Animals

UNDER THE BIG TOP: Circus offers 'old-fashioned family fun' (03/04/10)

Local cartoonist creates a 'New Dawn' (02/20/10)
Carman Brons has a fantasy world of magical characters living inside the spellbinding village of New Dawn filling her head. According to her followers, it's a good thing the comic artist has the talent to share it -- both in cartoons and script -- with them on the Web. ...

Deer firearm season opens Saturday (12/04/09)
The first round of shotgun-season deer hunters will be heading into Iowa's wooded areas at sunrise Saturday morning. This year's two seasons -- scheduled Dec. 5-9 and Dec. 12-20 -- are expected to once again attract a large crowd. ...

Pheasants Forever banquet announced (09/26/09)
Plans are now under way for the annual Clay County Pheasants Forever Banquet, according to Jim Kitterman, chapter president. The fundraising event will take place at the Clay County Events Center in Spencer on Saturday, Oct. 3. Pheasants Forever is a tax-exempt, nonprofit conservation organization whose goal is to improve upland wildlife habitat and populations...

Spencer voters elect three new board members (09/10/09)
With 996 ballots cast, just over 11 percent of Spencer's total registered voters elected three new school board members Tuesday night. The men elected to serve four-year terms around the Spencer board table include: Bob Whittenburg, Bill Zinn and Dean Mechler. While Whittenburg earned 746 votes, Zinn garnered 698 and Mechler amassed 600 votes. The three men are expected to be officially seated during a Tuesday, Sept. 22, board meeting...

Egg industry responds to 'Hatchery Horrors' video (09/03/09)
"The footage you are about to see was recorded with a hidden camera at Hy-Line hatchery in Iowa, the world's largest hatchery for egg-laying breed chicks," the narrator begins. Footage follows of chicks being "roughly" sorted by sexers who separate the male chicks from the females. The females have their heads clamped and a portion of their beaks removed by a laser...

South Clay residents invited to attend public hearings (08/07/09)
Three public hearings are scheduled next week to address the South Clay school district's dissolution following the 2009-10 school year. The gatherings will serve as an opportunity for area residents to have their questions answered, as well as a chance to receive additional information about the six contiguous school districts their children and property are expected to fold into in 2010-11. ...

Area school board candidates file papers (07/31/09)
The nomination papers have been filed, creating a four-person race for three seats around the Spencer school board table this fall. While Ruthven-Ayrshire currently has three people vying for three school board seats, the neighboring districts of Clay Central-Everly and South Clay will undergo a search for write-in candidates to fill positions around their board tables.

South Clay dissolution process outlined for Spencer board (07/23/09)
As they look to dissolve their school district following the upcoming year, South Clay Community School District patrons have two primary factors to weigh. Those questions currently being placed before them include: Which of six contiguous districts would they most prefer their children to attend classes, and which district would they want their property and assets to transfer to...

South Clay committee sets dissolution timeline (07/02/09)
A tentative timeline for bringing patrons and neighboring districts into the South Clay dissolution process has been established. The Clay County school district's dissolution is scheduled to take effect following the 2009-10 school year. As an organizational meeting of the Dissolution Commission Committee for South Clay School District was held Tuesday in the Gillett Grove school building's board room, Barry Anderson was appointed to serve as the committee's chairperson. ...

South Clay district planning to dissolve following 2009-10 (05/28/09)
A longtime area school district will see its last students next fall. A group of area residents finds itself preparing to advance through a dissolution process for South Clay School District. The district's dissolution is scheduled to take effect following the 2009-10 school year...

Graduation weekend arrives for area schools (05/16/09)
It's a weekend for punch bowls, sheet cakes and maybe a few tissues as diplomas are handed out to the Class of 2009. The Spencer School District is one of four area schools set to hold commencement Sunday. The 155 seniors in Spencer's 122nd graduating class will be recognized at the Spencer High School Fieldhouse. Doors will open one hour before the 2:30 p.m. event...

Six pair of trumpeter swans released in northwest Iowa (05/12/09)
Six pair of trumpeter swans were released Saturday in the heart of Iowa's "prairie pothole" region. The hope of the release is that the swans will imprint on the six sites in northwest Iowa and continue to nest at them in future years. The weekend releases, which were part of a swan restoration project by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' Clear Lake wildlife unit, occurred in Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, O'Brien, Palo Alto and Kossuth counties...

'Dewey' movie on fast track (05/08/09)
The woman who's agreed to write the script for the upcoming movie based on Dewey Readmore Books' life is a natural for the job at hand. Pamela Gray has a cat paraphernalia collecting fever. She's been visiting people and places in Spencer this week, and she's jotting her important notes worth remembering in a notebook covered with cartoon cats. She currently has 10 cats of her own. The woman even has a tiger stripe tattoo -- based on the stripes of tigers she fell in love with while serving as a volunteer zookeeper -- inked on her right shoulder. --- It's safe to say that Vicki Myron, Spencer's former librarian-turned-author, feels a bit overwhelmed at times. She's busy. Even before her and Bret Witter's "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" book became a No. 1 bestseller, Myron had been working the media channels to promote it...

Agenda set for Clay County Wings and Wetlands (05/07/09)
The 15th Annual Wings and Wetlands weekend is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday May 9-10, 2009. Explore our unique "Prairie Pothole" region of Northwest Iowa and celebrate National Wetlands Month. Six counties in Northwest Iowa will be offering a great selection of programs and activities for people of all ages and interests. ...

Ruling closes 2008 murder case (05/06/09)
A Dickinson County judge has dismissed charges against the third defendant in the April 2008 murder case which resulted in the death of Matthew Begtrup. John Allen Swan, 31, of Crossett, Ark., Scott Thomas Adair, 30, of Crossett, Ark. and Michael James Friedrichs, 30, of Forest City were accused of first-degree murder in a Milford incident in April 2008...

State officials: Pork won't spread 'swine flu' (05/01/09)
Concerns about the swine flu's impact on the state's robust pork industry prompted official comment from the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture's office Thursday. Iowa Sec. of Agriculture Bill Northey and the State Veterinarian for Iowa, Dr. David Schmitt, reiterated that consumers cannot get the H1N1 flu strain, or "swine flu" by eating pork and there is no evidence of this flu in the pig population of Iowa or any state...

Wings & Wetlands activities slated for May 9-10 (04/22/09)
The annual Trumpeter Swan release at Lost Island Marsh will kick off the Wings & Wetlands festivities at Lost Island Huston Park scheduled for May 9-10. The swan release is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m., and will be followed by a full day of actvities hosted by the Palo Alto County Conservation Board, Conservatiton Foundation and Soil & Water Conservation District...

ACM award winner Adkins returning to fair (04/21/09)
The 2009 Clay County Fair will feature a night with a pair of country's hottest stars on Sunday, Sept. 20. Louisiana-native Trace Adkins, burst onto the county scene in 1996 with his debut album Dreamin' Out Loud. The album garnered his first Billboard number one hit with "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing." Other hit singles produced from that album including "Every Light in the House" and "I Left Something Turned on at Home."...

Pony Express gallops again on Good Friday (04/11/09)
State roadways and county blacktops resembled the Old West Friday as Pony Express riders galloped throughout Iowa raising money. The network of volunteer riders have been collecting money for Camp Sunnyside since 1968, when Stub Johnson, Leo Gray and Wayne Nielson first masterminded the idea to ride "Pony Express style" county-to-county to help Iowa children and adults with disabilities. Don Essick has been involved since the ride's second year, when it expanded and became a statewide ride...

Deputies take driving safety sTEP by sTEP (03/13/09)
Clay County Deputy Jesse Rustad doesn't know what a late-morning patrol is going to bring. On Thursday, it delivered some dry traveling conditions, good seat belt use and drivers who didn't flaunt the speed limit on U.S. Highway 18 between Dickens and Spencer...

Beaver named new children's librarian (03/04/09)
Sarah Beth (Fuchsen) Beaver has been named the new youth services librarian at Spencer Public Library. Monday, March 23 will mark her first official day on job. The 27-year-old daughter of Tom and Marianne Fuchsen, Spencer, is a 2000 Spencer High School alumna who also graduated from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion. Beaver is currently working to complete her master's degree in library science online from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee this December...

School site visits deemed 'valuable process' (01/23/09)
A recent two-day Iowa Department of Education (DE) site visit to an area school district has its superintendent confidently proclaiming: "From all indications, things went real well for us as a district." For those district representatives who do not enjoy such visits, Ruthven-Ayrshire Community School District Superintendent Ervin "Erv" Rowlands added/assured, "For other communities, as this comes up, try to be a part of it. ...

No more pets at Spencer Public Library (01/09/09)
Even though Spencer Public Library representatives have received numerous "offers, requests and inquiries" about hosting another potential resident library cat -- all of which have been turned down -- board members voted unanimously Thursday night to establish a "permanent prohibition against having pets in residence at the library."...

Briefs 12/19/08 (12/19/08)
Please join us at a "Come-and-Go" reception to wish Kitty Conover the best in her retirement from Iowa Lakes Community College and to welcome Mary Mohni, chief academic officer and new campus administrator. The reception will be held from 2:30-4 p.m., Friday, Dec. 19 at Iowa Lakes Community College at Gateway North in Spencer. At the request of the honorees, please no cards or gifts...

Preschoolers celebrate the reason for the season (12/19/08)
First English Lutheran Church hosted an innkeeper, Mary and Joseph, shepherds, wise men, angels, a cow and a donkey Thursday morning as 17 (below) 4- and 5-year-old students at First English Christian Preschool celebrated "The Savior of the World," complete with songs and lively choreography, for friends and family members. ...

Olson charged in 'Mama Moose' fire (12/09/08)
Thirty-three-year-old Alicia M. Olson, of Wallingford, was arrested by Palo Alto County Sheriff's on a valid warrant, Saturday, Dec. 6, at 10:15 a.m., following an investigation into a fire that caused extensive damage to the "Mama Moose" restaurant in Ruthven on Christmas Eve in 2005...

Deer season opens Saturday (12/05/08)
Iowa's roadways and designated public areas are sure to become busier this Saturday as the first segment of shotgun deer season begins. The first season, which will continue through Wednesday, Dec. 10, will be followed by a second shotgun deer season scheduled from Dec. 13 through Dec. 21. While many more individuals have requested licenses than have been issued, an estimated 130,000 orange-vested hunters are expected to participate in the two seasons...

Rural dentist morphs into nationally-known author (12/02/08)
While working on patient's teeth during the work day, Dr. Nathan Jorgenson finds himself recanting a comment he used to make to his wife: "Why would anybody want to be a writer? What a dumb thing to want to do." Jorgenson, who grew up on a farm near Jackson, Minn., is a Fairmont, Minn. dentist who can chuckle today as he vividly remembers working in Spencer's former packing plant as a college student. He deems the two summers a "quite memorable" time...

Briefs 11/08/08 (11/08/08)
A bake sale will be held by the Friends of Collin Hanson as a fundraiser at Southpark Mall today. --- The First Christian Church at 701 E. 18th St., Spencer, is hosting the Angel Food Ministry. Boxes of food may be ordered containing fresh meats, fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, and staple items. ...

Time to pick a president (11/04/08)
Polls open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, in Clay County for the 2008 General Election. Voting will take place at 13 voting precincts as follows: - Lake/Freeman -- at Dickens Community Center, 302 Main St., Dickens - Meadow/Sioux -- at VFW Club, 15 East 21st St., Spencer...

Liberalized fishing allowed at Dan Green Slough (11/01/08)
Members of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources have relaxed some rules as it continues to drain a Clay County slough. Dan Green Slough is about 4 miles east of Langdon along county road B17. Over the next two years, conservation officials plan to drain water from the area. The process will allow wetland vegetation to get a start in the mud flats. It will also eliminate rough fish, which contribute to murky conditions...

Clay County collector, retrofitter farms with 'working antiques' (10/03/08)
When Lindell "Pete" Petersen began combining Monday night, he was excited to also initiate the process of familiarizing himself with a new implement. The Clay County farmer, who had traded his combine in two months ago, was recently told his former piece of equipment is now harvesting crops in Mexico...

Former Spencer resident publishes children's book (09/24/08)
Angela Tonderum, a former Spencer resident, has released her first book. PublishAmerica is releasing "Kaycee Kangaroo Lost in Alphabet Forest: Adventures of Kaycee Kangaroo" by Tonderum who now lives in Box Elder, S.D. This book was inspired by her middle child, Kaycee, and the childish mischief that she gets into. ...

Multi-faceted musician gives students sneak pear at concert (09/20/08)
Multi-instrumentalist Todd Green, scheduled to open the Spencer Area Concert Association's 2008--09 season with a 2:30 p.m., matinee performance Sunday, Sept. 21 at the Clay County Regional Events Center, arrived in town a bit early as part of a week-long residency that included performances for schoolchildren in the Spencer, Clay Central/Everly, Sioux Central and Ruthven-Ayrshire school districts. ...

Vote Tuesday! (09/06/08)
Tuesday is school board election day. You don't have to serve on the board or run for school board, but you might think a bit harder about at least casting a ballot for your candidate or candidates of choice. Of the five surrounding school board elections, Spencer is hosting the only contested race. ...

Briefs 9-05-08 (09/05/08)
Fair booster tickets will be sold individually for $5 each, a savings of $2 from the regular daytime gate admission price for adults. Individuals and businesses may take advantage of the savings by purchasing tickets from a fair booster ticket location or a fair booster representative prior to 5 p.m. ...

AREA SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES PROFILED - Two vie for two Ruthven-Ayrshire board seats (08/29/08)
It's an uncontested race in the Tuesday, Sept. 9 election for the two seats available on the Ruthven-Ayrshire school board. Incumbent Dave Forey, of 1809 Carr St. in Ruthven has filed for re-election. Matthew Graves, of 1408 Rolling St. in Ruthven, is seeking the second available seat around the board table, left vacant by current board member Jill Williamson. If deemed winners in September, both men would hold office until 2011...

Democrats rally local troops on eve of national convention (08/26/08)
Clay County Democrats gathered at the Oneota Park shelter house Sunday evening for their annual fundraising steak fry. The meeting, coming just a day after Barack Obama named Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate via a much hyped text message to supporters, had County chairman Bob Whittenburg's stressing organization to his fellow Democrats...

Vicious dogs back on a agenda (08/18/08)
The Spencer City Council will consider a more defined ordinance to deal with vicious dogs as part of its 6:30 p.m. meeting Monday in council chambers. But committee work suggests specific breeds won't be singled out in the ordinance language. Some residents were concerned about language that specifically mentions the Staffordshire terrier breed, American pit-bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, or any dog which has the appearance and characteristics, or being predominantly of those breeds.. ...

Local competitors 'fair' well (08/16/08)
Several Clay County residents participated in judged events at the Iowa State Fair. Here are some of the local results: Breeding Beef Dustin Biedenfeld, Peterson, Limousine, Purple- Reserve Champion and Blue; Jenna Biedenfeld, Peterson, Limousin, Purple;...

Innovative national sheep event set for Spencer (07/25/08)
Sheep producers seeking more return on rising feed and fuel costs are relying on proven genetic tools, like the National Sheep Improvement Program(NSIP) to enhance profitability. Producers using NSIP data can earn a greater return on their sheep operations, since top NSIP sheep are expected to produce more prolific, productive offspring in less time on feed...

Briefs 7-22-08 (07/22/08)
Young people and their families are invited to "Bee" at the library tonight at 6:30 p.m. for the "Pockets Full of Fun" program. Join Lisa Laird of Orange City, and her friends from "Pockets Full of Fun" as they learn about some interesting creatures in the insect world. ...

Briefs 7-19-08 (07/21/08)
Young people and their families are invited to "Bee" at the library on Tuesday, July 22 at 6:30 p.m. for the "Pockets Full of Fun" program. Join Lisa Laird of Orange City, and her friends from "Pockets Full of Fun" as they learn about some interesting creatures in the insect world. ...

Briefs 7-18-08 (07/18/08)
The Fifth Annual Cruise In will be held from 6-9 p.m. tonight in the McDonald's parking lot at the Southpark Mall in Spencer. Plaques for the first 75 cars. Registration from 6-7:30 p.m., with awards given at 8:30 p.m. Trophies for the top three "peoples choice." Prizes also. Rain day has been set for Friday, July 25...

DNR officials pleased with Milford turnout (07/18/08)
About 60 area residents attended a wide-ranging public forum hosted by the state's top conservation official Wednesday night. Richard Leopold, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, held the forum at the Gull Point State Park lodge. "I think the tone was pretty positive for the most part," said Tammie Krausman, the public affairs coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "Sometimes those public meetings can be quite contentious."...

Briefs 6-4-08 (06/04/08)
All area women are invited to the "Let's Have Flowers" prayer connection at 10 a.m. today in the home of Bonnie Neisess, Treasure Village on Highway 86. It is a time of sharing and supporting each other with prayer and fellowship. Okoboji Women's Connection is a part of Stonecroft Ministries...

Briefs 5-29-08 (05/29/08)
Single Spirits will hold its next meeting tonight at the Spirit Lake Public Library. A potluck is set for 6:30 p.m., with a meeting to follow. Activities for the next five weeks will be planned. Single Spirits is an organization open to singles of all ages in the area...

Werk to join the Clay County Fair Staff (05/28/08)
Robyn Werk, a West Central Minnesota native and recent South Dakota State University graduate, will take on the position of assistant to the secretary manager of the Clay County Fair. Werk graduated with a degree in agriculture journalism and a minor in animal science...

Briefs 5-28-08 (05/28/08)
Iowa Great Lakes Lutheran School students will present their annual end-of--the-year musical titled "Livin' Inside Out in an Upside Down World," based on Psalm 51:6, at 7 p.m. tonight at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 500 Fourth Ave. S.W., Spencer...

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