Stories from Thursday, March 17, 2016

Sacred Heart Catholic Church will host the The Simpson College Madrigal Singers for a free concert at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Former Spencer High School vocalist Olivia Baxter will be among those performing. Baxter (above left) is also a Sacred Heart parishioner and alumni. The Simpson College Madrigal Singers are a college and a Midwestern tradition. The group, founded by Dr. Robert L. Larsen in 1957, has earned plaudits from critics throughout this country and in Europe. Since 1988, the group has toured Great Britain and Europe including France, Italy, Russia, Scandinavia, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary and the Netherlands. Music at Simpson College trains professional musicians. (File photo)

The Clay County Ducks Unlimited Chapter will hold its annual fundraiser banquet Saturday, March 19, at the Clay County Regional Events Center. Doors open at 5 p.m. Games and raffles will be on-going from 5-7 pm, highlighted by a large multi-gun tier raffle, representing Remington, Mossberg, Springfield, TriStar, Howa Hogue, Ruger and others. ...

PLANO, Texas -- J.C. Penney at Southpark Mall in Spencer, was recently honored with the Founder's Award -- the company's highest distinction for excellence -- at a special event held at the historic Belo Mansion in Dallas on March 16. At the ceremony, Marvin R. ...

The Sioux Central Community School District was among 38 schools added to Iowa's teacher leadership and compensation (TLC) system, bringing the total number of involved districts to 332 of 338 districts for the 2016-17 school year. "We're excited and anxious receiving the TLC grant," said Scott Williamson, superintendent of Sioux Central CSD. "TLC is a very different program and Iowa is on the cutting edge implementing this type of leadership program for teachers."...

For the second straight year, since SmartAsset introduced its annual study on the Best Places to Retire in the state of Iowa, Spencer made its way into the top 10 of the Best Place to Retire Index, finishing in sixth place with an index of 58.50, finishing ahead of Clive, Sheldon, Decorah and West Des Moines...

It's was a mutual admiration society Thursday afternoon as Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds took some time out during her Women in Business roundtable session with Spencer area teens to congratulate longtime Spencer Main Street Director Bob Rose for his many years of service to the business community locally...

"You are the future. This is the favorite part of my job," Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds told a group of high school age ladies she met with during her visit to The Bear at Gary's on the River Thursday afternoon. The gathering was part of Reynolds' effort to conduct roundtable discussions promoting the idea of Women in Business throughout the state of Iowa...

While Michigan may be somewhat of a unique state relative to its negative perception of trade agreements, free trade and open desire for protectionism, it was very evident in the primary results of both parties that protectionism is selling very well this campaign season with many voters. Bernie Sanders overcame negative polls to beat Hillary in Michigan and Trump walked away with the win...

Rev. Carl Mann has accepted the call to become priest-in-charge at Christ Episcopal Church in Burlington. His last service at St. Alban's Episcopal Church will be the Easter Sunday service at 10 a.m. March 27. Mann was ordained a priest and became priest-in-charge at St. Alban's in June 2006. He was formally installed as Rector on June 22, 2008, the feast of St. Alban...

Here we go again. "God's Not Dead 2" is soon to hit theaters. As a minister, some people expect me to eagerly expect its release, and to encourage people to see it. I might tell people to see it, but not for reasons you might think. I urge Christians to see it so that you will look at it from a different perspective than your own. Look at it through the eyes of all those yearning to know God, to be forgiven, to belong to a community characterized by compassion...

Dean Jacobsen, vice president of the board of directors for the Iowa Shrine Bowl Football Game, congratulated Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire standout Michael Girres on being selected to participate in the annual Shrine Bowl to be held Saturday, July 23 in the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. Jacobsen and Girres are joined in the photo by Titan football coach Todd Hough. The Shrine Bowl raises between $80,000 and $100,000 each year for the Shrine Hospitals which provide free medical services for children.

In the same vein as Paula MacLain's "The Paris Wife" and Therese Anne Fowler's "Z," Ashley Warlick brings us "The Arrangement." The biggest difference between this novel and the other two, however, is that while "The Paris Wife" and "Z" are about wives of prominent writers ― Hadley Richardson and Zelda Fitzgerald, respectively ― "The Arrangement" is about the writer herself: the food writer MFK (Mary Frances Kennedy) Fisher...

To be honest, this is a new band for me. I'd never heard of them, but their album, "Lonely Is a Lifetime" was suggested to me as something that has been released recently. So I gave it a shot. They've got that alternative pop sound I tend to like, and their songwriting is pretty solid. Part of their sound gives a retro-vibe, also, so it appeals to a wider variety of listeners...

Services for Russel "Russ" Lee Auberg, 65, of Spencer, will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 19, 2016, at Warner Chapel in Spencer. Rev. Russell Muilenburg will officiate the service. Visitation will be conducted beginning one hour prior to the service at Warner Funeral Home in Spencer...

EMMETSBURG -- The Rosefest 2016 Outdoor Concert Series will include An Evening with Air Supply on Friday, July 15, at 9 p.m. and a country tandem of Tanya Tucker and Collin Raye on Saturday, July 16, at 8 p.m. at Wild Rose Casino and Resort. Air Supply is the duo of vocalists Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell. With their heavily orchestrated, sweet ballads, the Australian soft rock group Air Supply became a staple of early-'80s radio, scoring a string of seven straight top-five singles...

So here we go again. As has become the trend with these book series turned movies, the final book in the series is going to get milked for every box office buck possible by being split into two parts. "The Divergent Series: Allegiant" should be it, but the book has been split into two with a final part "Ascendant" slotted to wrap things up in one tidy, financially profitable knot in June 2017. Mark your calendars now...