Stories from Thursday, April 17, 2008

-Spencer board to discuss class rankings, 2008-09 purchases- The Spencer Community Schools Board of Education will convene its regular monthly meeting at 7:30 a.m. Friday in the board room of the central administrative offices, located at 23 E. Seventh St. ...

-Inequity makes decision tough for area legislators- The smoke cleared on one of the state legislature's most controversial bills last week when a conference committee came out with a version of the smoking ban which exempted casino floors and the Iowa veterans home...

-YMCA breaks ground on Dvergsten Child Care Development Center- An official groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. today. Members of the Spencer Family YMCA Board of Trustees, the endowment committee, building committee and capital campaign committee will be on hand for the ceremony...

Effective May 15, Northwest Federal Savings Bank will change its name to Northwest Bank. Northwest Federal Savings Bank, which was started 20 years ago in Spencer, and currently has additional branch locations in Algona, Belmond, Estherville, Ft. Dodge, Humboldt, Milford, Okoboji, Spirit Lake and Storm Lake, is making the move to publicly consolidate a network of 16 banking locations that currently carries three distinct names:...

State Senator David Johnson (R-Ocheyedan) and Representative Mike May (R-Spirit Lake) touch base with readers on the happenings in the Iowa House and Senate. Legislators hope to complete this session by April 22. -.08 Boating Alcohol Limit- Although efforts to equalize the blood alcohol limit for motor vehicle drivers and boaters have been successful in the Senate, May said the House might not see the issue come up for debate...

On Thursday, April 24, some of Spencer's biggest hearts have been invited to attend the "Think Spring" Lock-Up event. The handpicked MDA "Jailbirds" will be turning themselves in to the Spencer Golf and Country Club from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 24. ...

Jack Schomaker, a member of the Old Iron Club shakes the hand of Eagles Club representative, Ted Jafvert after the Old Iron Club presented the Eagles Club with a $250 donation to use for Camp Hertko Hollow Camp. The camp is for diabetic children.

Services are pending for Robert Clark, 86, of Mesa, Ariz., formerly of Wallingford and Spencer, who passed away Tuesday, April 15, 2008, at Banner Hospice in Mesa. Warner Funeral Home of Spencer is in charge of arrangements.

Services are pending for Mrs. Gertie Dumond, 85, of Spencer, who passed away Wednesday, April 16, 2008, at St. Luke Lutheran Home of Spencer. Warner Funeral Home of Spencer is in charge of arrangements.

Funeral services for Mrs. Joan Trostheim, 66, of Spencer, will be held at 1:30 p.m., Friday, April 18, 2008, at Warner Chapel in Spencer. Rev. Scott Meier will officiate the service. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at Warner Chapel in Spencer...

Senior Golfers group to begin Senior Golfers Out Wandering Around (SGOWA) will begin its seventh year with an organizational meeting and breakfast at 9:30 a.m., today at the Golfview Condos, 1900 Fourth Ave. SW on the west side of the Spencer Municipal Golf Course...

Spencer High School's Individual Speech participants received 19 Division I ratings and 11 Division II ratings at the State Contest. Schools from the northwest portion of Iowa attended The Iowa High School Speech Association-sponsored contest at Manson held in early March. Three judges rated each participant with a Division I Excellent rating, Division II Good rating, Division III Fair rating, or a Division IV Disqualification because of constitutional violation...

The Spencer High School Debate Team and Boosters hosted the National Qualifying tournament for the National Forensic League on February 8-9. There were appoximately 200 students, coaches and parents who attended. Schools which were represented include: Des Moines, Dowling, Roosevelt, Lincoln, and West Des Moines Valley, Winterset, Atlantic, Carroll, Cherokee, Fort Dodge, Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Sioux City; Heelan, North, West, and East, and host, Spencer...

The Board of Trustees of Iowa Lakes Community College learned the value of offering evening and weekend nursing education during their meeting Tuesday afternoon in Algona. Trudy Kattner, dean of the Algona campus, introduced Tara Rochleau, nursing instructor of Practical Nursing (PN) for the Algona campus. ...

Aquila is donating $500 to help support the Centers Against Abuse & Sexual Assalt (CAASA), a company official said today. "We're pleased to help support CAASA", said Jim Anderson, external affairs manager at Aquila in Spencer. "It's part of Aquila's ongoing commitment to help improve the quality of life in communities where we provide energy service."...

Amy Johnson and Kyle Torkelson were married July 28, 2007, at Central Baptist Church, with the Rev. Randy Tweeten officiating. Maid of honor was Amanda Conrad, and best man was Jon Johansen. Attendants were Jeff Johnson, Mike Boen, Dusty Hoffman, Bret Vanden Bosch, Beth Torkelson, Megan Torkelson, Allison Hoffman and Katie Hofer...

-Spencer girls suffer first setback- SPENCER -- The Spencer girls soccer team lost for the first time this year Tuesday, giving up a pair of goals off corner kicks in a 2-1 setback to Fort Dodge. "It was a tough battle. It's just a whole different game on a windy day like this," said Spencer head coach Tom Van Tassell. "The wind was a major factor in the game."...

-Edwardson, 4x800 team post runner-up efforts- A year ago, Spencer made the Iowa Great Lakes Invitational the setting for its second straight boys team title of the season. The Tigers placed in 16-of-18 events, won three and racked up 106 points to knock off Storm Lake by one point that night, one day after winning their first meet title in over five years at the Estherville Relays...

-CC-E boys place second, Sioux Central's Tiefenthaler sets school record- Clay Central-Everly turned in the top local finish at Tuesday's Iowa Great Lakes Invitational in Spirit Lake, placing a combined 20 individuals or relays in the top six in a second-place performance in the Class B standings...