Stories from Monday, January 25, 2016

It's that time of year again: our mailboxes start filling up with paperwork detailing how much money we made and how much we paid out in interest and charitable donations over the past year. The end goal is to make sure all of the paperwork is set aside safely and remembered by the time the appointment with the tax preparer comes around...

Spencer High School's drama students competed at the District Large Group Speech Contest of the Iowa High School Speech Association conducted at Spencer High School on Saturday. Competing against 23 other high schools from northwest Iowa, Spencer entered 16 groups in the contest. ...

Kelly McCarty, who moderated Saturday's Spencer Chamber of Commerce Eggs & Issues session, took a moment during the legislative forum, as a member of Spencer Daybreakers Kiwanis, to recognize Rep. Megan Jones, also a Spencer Daybreakers member, for her work on the creation of the club's Glow Dance effort, a joint-project with the Spencer Middle School Builder's Club. Jones helped start the Glow Dance after bringing the idea to the club as a fundraiser for Kiwanis International's Eliminate program, designed to end Neonatal Tetanus. Spencer Daybreakers has raised more than $54,000 toward the cause. The local club recognized Jones' new baby Anchor with donating a $1.80 a day for a year in his name -- approximately $600 more -- to the Eliminate Project. (Photo by Randy M. Cauthron)

The initiation of a traffic stop by a Clay County deputy turned into a pursuit early Wednesday morning, landing a Primghar woman in the Clay County Jail on traffic violations and an arrest warrant. At approximately 1:45 a.m., Jan. 20, the Clay County deputy initiated a traffic stop in the 1000 mile of 350th Street. ...

Dan Charles Tomlinson, 60, of Gatesville, passed away Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016. Dan was born on Feb. 3, 1955, in Audubon, Iowa, to Charles Tomlinson and Joyce Jorgensen Tomlinson. He graduated from Spencer High School in Spencer in 1975. He received a Small Engine Repair and Automotive Parts Certificate of Completion from Iowa Lakes Community College in Emmetsburg. ...

A new study by Boston College Sociology Assistant Professor Sara Moorman and doctoral candidate in sociology Jeffrey Stokes shows that a close, emotional relationship between grandparents and adult grandchildren can have a measurable effect on the psychological well-being of both grandparents and grandchildren, this according to an article in the Boston College Chronicle...

I wrote a post on my blog (Blondie Marie) a few weeks ago that talked about New Year's resolutions ... kind of. I've talked about resolutions here, too, but I approached the idea of a resolution a different way this year. This year instead of focusing on a task list of things I want to accomplish by Dec. 31, I'm focusing on one word. This year, I've decided, I will "curate."...

I don't generally write about politics in my column. We at the Daily Reporter don't endorse candidates, we aren't affiliated with any single candidate. Aside from telling folks if they don't participate they don't have a right to complain, I back away from public political pronouncements...

Enriching life appears to be a personal decision. Some are enriched by watching television most of the day, while others are enriched by never watching television. Some folks are enriched by attending or participating in the arts such as fine music, dance, the opera, or plays while others feel fulfilled by just playing with the dog...

CRESTON -- The Iowa Lakes women's basketball team earned it's second ICCAC win Saturday afternoon by topping Southwestern Community College 72-66. Lauryn Smith led all scorers with 33 points on the day. Teammate Asiya Smith added 23. Asiya Smith grabbed seven rebounds to pace Iowa Lakes on the boards...

ANKENY -- Spencer's wrestlers spent their second straight Saturday in the middle of the state, taking on some tough competition at the Ankeny Duals. The Tigers finished fifth out of six teams, going 1-4 with a win over Bondurant-Farrar 51-13. Spencer dropped its remaining duals 57-12 to Ankeny, 58-12 to Ottumwa, 51-26 to Sioux City North and 49-27 to Marshalltown...

CRESTON -- The Iowa Lakes men's basketball team fell to 12-7 overall and 2-2 in ICCAC play with a 83-78 loss at Southwestern Saturday. The Lakers were led by Chris Jones with 20 points. Southwestern was led by Terrance Smith with 22 points. The Lakers will travel to Mason City to take on NIACC on Wednesday. Tip will be at 7:30 p.m. Their next home game be Saturday, Jan. 30 against DMACC. Tip for that game will be 3 p.m. in Laker Gymnasium...

The 2016 Laker Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held on Friday, Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the SERT building on the Estherville campus of Iowa Lakes. The event is open to the public. Anyone who would like to meet the inductees of the Laker Athletics Hall of Fame and share in the memories of the past are encouraged to attend...

ESTHERVILLE -- Iowa Lakes Community College head softball coach Katie Larson announced Monday the signing of Carson Gjerde to the 2016-2017 recruiting class. She is the daughter of Eric and Sonya Gjerde and played for the Estherville Lincoln Central Midgets...

MARCUS -- Clay Central-Everly's Katina McCarty put up an efficient double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting Friday night, but it wasn't enough to halt what has beccme a three-game skid for the Mavs as they fell 64-42 to the one-loss Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn Eagles...