Stories from Tuesday, April 6, 2010

It was announced Tuesday that Spencer City Administrator Bob Fagen is among four finalists for the Marshalltown City Administrator's position. Fagen joins Rod Barnes of Junction City, Kansas; Jo Ann Miller of DeForest, Wis.; and Randy Wetmore of Des Moines on the city's short list for the job...

A Valero ethanol plant official was among 20 individuals who took part in an international agricultural trade mission trip to South Korea and Vietnam recently as part of the Iowa Corn Leadership Enhancement and Development (I-LEAD) program. Mike Schon, of Spencer, deemed the March 11-22 trip one of a lifetime...

Juan Humberto Castillo-Alvarez's fight against extradition to Minnesota to face murder charges for his alleged role in the 1997 gang-related murder of teenager Gregory Sky Erickson -- a case that spans both Iowa and Minnesota -- remains unsettled. According to Clay County Attorney Mike Houchins, the extradition hearing for Castillo-Alvarez, scheduled for Monday, April 5, was pushed back once again following a motion to continue filed by Defense Attorney Ned Bjornstad...

Doris L. Sundall Salton, 89, of Ruthven, passed away Friday, April 2, 2010, at the Ruthven Community Care Center. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 7, at Zion Lutheran Church in Ruthven with Rev. Luther Thoresen officiating. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery, Ruthven...

A celebration of life will be held for Mrs. "Ellie" Remillard, 79, of Spencer, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 6, at Warner Chapel in Spencer. Rev. Chuck Kellogg will officiate the service. Interment will take place in Lone Tree Cemetery in Sioux Rapids. Graveside services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, following the lunch at the church...

City support of events centers is not uncommon, City Manager Bob Fagen told the council before they approved the final $25,000 of a total $115,000 commitment to the Clay County Regional Events Center. The first $90,000 of the commitment was designated for reducing the center's operational deficit out of the city's hotel/motel tax fund. Capital improvements will be made over the next three years, as the city has committed to contributing $25,000 each year...

Perhaps I've reached that old, fuddy-duddy stage. I can't take a joke. I've become my mother. Whatever the excuse, I've got to say I wasn't amused at all when a recent trip to the car wash by my son, to rinse a few weeks of gravel dust from his car revealed some less than humorous scratches along the side of his vehicle...