Outdoor Recreation

New law will assist disabled hunters this fall (09/25/08)
Rep. Mike May (R-Spirit Lake) discussed a new Iowa law that will promote many more nonresidents, age 21 years and younger and who are disabled or terminally ill, to hunt deer and turkey in the state. According to May, a growing number of national and community organizations have begun catering to disabled young hunters in recent years. ...

'Safe Routes' plan to pave the way for students (09/20/08)
By Kris Todd Daily Reporter Staff Children today are much less active than their counterparts of 39 years ago. While 50 percent of America's children walked to school in 1969, that number has dropped to 15 percent in 2008. As a result of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program that's taken shape recently, a Spencer delegation is focused on changing this trend...

City leaders break ground on golf course upgrade (08/26/08)
The current clubhouse at the Spencer Municipal Golf Course gets a little damp and a little crowded at times. Monday morning's golden shovels were the first step in doing something about that. City and golf course officials came out for the groundbreaking to launch a $290,800 clubhouse construction in south Spencer. It's the first major expansion at the site since the course was expanded from nine holes to 18 holes for the 2001 season...

'Safe Routes to School' study underway (08/22/08)
Public reaction to recommendations to occur Sept. 17-18

Going to the extreme (08/19/08)
During Saturday's preliminary adult street run competition at Extreme Am V in Spencer East Leach Skate Park, Nick Curry demonstrated not only his skateboarding talent, but his juggling talent as well. Performing a manual across the flatland at the skate park, balancing on a pair of boards, Curry began juggling three pieces of curb candy. ...

Council approves breed-less animal ordinance (08/19/08)
After lengthy discussions at two previous city council sessions, followed by a meeting with Dr. Tom Beall of Homestead Small Animal Practice, Monday night the Spencer City Council passed the final filing of an amended amendment dealing with unrestrained vicious animals in public...

BAS raises almost $1,000 (08/15/08)
Dave Woodcock, with The Farmers Bank; Michelle Frideres, with Cardio Plus; and Tim Bruzek, with Hy-Vee Food Stores combined with other area sponsors to help raise just under $1,000 with the BAS (Bike Around Spencer) ride recently. Several bike riders joined in on the event, helping to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation...

City of Spencer safe routes to school program (08/14/08)
The City Council of Spencer is committed to enabling and encouraging children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school. They aspire to make walking and bicycling to school safe and more appealing, and to facilitate the planning and development and implementation of projects that will improve safety, and reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution in the vicinity of schools...

Briefs 8-13-08 (08/13/08)
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Hartley, is sponsoring a community-wide benefit for the family of Jan Hall to help defray medical bills incurred during Jan's battle with illness. The free-will dinner and auction will be held at the Hartley Community Center on Thursday, Aug. ...

Briefs 8-12-08 (08/12/08)
Losing a loved one is indescribable to someone who has not felt the loss of death. Hospice of Northwest Iowa's professional team understands the tragedy of losing a loved one and they identify with the difficult decisions and emotions that the person left behind faces. To help people cope with the death of a loved one, Hospice of Northwest Iowa is offering an 8-week Understanding Grief Support Group. The group will meet each Wednesday evening through Sept. 24 from 6:30-8 p.m...

Extreme Am V (08/08/08)
The Extreme Am will celebrate five years when regional skateboarders converge on Spencer's East Leach Park Skate Park to test their skills in four different competitions for trophies and prizes on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 16-17. For five years, elementary through adult age skateboarders have been competing in the street run, big air, vert and best tricks events in northwest Iowa's premier skate park...

Anglers Bay dedication celebrates conservation success (07/31/08)
The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources invite the public to join in the dedication of the state's new Anglers Bay Wildlife Management Area on Saturday morning, Aug. 2. The dedication will be held at the project site on the northeast side of Big Spirit Lake, nestled between Hales Slough to the south and Sandbar Slough to the north...

Extreme Am celebrates five years (07/31/08)
The Extreme Am will celebrate five years this year when regional skateboarders converge on Spencer's East Leach Park Skate Park to test their skills in four different competitions for trophies and prizes on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 16-17. For five years, elementary through adult age skateboarders have been competing in the street run, big air, vert and best tricks events in northwest Iowa's premier skate park...

Annual wooden boat show launches July 26 (07/23/08)
Classic boats will line the shoreline of West Lake Okoboji later this moth as the 27th Annual Antique and Classic Wooden Boat show launches Saturday, July 26. "We run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with the wooden boat show in front of the wooden roller coaster," said Paul Hedberg, president of the Jerry Dyhrkopp chapter of the Iowa Great Lakes Antique and Classic Wooden Boating Society. ...

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. ...