during these great experiences of my youth that the dream to further explore the world became very real...

At some times of the year, especially in the fall, big baits are the ticket to big fish. But in the winter, much of the time, smaller baits will lead to more catching. Remember, under the ice, fish can get a very close look at the lure you’re using. Small, even tiny lures attached to line that’s almost invisible, will usually put more fish on top of the ice than large lures...

This is the time of year that many of us reflect on what happened in the past year and at the same time make plans for the next year. The outdoors and our natural resources are extremely important to me. A major undertaking this past year in the Iowa Great Lakes area was the fourth annual Okoboji Blue Water Festival held on Saturday, Aug. 10...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team dropped a non-conference road trip to George-Little Rock on Friday, Jan. 3. The Wolves fell 77-22 to the Mustangs in George. George-Little Rock jumped out to a 29-1 lead after one quarter and led 55-8 at the half. The Mustangs capped off the victory with a 15-8 score in the third and a 7-6 score in the fourth...

Harris-Lake Park suffered a one-point loss at the buzzer to George-Little Rock on Friday, Jan. 3. The Wolves fell 46-25 to the Mustangs in George. "It was frustrating but was one heck of a game," Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn said. "I thought, defensively, this was one of our best performances of the season and is definitely something to build on. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team opened up 2020 with a Siouxland Conference road trip to Rock Rapids on Friday, Jan. 3. The Pioneers fell 75-73 to Central Lyon. "We were proud of our offensive side of the ball tonight as we did a nice job of getting a lot of nice looks both around the hoop and from the outside," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

The eighth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team collected its first win of 2020 and improved to 10-0 on the season Friday, Dec. 3 with a 64-61 road win over Central Lyon in overtime. According to Okoboji coach John Adams, neither team could find much separation in the opening stanza, as Central Lyon went ahead 7-4 before Okoboji ended the frame on a 13-7 run to take a 17-14 lead into the second quarter...

The Spirit Lake boys and girls basketball teams earned a non-conference road sweep over Pocahontas Area on Tuesday, Jan. 7. The girls won 60-39 and the boys won 80-62 in Pocahontas. The Spirit Lake girls were led by Brooke Smith with 18 points, four rebounds and two assists. Jordyn Hamm had 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals...

The eighth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team improved to 11-0 overall on the season with a 45-37 Siouxland Conference road win over West Lyon. "That was another big road win for us where we really had to lock in and guard," Okoboji coach John Adams said. "I thought both teams played excellent defense and it was hard for either team to get an offensive flow going."...

Spirit Lake let a second-half lead slip away Friday night, as the Indians fell to No. 15 (3A) Cherokee 62-47 in a Lakes Conference girls basketball battle in Spirit Lake. "We battled against a tough Cherokee team who made some key plays late to put the game away," Spirit Lake coach Naet Hoaglund said. "I was really pleased with our energy and effort and with how we competed. ...

The Okoboji wrestling team went 2-1 at a home quadrangular held Tuesday, Jan. 7. The Pioneers topped Alta-Aurelia and South Central Calhoun, but fell to Woodbury Central in Milford. Okoboji opened the night with a 60-30 loss to the Wildcats. In that dual, the Pioneers picked up five individual wins...

Spirit Lake kicked off 2020 the same way it ended 2019 — victorious. The Indians extended their win streak to four games with a 61-53 victory over Lakes Conference foe Cherokee on Friday, Jan. 3. "I was really happy with how the guys played Friday," Spirit Lake coach Paul Brown said. ...

A Dickinson County man charged with sexual assault entered a guilty plea to lesser charges Dec. 27 in Emmet County District Court. David Michael Clinton of Superior received a pair of one-year sentences for indecent exposure stemming from behavior Nov. 18, 2018, in Estherville. A 17-year-old and an 18-year-old girl from Milford were with Clinton at the time...