Stories from Thursday, June 15, 2017

When the Iowa State University team posed for their photograph after winning the overall sweepstakes award for the third consecutive year at the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture judging conference, one of the smiling faces belonged to Spencer native Lauren Schwarck...

ROYAL — During the Royal City Council meeting Wednesday, council members approved the third and final reading of water and sewer service rate increases. The minimum rate for water will be $20 per 1,300 gallons a month, and the rate above the minimum will be $7.80 per 1,000 gallons. The minimum rate increase is $3.50 from the previous rate, and a $1.20 increase for the overage...

EDGEWOOD ― Brace yourself for a weekend of fun, guaranteed to last longer than eight seconds at Edgewood Pro Rodeo Days in Edgewood. The celebration starts Thursday, June 22, and draws an average of 12,500 people over its four-day span, to the northeastern Iowa town...

SPIRIT LAKE — Elizabeth Naviaux, 21, of Spirit Lake, was crowned 2017 Dickinson County Fair queen in ceremonies Monday, June 5, at the Dickinson County Fairgrounds. First runner-up was 18-year-old Josie Byers, also of Spirit Lake. Naviaux, daughter of Dawn McCartny and Tom Naviaux, is a member of Laker Life and volunteers in the adopt-a-child program, feed a farmer, Relay for Life, highway cleanup, concession stand and the Okoboji FFA Farm Safety Day...

Funeral services for Lorraine Sarvold, 98, of Spencer, will be conducted at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 20, 2017, at Warner Chapel in Spencer. Rev. Paul Frederiksen will officiate the service at Warner Chapel in Spencer. Visitation will be conducted one-hour prior to the funeral service at the Warner Chapel in Spencer...

Kristi Gross, with Northwest Bank, presented a $1,000 donation to American Cancer Society Senior Community Manager Dana Kauffman in support of Clay County Relay for Life. Clay County's 20th annual Relay for Life is scheduled for Saturday, June 17, at the Clay County Courthouse. (Photo by Randy M. Cauthron)

DeeAnn Greenough, with Drs. Geyer & Binzer, presented a $500 donation to American Cancer Society Senior Community Manager Dana Kauffman in support of Clay County Relay for Life. Clay County's 20th annual Relay for Life is scheduled for Saturday, June 17, at the Clay County Courthouse. (Photo by Randy M. Cauthron)

Staff writers Leah Gage (left) and Colin Van Westen (right), with the Spencer Daily Reporter, presented an in-kind donation to American Cancer Society Senior Community Manager Dana Kauffman in support of Clay County Relay for Life. Clay County's 20th annual Relay for Life is scheduled for Saturday, June 17, at the Clay County Courthouse. (Photo by Randy M. Cauthron)

SPIRIT LAKE — Spencer’s softball girls closed the gap with Class 3A No. 12-ranked Spirit Lake Thursday night, but the Tigers still couldn’t best the Indians. After falling to their rivals to the north 10-2 earlier this season, Spencer fell to Spirit Lake 5-2 on the Indians’ home turf...

PETERSON — Each team logged three runs by the end of the third, but 2A No. 11-ranked Alta-Aurelia tacked on 10 more over the final three frames to deal Sioux Central’s softball girls a 13-3 loss over seven innings. Both squads scored once in the first and twice in the third with the Rebels’ third inning runs coming from a two-run deep shot by Sydney Sundblad...

EVERLY — Clay Central-Everly met up with Trinity Christian on the baseball diamond for the second time this season Wednesday night, generating a result similar to the first. The Tigers drove in 16 runs across five innings to end the night early at 16-0...

SPIRIT LAKE — Spencer’s Quinn Hussey and Spirit Lake’s Gavin DeVos combined for 13 strikeouts (six for Hussey) Thursday night as the two faced off in a pitcher’s duel. Both pitchers surrendered seven hits, and Hussey took responsibility for the only three walks in the game, but the Tiger offense did enough damage early on to let Hussey hold on for a 2-0 victory...

PETERSON — Sioux Central welcomed Class 2A vote getter Alta-Aurelia to their home field Wednesday night for a showdown between the only two teams remaining in the Twin Lakes Conference without a loss to a league opponent. The Rebels needed an extra inning and some clutch offense, but they got the job done, edging the Warriors 9-8 to move to 6-0 in the conference and 9-5 overall...

At least Tom Cruise has the Mission Impossible series to fall back on, Fraser had nothing to go to except "George of the Jungle." Actually, Fraser might have been a better choice for the new mummy, his career has been wrapped up for quite some time and makeup time would have been limited. Pun intended. Apologies to Fraser. Compared to this, his first mummy movie was art...

OKOBOJI ― A stoic woman clad in an embroidered western shirt and kerchief made her way to the front of the the Wimbledon room at Okoboji’s Arrowwood Resort. Author and Colorado State University professor Temple Grandin is an expert in livestock equipment design and humane slaughtering methods. She’s also an accomplished lecturer on autism spectrum disorders and was the keynote speaker at June 8’s 13th Annual Lakes Health Conference...

STORM LAKE — Schools have always been designed to feed the mind, but in Storm Lake, more and more, filling the stomach has become part of the job. Although school is out for the summer, school lunch isn’t. For the third year, the Storm Lake district is offering free meals, breakfast and lunch during the early part of the summer at the elementary school lunchroom, for anyone age 1-18. For a small fee, adults can eat too, so lunch can be a family occasion...

Some local DACA immigrant young adults may owe a debt of gratitude to Martha Martinez, for their opportunity to emerge one more step from the shadows. An Iowa Supreme Court decision Friday overturned an earlier district county ruling in Martinez’ battle. “I think this will be a very big decision with far-reaching consequences,” Storm Lake Attorney John Murray reflected. In essence, the appeal sought to determine whether a policy on immigrant enforcement should be driven by the state or the feds...

Sunday morning service at First Baptist Church will have deeper meaning for Rev. Curtis Batschelet as he preaches in the church he grew up in, serving as its lead pastor. “This is my home church. I never thought I would come back, but I just know the good Lord called us to come back here,” Batschelet said. “It's a privilege to be here, it's a privilege to be a pastor and to be called to tell the good news about Christ.”...

shared the following story with a senior group this past week where we spoke of memories of our fathers. By J. Grant Swank Jr. One evening our son Jay, who was then seven years old, had misbehaved, and we were not seeing eye-to-eye on the matter. I felt as if I had botched it, and I didn’t like the feeling at all...

Shawn Mayer returned to her home territory for a concert to close out the season for the Spencer Performing Arts Coalition. The Nashville recording artist and songwriter grew up on a farm between Melvin and May City. She placed third in the television competition "Nashville Star" leading her on the road to a successful recording and touring career...

We all know that Spencer is a very generous and proud community. It is one of the many reasons we moved here 17 years ago and have stayed. We are great with great reason — we care. On Sunday, July 23, we can show over 10,000 riders just how great we are when RAGBRAI rolls into our community for the day. ...

The Spencer Chamber Ambassadors visited Miranda and Eric Shannon, new owners at Heartland Kennels, located at 1840 280th St., west of Fostoria. Miranda Shannon worked for the previous owners through high school and college, and attended Iowa State University majoring in animal science and pre-veterinary medicine. The couple, who previously lived in Spirit Lake, purchased the kennel and moved there this spring. They plan many renovations and updates in the future. The kennel offers dog and cat boarding, grooming and training sessions. (Photo by Paula Buenger)

I previously recommended Peter Zeihan's book, "The Accidental Superpower,” that cuts through a lot of haze (crap) to explain why America is the world's superpower and still will be when our grandchildren take over. Peter is a geopolitical strategist who relies heavily on geography, demography and energy studies to explain the future. ...