Stories from Saturday, June 11, 2016

Friday morning, Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, Sen. David Johnson, I-Ocheyedan, Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, and Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, met with members of the Early Childhood Iowa Lakes Region. The group familiarized the legislators with the challenges facing childcare providers in Iowa...

A 23-year-old Spencer High School alumnus, back in town for the summer, is trying to add something new to the area's seasonal music offerings. While the Spencer Municipal Band has become a warm weather standard, Morgan Kramer is hoping to round up a little vocal talent as well...

The Iowa Department of Public Health has issued a reminder about the high temperatures this weekend. Though it would be easy to remain indoors until temperatures subside, the heat wave coincides with Flagfest. This means many Spencer residents will be out in the hot sun participating in events such as the parade, the 5K/10K or free swim days...

"He always wanted to be a police officer his whole life. He is exactly what I envisioned a police officer should look like when I was a kid," Jay Van Gelder, youth pastor at Hope Reformed Church in Spencer, said just days after speaking at the funeral of fallen Phoenix police officer David Glasser...

Above and below Spencer youth baseball and softball pitchers fire to the plate during the Slugfest Tournament held at Pederson Park last Saturday. Fifty-two teams took part in the tournament which was organized by the Spencer Youth Baseball and Softball Association as well as the Northwest Iowa Soccer Club. Spencer High School athletes also helped out with umpiring and groundskeeping. All told the tournament, which utilized over 350 hours of volunteer work, generated over $20,000 to be split amongst the SYBSA, NWISC and high school softball and baseball programs. (Photos by Nate Shaughnessy)

LE MARS -- Spencer made its annual softball pilgrimage to Le Mars Friday, taking part in the Bulldog hosted tournament and going up against Bishop Heelan and Sergeant Bluff-Luton. The Tigers dropped both games by scores of 1-0 and 12-0 respectively...

We haven't even hit the halfway point of 2016, but in terms of people losing their heroes, 2016 has hit "Game of Thrones" levels. (Obligatory explanation of my pop culture references: GoT kills off your favorite characters at a very high rate. It's like watching "Friends," but instead of all those whiners drinking coffee out of really big cups, they all get stabbed in the chest.)...

Spencer experienced something of a British invasion this week, welcoming four folks from across the pond to the country's heartland. No, they aren't named John, Paul, George and Ringo, but for some of the youth in the community, their impact greatly outshines anything crafted by the lads from Liverpool...