Stories from Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Iowa Lakes Community College women's basketball coach Ashley Martin recently signed Anjanea Simms, a transfer student-athlete from Moberly Community College in Missouri. “We are thrilled to announce the addition of Anjanea Simms and her family to our program and Laker family," Martin said. ...

Iowa Lakes women's basketball player Lauryn Smith signed her letter of intent to continue her collegiate career at Augusta University, a Division II institution located in Augusta, Georgia. Lauryn will also continue pursuing her academic career in Athletic Training/Physical Therapy...

Iowa Lakes Community College Athletics Director and men’s basketball coach Troy Larson has announced the dates for the 29th Annual Iowa Lakes Youth Basketball Camp. The camp will begin on Monday, June 26 and run through Thursday, June 29. The morning session will be from 9 a.m. to noon for participants entering fifth through eighth grade. The afternoon session will be from 1-4 p.m. for participants entering Kindergarten through fourth grade. Girl and boy campers are welcome to attend...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is sponsoring workshops for K –12 educators on Iowa’s outdoors this summer. Workshops are scheduled for 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on June 12 and 13 at the Fossil and Prairie Center in Rockford; June 14 and 15 at the Marr Park Conservation Center in Ainsworth; July 25 and 26 at Thomas Jefferson Elementary in Newton; and August 1 and 2 at Arrowhead Park in Neola...

Earlier this spring, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever testified before the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry regarding important provisions for the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill debate. Dave Nomsen, the organization’s Vice President of Governmental Affairs, appeared for the fourth time in his career in front of the Congressional committee to represent the views of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s 149,000 members, including a recommendation to raise the acreage cap of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to a minimum of 40 million acres.. ...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) encourages all boaters and anglers to “Clean, Drain, and Dry” their boats and equipment this Memorial Day weekend to protect Iowa lakes and rivers from aquatic hitchhikers. Aquatic hitchhikers are invasive species – everything from zebra mussels to Eurasian watermilfoil - that move from one waterbody to another by hitchhiking on boats, in bait buckets and on other equipment used in the water. ...

Spring is the time of year for baby animals. Often when you are out walking in your own backyard you may come across a helpless looking animal that looks like it has been abandoned by its mother. It can’t possibly survive by itself in the wild. What should you do? Leave the animal alone! It is not true that if you touch it, the baby animal will die or its mother will not return. However, it is always best to leave wild animals alone and just observe from a distance...

Largemouth bass can be found in lots of lakes, rivers, and ponds across the country. In southern areas bass catching has been in full swing for weeks, but in the Midwest the bass action is just starting. In fact, in some states that have an open and closed season for bass fishing, the legal season for catching bass is just starting. Here's how you can take advantage of the outstanding fishing for largemouth bass that can be found across the Midwest...

Over the years, I have watched fishing regulations change as fisheries biologists have worked to improve our fisheries. Here on the Iowa Great Lakes, we have worked with length limits and now slot limits to maximize walleye brood stock and improve recruitment into angler catchable fish...

The Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji girls soccer team wrapped its regular season Tuesday, May 16 with a 2-1 road win over MOC-Floyd Valley. It was the sixth-straight win for the Indians, who head into the postseason with a program-best 12-3 overall record...

Okoboji sophomore Hannah Butler clinched a second straight trip to the state golf tournament by earning a third-place finish in the regional championship on Monday. Butler, who tied for sixth place at last year's Class 2A golf tournament, carded a 90 at the regional final in Moville to punch her ticket...

Harris-Lake Park and Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire boys golfers wrapped their seasons Friday at the district final held at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. The Wolves competed as a team, while GT/RA's lone qualifier, Tyson Kruse, competed as an individual...

Spirit Lake-Okoboji duo Alison Bueltel and Ashley Thorn will pit their tennis talents against the best in the state after winning a regional doubles championship at Spencer on Thursday. After an unusual start to the day, which led to a No. 2 seeding, Bueltel and Thorn went 3-0 to win the doubles bracket and punch their ticket to the state tournament...

An afternoon downpour delayed Spirit Lake's baseball season opener, but once the skies cleared, the Indians faithful were treated to a show. Nick Christiansen pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout and teammates Jac Radcliffe and Houston Hawkins both went yard to lead Spirit Lake to a 7-0 home win over West Lyon on Monday...

Okoboji wasted little time setting the tone for the season, as the Pioneers earned a 2-1 walkoff win over Pocahontas Area in Tuesday's season-opener in Milford. Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Brenden Malchow smacked a leadoff double for the Pioneers before advancing to third on a bloop single by Kyle Martin. Martin then stole second, and Isaac Fritsch laid down a perfect bunt to score Malchow, sending the Pioneers on to victory...

Spirit Lake came up just seven strokes short of qualifying at Monday's Class 3A Regional Golf Final, but the Indians' season will continue through senior Marta Asensio Povar, who qualified individually with a third-place finish. Asensio Povar carded an 84 at River Road Golf Course in Algona to finish behind Clear Lake's Emily Snelling (72) and Garner-Hayfield-Ventura's Bailee Frayne (81)...

The Spirit Lake-Okoboji girls tennis team advanced to the first round of state competition with a 5-1 win over Cherokee in the regional championship Monday in Spencer. SL-O coach Bob O'Hara was impressed with how his team battled. "I felt the girls really competed well," O'Hara said. "In this kind of no-add scoring format, things can get away from you if you panic."...

Indians, Pioneers, Titans compete at state track meet

One of the area’s most established law enforcement officers is stepping down. The Milford City Council on Monday accepted the resignation of their chief of police. Vernon Flack will bring 34 years of law enforcement experience to a close, including the past 27 years in Milford. He was the city’s police chief for 14 years...