Stories from Tuesday, January 12, 2021

March 25, 1995 — Dec. 22, 2020 A funeral service for Angel Bastman, age 25, of Lake Park was held Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at the United Methodist Church in Lake Park. Burial with military honors was at Silver Lake Cemetery in Lake Park. Angel Marie Bastman, the daughter of David and Tammy (Weltzin) Bastman, was born March 25, 1995, in Spirit Lake. She graduated from Harris-Lake Park High School with the Class of 2012...

June 2, 1927 — Jan. 5, 2021 A funeral service for Earline Blahauvietz, age 93, of Spirit Lake, was held Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021, at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Burial was at Union Cemetery in Harris. A recording of Earline's service can be viewed using a link found at turnerfuneralhomes.com...

Dec. 5, 1931 — Jan. 3, 2021 A funeral service for Kedric Wunder, age 89, of Lake Park, was held Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Park. Burial was at Silver Lake Cemetery. Memorials given to the family will be donated to charities in honor of Kedric...

May 20, 1943 — Jan. 8, 2021 A private family service for Mary Adams will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. A live stream link to view Mary's service will be posted prior to Wednesday. A full celebration of life memorial service to honor this Christian life well-lived will be held at First Lutheran in Milford when loved ones can come together safely this summer...

Oct. 20, 1945 — Jan. 6, 2021 Mary "Tooty" Vugteveen, 75, of Milford passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at Accura Healthcare of Spirit Lake. A rolling visitation was held Saturday, Jan. 9, at the Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. A procession then took place to First Lutheran Church in Milford where a funeral service were held at the church. ...

June 28, 1928 — Jan. 4, 2021 Melvin "Mel" Struthers Jr. passed away on Jan. 4, 2021, peacefully at home. He was born in 1928 in Spirit Lake to Melvin Struthers and Vivian (Eastman) Struthers. Lawyer, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, tennis player, sailor, swimmer, friend — Mel was a lifelong learner who loved music, reading, education, travel and people...

Feb. 18, 1935 — Jan. 10, 2021 Neal Richard Christensen of Humboldt passed into God's love Jan. 10, 2021, in Daphne, Alabama. The youngest of five, he was born to Chris and Amelia Christensen on Feb. 18, 1935. Neal leaves behind the legacy of a U.S. Army career spanning two tours in combat, service with the National Military Command Center, the U.S. Army War College, and as the Deputy Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard...

July 6, 1946 — Jan. 9, 2021 Patricia "Kay" Schweitzer, 74, of Spencer passed away on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021, at Lakes Regional Healthcare of Spirit Lake. A memorial service for Kay will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 14, at the Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. A private family burial will be held in the Riverside Cemetery in Spencer. Arrangements are under the Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Online condolences may be left at spiritlakefuneralhome.com...

Oct. 3, 1955 — Jan. 1, 2021 Patrick Kelly, 65, of Spirit Lake passed away on Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at Crosswinds Church in Spirit Lake. A private graveside burial will be held in the Lakeview Gardens Cemetery in Spirit Lake. The Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home in Spirit Lake is in charge. Online condolences may be left at spiritlakefuneralhome.com...

Oct. 19, 1951 — Jan. 8, 2021 Rebecca "Becki" McCoy, 69, of Spirit Lake passed away on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, at Accura Healthcare of Spirit Lake. Services for Becki will be held at a later date. Burial will take place in the Lakeview Gardens Cemetery in Spirit Lake. Arrangements are under the direction of the Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Online condolences may be left at spiritlakefuneralhome.com...

The 89th General Assembly convened on Jan. 11, 2021. There are a number of new protocols in place to provide for greater social distancing in meetings, on the House floor and around the Capitol complex. That said, I am easily accessible via phone (515-991-7337) or email at megan.jones@legis.iowa.gov...

Let me be very clear, what happened with the rioting and anarchy in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6 was a terrible thing. I have had friends in both political parties say that exact thing. Many of the same people who are saying bad things about this incident wanted to give a pass to those who were rioting last spring and summer in 2020, and I cannot let that pass without comment. Republicans and Democrats should together condemn any violent riots. It should not be a partisan issue...

I've been struggling to find the words — to keep my thoughts concise. I've been wondering whether I should even say anything after so many better wordsmiths have wrought the concept much better than I. But the attack on our Capitol cannot and should not be something on which any of us remain silent...

The deplorable Jan. 6 assault on our Capitol will never be forgotten. It was fomented and incited by President Trump and his enablers. It should be no surprise coming from a man having no regard for our Constitution, institutions, rule of law, separation of powers or mankind in general...

Sadly, I just read the notice of Fred Dowden's passing in the Dickinson County News. As with other relatively recent deaths in the Lakes Area, it brought back for me those memorable days of 2003-04 when Fred and a tremendous board of concerned folks came together to give me direction as we began the Herculean effort of putting Arnolds Park Amusement Park (now HAPI) back on solid ground...

Are you ready for the first Family Nature Night of 2021? It will include learning about some new animals. But what about enchanted animals? How do they fit in? Participants can learn about the enchanting animals found around the world on Friday, Jan. ...

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach of Dickinson County is excited to partner with local businesses in downtown Spirit Lake to host their first-ever Family StoryWalk from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. The event is free to participate in and open to all...

Dickinson County Public Health (DCPH) has been giving the COVID-19 vaccine to people in priority group 1A as dictated by Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) guidelines. Lakes Regional Healthcare (LRH) Director of Population and Public Health Katy Burke said they are quickly vaccinating this group and are communicating to them via email regarding the vaccination clinics...

A Spirit Lake woman who caused a car to fall onto a man in May has agreed to a jail sentence for violation of her probation in exchange for the dismissal of charges related to the car incident. Shyanne Ranee Delgado had most recently been scheduled to go to trial Tuesday, but a November plea deal rendered the court date unnecessary...


The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has turned on the winter aeration systems at Center Lake and Silver Lake in Dickinson County and Ingham Lake in Emmet County. Aeration systems do not inject oxygen into the water, they simply create open areas where fish can go when oxygen levels start to decline. These systems rely on the size of the open water area to maximize effectiveness...

Eric Joshua Pelzer, age 27, of Emmetsburg was charged with driving under suspension at 4:45 p.m. Monday, Dec. 14, near the intersection of 18th Street and Erie Avenue in Spirit Lake. Davis James Schmidt, age 39, of Spirit Lake was charged with driving while license denied/suspended/cancelled at 1:14 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 29, in the 11800 block of 240th Avenue in Orleans...

Dickinson County Treasurer Kris Rowley is reminding area residents that noncommercial driver's license expiration suspensions came to an end. The change came with Gov. Kim Reynolds' Jan. 7 Proclamation of Disaster Emergency "There is one motor vehicle-related proclamation still in place related to driving for 90 days with temporary tags from a dealer while waiting on titling/plating," Rowley said. ...

MML's January Adult Craft will bring the beauty of nature into your home with the DIY Live Winter Centerpiece. Provided supplies include greenery, some decoration, foam and a small container. Written instructions will be included along with a link to the video demonstration. ...

Neal Conover and Dwight Conover of Northwest Financial Corp. announced Greg Post has been named president and CEO of the holding company, Northwest Financial Corp. in Arnolds Park. In 1989, Post began his career at Northwest Bank building the mortgage lending department. ...

The Lake Okoboji United Methodist Camp and the Lakes Area Dog Park are excited to announce that they have renewed their partnership for another 10 years. "We are excited to continue our partnership with the Lakes Area Dog Park, it has been a pleasure working with all of the past and present board members," Lake Okoboji United Methodist Camp Director Eric Scheve said. ...

Monday morning, Rep. Megan Jones (R-Sioux Rapids) and Rep. John Wills (R-Spirit Lake) were sworn in to the Iowa House of Representatives on the first day of the 89th General Assembly. Rep. Wills will serve his second session as Speaker Pro Tempore. The swearing in ceremony was shortly followed by opening remarks by Speaker of the House Pat Grassley, outlining some of the priorities of the Legislature for the 2021 session. ...

Over the course of the last few months, the Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and staff have been meeting regularly to monitor the COVID-19 situation in the region and across the country to assess its impact on the 2021 University of Okoboji Winter Games...

It's been almost 10 months since Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued the first public health disaster proclamation in response to COVID-19. Portions of the declaration, such as business closures and limits on event attendance, have been extended and modified during those months through the use of the governor's emergency powers — some state lawmakers are interested in taking a look at placing checks and balances on those powers...

A Lakes Area woman found herself back in the Dickinson County Jail about three months after signing a plea deal to dismiss 19 different charges. Angela Marie Rinkoski, whose previous addresses include Spirit Lake and Milford, pleaded guilty to three felony charges in exchange for the dismissals, and she was ordered to enter a residential treatment facility in Sioux City. ...

Local health officials had some good news for Dickinson County residents on Friday, but the message was paired with some words of caution. Zach Borus, a physician at Lakes Regional Healthcare and chairman of the Dickinson County Board of Health, said hospitalizations related to COVID-19 were down at then end of last week. He said the hospital has about 25 beds and saw an average of about 10 COVID-positive patients last month but, as of a Friday update, that number had dropped to about three...

A northwest Iowa man with Lake Park ties will wait until the summer of 2021 to answer accusations that he bludgeoned a man to death at a secluded lake just south of Ruthven. Investigators think 30-year-old Allan Michael Dean Schwidder killed Rollin "R.J." Bontrager on July 19. ...

Update: Due to the impending weather, visitation and funeral services have been re-scheduled for Steve Reighard. Visitation will be 3-9 p.m. Sunday. Jan. 17 at Henry-Olson Funeral Home - 401 North Seventh St. in Estherville. Masks will be required. Funeral services will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 18 at Good News Community Church - 1010 Julia St. in Okoboji.