Stories from Friday, May 16, 2014

Judge David Lester kept Ryan Wedebrand's life sentence for kidnapping and murder convictions intact, but opened up the possibility of parole as part of a ruling Friday morning at the Clay County Courthouse in Spencer. Lester had to reconsider District Court Judge Frank Nelson's April 1998 sentence in the Wedebrand case because of a recent U.S. ...

Spencer High School seniors enjoyed a day away from the classroom as part of the annual ditch day. The traditional day of R&R began with breakfast courtesy of the Daybreakers Kiwanis at the K-Cafe. Following the meal and a group picture (above), the soon-to-be-graduates split off to enjoy organized activities such as fishing at Stolley Park (below) and dodgeball. Nick Gross (bottom) celebrated the thrill of victory as his team got the big win. (Photos by Randy Cauthron)

After six weeks of fundraising, the Spencer High School theater department has raised nearly $150,000 to be put toward the upcoming fine arts facility. "We were given several restrictions," Larry Untiet, theater director at the high school, said. "But it has been a good experience, and I certainly appreciate even the opportunity to raise some funds. I reached out to the 500 alumni I have on Facebook, and I heard back from almost every class over the last 40 years."...

We've almost made it. Eighty-two regular season games, eight playoff series, plenty of drama and what do we have left? We have the exact four teams everybody would have picked to make the NBA Conference Finals before it all began. Everybody knew at the beginning of the year the Heat would be back. ...

Fifth and sixth grade students from Lincoln Elementary, Sacred Heart, and the Spencer Middle School will take to the track on Tuesday, May 20, for the 48th annual Little Tiger Relays to be held at Dale Norton Field. The four divisions for the event include fifth grade girls, sixth grade girls, fifth grade boys and sixth grade boys. ...

The 2014 "Cruisin' Clay" tour is looking for a few more people to explore Clay County's "hidden treasures." The all-day tour will start at 9 a.m. May 31 at the Clay County Fairgrounds. This year the bus tour will visit five all-new and unique Clay County destinations...

MANSON - Sioux Central's boys and girls had their opportunity to reach the state track meet Thursday night in Manson. The Lady Rebels will be sending six events, following a runner-up finish in the district meet. The boys may send one or two events, depending on the final Class 2A results which were delayed due to weather at a district meet in Dike...

After all the 3A results came in from Thursday night's meets, Spencer will be sending five more events to the state meet in Des Moines on top of their previous 14 automatic qualifiers. The boys will send the foursome of Matt Finnern, Ben Fox, Malik Rasch and John Greer for the 4x100 and 4x200 as well as Chance Tatman (pictured) in the shot put. The Lady Tigers will be adding their 4x200 team of Jalen Rost, Bailey Menard, Kari Kramer and Kim Shabino as well as their sprint medley team of Menard, Madi Rost, Jalen Rost and Kramer. (Photo by Matt Heinrichs)

STORM LAKE - Spencer's boys advanced to the district meet Friday with their performance at Lake Creek Golf Course in Storm Lake for the first time since their four-year run of state tournament teams from 2008-2011. The Tigers finished with a runner-up team score of 339, trailing only Humboldt's score of 330...

BEST shooting school will again be held in Spencer this summer for boys and girls entering fourth through 12th grades during the 2014-2015 school year. The acclaimed program has over 20 years of experience and has instructed over 35,000 students. Last year in Spencer over 70 students participated...

On Thursday, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced his endorsement of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Jacobs. On Friday, Jacobs and Northey met with a collection of area supporters at the Spencer Pizza Ranch. "I have never endorsed in a statewide primary," Northey said to the audience. "We get to elect a senator every six years, but we don't always get to elect a new senator. We will have a new senator after this election. It's very important we get this right."...

AREA -- Three neighboring schools will host commencement ceremonies on Sunday. Clay Central-Everly, Ruthven-Ayrshire and Sioux Central will all award diplomas to their respective graduates from class of 2014 at 2 p.m. in each district's high school gym...

The Young Professionals Spotlight is aimed at giving attention to adults ages 21 to 35 in the Corridor region. Dave Christensen, a 25-year-old Albert City native, returned to his hometown after completing his engineering degree from Iowa State University. Christensen aspired to be in the engineering profession growing up and saw his dream come true at Ranco Fertiservice in 2011...

The Clay County Fair announced the performance of pop group Emblem3, with special guest MKTO, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13 in the U.S. Cellular Grandstand. "One of my goals is to book as wide of variety of entertainment as possible each year in the U.S. Cellular Grandstand," Clay County Fair Manager Jeremy Parsons said. "This exciting night of music features two up-and-coming groups with Top 40 hits."...

Funeral services for Mrs. Christine Mathern, 87 of Sutherland, will be conducted at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Sutherland. Rev. Tim Hogan will officiate the service. Visitation will be conducted from 5-7 p.m. Monday at the Warner Funeral Home in Sutherland. A vigil service will be conducted Monday also at the funeral home...

Funeral services for Donna Rausch Ostermann, 79, of Mesa, Ariz., formerly of Spencer, will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 17, 2014 at Warner Funeral Home in Spencer. Rev. Len Halvorson will officiate the service. Visitation with the family will be conducted beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at Warner Funeral Home in Spencer...

STORM LAKE -- A warrant officer originally from Storm Lake, died Sunday in a non-combat incident in Afghanistan, the Defense Department announced. Chief Warrant Officer Deric M. Rasmussen, 33, of Charlie Company out of Fort Hood, Texas, passed away in Mazar-e-Sharif while serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His unit operates attack helicopters in support of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division...

The city of Spencer is a $2,500 sponsor for the upcoming 30th anniversary Flagfest celebration in Spencer June 13-15. Spencer City Manager Bob Fagen (middle left) presented the check to Flagfest co-chairs Kurt Schwarck (middle right), John Zinn and Brad Smith. (Photo by Randy M. Cauthron)

Summer is the time for barbeques, camping and bonding around an outdoor fire. Spencer city ordinances allow homeowners to build recreational fires in their backyard. Homeowners are required to follow the guidelines established by the city in order to have a legal recreational fire...

DES MOINES (AP) -- The State Appeal Board has rejected a $500,000 claim filed by a former resident of the Iowa Juvenile Home. Nineteen-year-old Jessica Turner, of Okoboji, said the state violated her constitutional rights by inflicting cruel and unusual punishment and denying her due process. She says she spent nine months in isolation at the now-closed home...

Fairview Elementary third graders learned the keys to safely ride their bikes during the Safe Routes to School Bike Rodeo Thursday afternoon. Safe Routes to School Coordinator Alison Simpson demonstrated that a bike helmet fits properly if a person can fit two fingers between their eyebrows and the helmet. Spencer Police Department Bike Officer Justin Schultes taught students the rules of the road they need to obey when riding their bikes. Prior to Fairview, the Bike Rodeo presented its safety lessons to the third graders at Sacred Heart. Today, the Bike Rodeo will instruct the third graders at Iowa Great Lakes Lutheran Schools. All students who attended the event were given a helmet donated by the Daybreakers Kiwanis. The Bike Rodeo was made possible by a partnership between Safe Routes to School, the Spencer Police Department, Daybreakers Kiwanis, Spencer Schools, Sacred Heart and Iowa Great Lakes Lutheran Schools. (Photos by Hanna Russmann)

Eileen Gengler, guidance counselor at Spencer High School, (center with foreign exchange students from SHS) received the EF High School Exchange Year Global Education Excellence Award on behalf of the high school from the international exchange students currently attending Spencer Schools. The EF High School Exchange Year is a national high school exchange program that has been matching international students with host families and communities for the last 35 years. Each year, the program presents the Global Education Excellence award to high schools that "demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to international understanding and global awareness." This year, the high school welcomed 11 exchange students from countries around the world. (Photo by Kate Padilla)

MILFORD -- The Polaris factory in Milford continues to grow and could see additional expansion following Friday's state action. The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board awarded direct financial assistance of $300,000 and tax incentives via the HQJP to create 150 jobs, 45 of which are incented at a qualifying wage of $15.21 per hour incentive package for the company...

This particular column is directed at those young people who within the next couple of weeks will proudly walk across the stage, sporting an attractive cap and gown, to collect the items they've spent the past four years attempting to earn ... that graduation diploma...

ORANGE CITY - Tracksters across the state had their chance at qualifying for this year's state meet Thursday night. Spencer's boys and girls would try their luck on the Red Raider track at Northwestern College in Orange City. As of last night, the Tigers will send eight girls events and six boys events to the big dance in Des Moines on Thursday, May 22...

SPIRIT LAKE - Spencer's tennis boys entered their district tournament in Spirit Lake Thursday morning as an arguable favorite to win as a team and automatically advance to substate. Despite strong performances throughout their lineup, the Tigers came in one point behind Le Mars (18-17), meaning they'll face district third place Spirit Lake-Okoboji Saturday morning in Spencer to determine a true district runner-up and substate participant. ...

GRAETTINGER - The Titans welcomed North Union to their home course Thursday for a final tune-up before district and regional golf. NU's boys bested a short-handed Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire team 181-200 while the Titan girls won their matchup with the Warriors 214-234...