Stories from Tuesday, April 15, 2008

-Store featuring name brands to locate in west end of mall, open fall 2008- Security National Properties from Eureka, Calif., owners of the Southpark Mall, announced Monday the lease signing of a new national tenant for the mall. The new tenant, operates under the name of Peebles in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southeastern, and Midwestern States - and that is how it will be known in the Southpark Mall. ...

Mandy Maurer is used to a busy week each September at the Clay County Fair, but after Sunday night, her schedule got a little more hectic. The 17-year-old from Royal was named the 2008 Clay County Fair Queen in a ceremony at the Clay County Regional Events Center. She is the daughter of Jeff and Lori Maurer and is a junior at Clay Central-Everly High School...

Susan Hawn and son, Bailey check out their BINGO cards at Monday night's PAWS Family Interaction Night at the Spencer Middle School. The event, postponed from last Thursday night, offered a free meal for middle school students and parents and a variety of interactive games. The event was sponsored by Positively Spencer Youth...

DES MOINES (AP) -- The Farmall Promenade Square Dancing Tractors will swing their partners left and right for the final time this summer, organizers of the act have announced. Damon Mooney, spokesman for the 11-member group, said that in its 10 years of existence, the Farmall Promenade performed more than 125 times in 86 venues...

-Congress asks country to pay more for rebuilding- WASHINGTON -- Iraq's financial free ride may be over. After five years, Republicans and Democrats seem to have found common ground on at least one aspect of the war. From the fiercest war foes to the most steadfast Bush supporters, they are looking at Iraq's surging oil income and saying Baghdad should start picking up the tab, particularly for rebuilding hospitals, roads, power lines and the rest of the shattered country...

Lorraine Conley presents Kelly Neiderhiser, a Spencer High School senior with the Thomas A. Conley Memorial Scholarship during Sunday afternoon's Spencer Community School Foundation Scholarship Presentation ceremony at the Central Administrative office. ...

The Spencer Community School Foundation presented its 2008 scholarships Sunday afternoon at the Spencer Administration Building. The foundation presented over $50,000 in scholarships to 65 seniors. This brings the eight-year total to $393,000 to more than 500 students since 2000. Representatives from several of the scholarships were present to announce the winners. The following is the student name, scholarship award, and what the student intends to study in college...

Spencer Community Schools Teacher Quality Committee will meet at 7:15 a.m., today at the Central Office board room. The committee will review the evaluation process and cycle. The Iowa Lakes Community College Board of Trustees will meet at 4 p.m., today at the Algona Campus. A full agenda is planned...

Siouxland Blood Drive in Spencer The Siouxland Community Blood Bank will be at the Southpark Mall from 2-6 p.m., Wednesday, April 16. CC-E looking for pre-school, kindergarten students The Clay Central-Everly District is planning for the 2008-2009 school year. ...

ARRESTS ACCIDENTS...

Funeral services for Mr. Shannon Boyles, 60, of Spencer, formerly of Everly, will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 16, 2008, at Hope Lutheran Church of Everly. Rev. Lauren Ley will officiate the service. Visitation will begin at 2 p.m. today with the family present from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Warner Funeral Home in Everly...

Graveside services for Mr. Casey Curry, 57, of Lake Park, will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, April 16, 2008, at Dickens Cemetery in Dickens. Rev. Paul Hansen will officiate the service. There will be no visitation. Interment will take place at Dickens Cemetery...

Services for Mason Dible, 18, were held at 10:30 a.m., Monday, April 14, 2008, at Immanuel Lutheran Church of Spirit Lake. Rev. Phill Andreasen officiated the service. Interment took place at Spirit Lake Memorial Gardens. Mason passed away on April 10, 2008, at the Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D...

Funeral services for Verlene Mabel Mori, 94, was held Monday, April 14, 2008, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Hartley. Rev. Jeffrey Filkins officiated the service. Interment took place at Pleansant View Cemetery of Hartley. Verlene passed away at the Community Memorial Health Center in Hartley on April 11, 2008...

Graveside services for Mr. Albert Johnson, 87, of Spencer, were held Monday, April 14, 2008, at North Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery of Spencer. Interment took place at North Lawn Memorial Park in Spencer. Albert passed away Friday, April 11, 2008, at Spencer Hospital...

Memorial services for Mary (Van Ommen) Walters, 58, of Holland, will be held at 2 p.m., Tuesday, April 15, 2008, at the Mulder Chapel in Dykstra Life Story Funeral Homes. Visitation is scheduled for 1 p.m. today until the time of the service. Mary passed away Friday, April 11, 2008, at Holland Hospital...

We're blessed here in northwest Iowa. Blessed with fertile land, good schools, a close, supportive community. It's easy sometimes to be lulled into a false sense of security. The awful stories we see on the national news and read in the press about man's inhumanity to man can seem sometimes to be filtered through a screen of complacency. Those things happen in other places, to other people. Certainly not in our community, and certainly not to the people we love...

Scott Conrad and Peggy Ingram (above) have won U.S. Bank's Annual Pinnacle award, which represents the top 10 percent of U.S. Bank branch managers throughout the country. Conrad works at the 126 N. Grand Ave. branch in Spencer and Ingram works at the U.S. ...

-Cunningham fires 1-over-par 37 in first outing- Junior Craig Cunningham came out firing in his first outing of the year Monday, earning medalist honors with a 1-over-par 37 to lead the Spencer boys golf team to Lakes Conference victories over Sheldon and Le Mars at Sheldon Country Club...

-Seven different Tigers score in second win- Seven different players scored and the Tigers turned a 3-0 halftime lead into their seconds straight convincing win to open the year Monday in Lake Park, rolling through Spirit Lake Park/Okoboji 8-0. "It was pretty much a one-sided game," said Spencer head coach Ben Macrae. "We really did play well tonight. It was a thorough team performance...

-Holck earns medalist honors with 6-over-par 42- It was another day and another dominant early-season performance for the Spencer girls golf team Monday at Spencer Golf and Country Club. The Tigers chopped five strokes off their season-opening score, Emily Holck turned in another medalist performance and Spencer won by at least 30 strokes over its closest opponent for the second straight outing...

The Spencer boys track and field team placed in nine events, including four top 3s, but the Tigers finished at the tail end of a 6-team field at the annual Estherville Relays Monday. Algona won the meet with 144 points, Spirit Lake Park was 14 points behind and Storm Lake scored 105. The Tigers scored 35 points...