Stories from Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Despite being several months removed from any competition, the seventh-ranked (3A) Spirit Lake softball team had little rust to shake off in a 10-3 season-opening win over Lakes Conference rival Storm Lake on Monday, June 15. Spirit Lake coach Rachel Fisher said she was impressed with the Indians' energy and effort in their first game back...

Storm Lake took a 3-0 lead in the opening frame Monday night and maintained that advantage until a pitching change in the bottom half of the seventh. The Tornadoes' relievers struggled mightily to find the plate and Spirit Lake's batters remained disciplined, drawing several walks and scoring four runs to win 4-3 at home...

Okoboji and Sibley-Ocheyedan drew a substantial crowd as the Pioneers and Generals squared off in the first high school baseball action in the nation on Monday, June 15. The Siouxland Conference rivals put on a show, as they needed an extra inning to decide the winner after playing to a 2-2 tie through seven...

Okoboji played well defensively but struggled at the dish against Sibley-Ocheyedan in Monday's softball season opener. The Pioneers fell 13-0 to the Generals in Milford. After one scoreless inning, the Generals plated four in the second, two in the third, three in the fourth and four in the fifth to end the night early...

Harris-Lake Park was excited to be back on the softball diamond after a long layoff, but the Wolves' bats couldn't keep up with hot-swinging Hinton in a War Eagle Conference clash on Monday, June 15. The Blackhawks topped the Wolves 15-1 in Lake Park...

Harris-Lake Park baseball coach Lane Gunderson called Monday's season opening loss to Hinton a "perfect storm" as the Wolves fell 18-0 to the Blackhawks in Lake Park. "It was kind of a perfect storm of things not going right for us," Gunderson said. ...

Carissa Doran, a 2020 Okoboji High School graduate, recently signed her National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Morningside College in Sioux City. Doran was a co-captain of the 2019-20 Pioneer team that finished the season with a 22-2 record, won a Siouxland Conference Championship and made a regional final appearance. ...

Hundreds of bird species will benefit from $160 million in funding for various wetland conservation projects in North America. The funding was approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, which is chaired by U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt...

On Thursday, June 11, the Iowa Tourism Office and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources announced two new opportunities for Iowans to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of Iowa state parks and also to support tourism attractions and businesses impacted by the coronavirus crisis:...

You might be sharing my feelings of both hope and uncertainty about what “Summer at the Lakes” will be like this year. We sense that this summer won’t be exactly like prior years. Let’s look for a fresh angle this summer. Nature is calling us to discover new places in new ways!...

The summer bite has arrived across Walleye Country. Most species of fish have completed the spawning process and have one thing on their minds: Predators such as walleyes want to eat. If we want to catch more walleyes, we need to determine where they are and what they want to eat. If we do that, our chances for catching them are very good...

One of the sought-after fish on our Iowa lakes are slab crappies. When the month of May comes and the temperatures move into the upper 50s, crappies begin to move shallow into their spawning areas. Optimum spawning temperatures are between 68-72 degrees. ...

I hardly know where to begin. This past week of "slumber party antics" by the Iowa Legislature has left me with a mixture of disappointment, anger and confusion. Late Saturday night, our esteemed representatives voted not only to suppress the votes of those who elected them, but, in essence, vowed to put us all in harm's way. ...

  Iowans are amazing. The level of civic engagement among our citizens is unrivaled. We proved that once again when voters turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots in the June primary election. Despite an ongoing pandemic and civil unrest across the state, Iowans were determined to make their voices heard the best way possible: by voting...

The Senate continued to debate a number of bills this week as we worked toward adjournment for the year. One of the bills we passed would expand the Empower Rural Iowa program and help increase access to broadband in areas of Iowa where it is still lacking. ...

Earlier this week we released a budget plan for Fiscal Year 2021. We have to be careful about budgeting, now more than ever, because we have yet to see an end to the impacts of COVID-19. While the COVID pandemic has impacted the budget, I am optimistic that Iowa is in better shape than many states. ...

On Thursday, June 10, the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate made history by introducing a bill in both chambers, moving it through subcommittee and committee, then to the floor of both chambers, and passing it unanimously and sending it to the governor for signature. This bill, named "Justice Reform" by us but misnamed "Police Misconduct Reform" by newspapers was historic for several reasons and was much needed...

July 13, 1958 — June 7, 2020 A funeral service for Dawn Ogle Carkhuff, age 61, of Spirit Lake, was held Thursday, June 11, 2020, at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Dawn Marie Ogle Carkhuff, the daughter of Alvin and Betty (Von Holt) Ogle, was born on July 13, 1958, in Spirit Lake. ...

Oct. 21, 1958 — June 11, 2020 A remembrance gathering for Donald Hudson of Milford will be held from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, June 18, 2020, at Buchanan Park in Milford. Donald was born in Manhattan, Kansas, on Oct. 21, 1958, to Forrest and Wilma (Bammus) Hudson. ...

March 4, 1934 — June 8, 2020 Jane H. Guritz, 86, of Spirit Lake passed away on Monday, June 8, 2020, at Accura Healthcare of Spirit Lake. Private family funeral services will be held at the Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Burial will be held in the Lakeland Memory Gardens in Spirit Lake. Arrangements are under the direction of the Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Online condolences may be sent to spiritlakefuneralhome.com...

March 18, 1924 — June 8, 2020 Marjorie "Marge" Perkins, 96, of Spirit Lake passed away on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at Accura Healthcare of Milford. A private family graveside service will be held in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Estherville. There will be a video service released at a later date by the First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji. Arrangements are under the direction of the Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Online condolences may be sent to spiritlakefuneralhome.com...

April 18, 1962 — June 8, 2020 Services will be held at a later date for Michael Behrends, age 58, of Terril. Michael Sherman Behrends, the son of Jacquetta Kae (Kline) and Roger Sherman Behrends, was born April 18, 1962. Michael began working as a wildcat on oil rigs in Gillette, Wyoming, when he was in his teens and continued this for over 10 years. He was married to Marti Vaughn in Gillette, Wyoming and was later divorced...

June 23, 1929 — June 7, 2020 A private family service was held for Phyllis Lago, age 90, of Spirit Lake. Memorials may be sent to the family at 921 27th Street, Spirit Lake, IA 51360. Phyllis Ann Lago, the daughter of Bertha (Walker) and Herbert Fronk, was born June 23, 1929 in Lake Park. After she graduated from Spirit Lake High School in 1948, she attended Iowa State Teachers College...

Atlas of Spencer is expanding its mentoring ministry, opening a second regional office in a temporary space provided by the Okoboji Bible Conference complex in Arnolds Park, while searching for a permanent site to settle. David Lyons, executive director of Atlas of Spencer, announced the opening of a satellite office in the Iowa Great Lakes area...

The fifth annual Okoboji Blue Water Festival scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 8, at Preservation Plaza in Arnolds Park is the latest event to be postponed because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. "As much as we would like to hold the festival, we also have the responsibility to provide a safe venue for our volunteers, our guest panelists, clinicians, keynote speaker, musicians and the thousands of individuals and families who would have joined us on this special clean water day," organizer Greg Drees said. ...

Brandon Lee Snater, age 39, of Spirit Lake was charged with domestic violence at 10 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, in the 2300 block of 17th Street in Spirit Lake. He was charged with two additional counts of domestic violence and one count of interference with official acts about 20 minutes later in the 700 block of Lake Street in Spirit Lake...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is lowering the water level about 18 inches at West Hottes Lake to improve the aquatic vegetation after back-to-back years of flooding. West Hottes Lake is a shallow lake that serves as an important nursery area for fish, provides wildlife habitat, and its large stands of hardstem bulrushes provide important water quality benefits to Big Spirit Lake and the Iowa Great Lakes watershed. ...

  Landowner Eric Hoien will host a half-hour virtual field day in partnership with Practical Farmers of Iowa and Iowa State University STRIPS exploring how to manage prairie strips with prescribed fire on rented ground at 3 p.m. Thursday, June 18. The event – "Prairie Strips and Conservation on Rented Ground – Management & Prescribed Fire" – is free to attend and will take place on Zoom. To join in, visit practicalfarmers.org/field-days and click the link found on the page for this event...

Virtual healthcare visits are becoming more common, and Lakes Regional Healthcare recently answered the six common questions about virtual visits. • Does insurance cover virtual visits? According to Lakes Regional Healthcare Patient Financial Services Manager Sandi Moses, "Most insurance plans, at this time, are processing virtual visits in the same manner they would process in-person visits. It is always recommended to check with your insurance carrier on specific coverage."...

Scooter's Coffee, best known for its convenient drive-thru specialty coffee and baked-from-scratch pastries, added a new location in Northern Iowa with the company's new store at 312 S Hwy 71 in Arnolds Park. To celebrate, the drive-thru coffee location will be hosting a Grand Opening on Friday, June 19. On this day, customers who pay or scan for loyalty on the Scooter's Coffee mobile app will earn 50 bonus "Smiles."...

As the center point of giving for vital capital projects to make a lasting positive impact in the Lakes Community, the Okoboji Foundation said it is pleased to present the Bedell Family YMCA with a check for $75,000 to assist with the replacement of the pool dehumidification system...

An inflatable obstacle course and bounce house designed and built to be larger than the current world record holder is coming to Milford this summer. Bouncelandia, an inflatable attraction for all ages, is scheduled to open next to the Boji Bay Entertainment Plaza in Milford by the end of the month...

  Sanders Baptist served in the United States Navy during WWII but, due to a miscommunication when he died 25 years ago, the American Flag was not presented to his widow. On June 10, American Legion Post 23 corrected that. In a special ceremony at Camp Okoboji, Gene Fales, Denny Perry and Michael Wolfram from the Spirit Lake Legion presented his daughter, Deb Wittrock of Milford, with the long overdue flag. ...

Mother Nature was set on conferring honors herself Sunday afternoon during Okoboji High School's commencement ceremony. Strong winds prematurely turned tassels — and occasionally flung mortar boards from graduates' heads — as the Okoboji class of 2020 prepared for their graduation ceremony at Preservation Plaza near Arnolds Park Amusement Park...

Storm Lake softball fans were targeted with taunts of "wetbacks" during a high school softball game Monday in Spirit Lake, according to Superintendent of Schools Stacey Cole. The shouts were made from a vehicle passing the field. Cole said she and David Smith, the superintendent of the host school Spirit Lake discussed the incident shortly after it happened...

Harris-Lake Park and former Cornbelt Conference rival Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire combined for 47 runs in Lake Park on Tuesday, June 16. The Titans got the better of the Wolves, winning 27-20 in non-conference softball action. "I thought our girls played with so much heart and energy tonight," Harris-Lake Park coach Ashley Delaney said. "It was really a battle and it was a lot of fun. Their energy was great and putting up 20 runs is pretty stellar."...

Karli Olsen's bat was responsible for five of Spirit Lake's runs Tuesday evening in an 11-2 non-conference home win over Sibley-Ocheyedan. Four of them came from one swing. Up 4-2 in the bottom half of the fourth inning, Spirit Lake's Emma Jenness drew a leadoff walk before Mackenzie Kauffman and Taylor Schneider connected on back-to-back singles to load the bags for the Indians...

Accura Healthcare of Milford is one of 35 locations in the state currently listed as the location of a long-term care COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The state's online dashboard for novel coronavirus information lists 10 people who have been infected at the facility. ...