Stories from Sunday, October 14, 2018

If someone next to you collapsed, would you know what to do? Pete and Andrea Crew are grateful that people who were nearby when their teenage son Austin Crew collapsed from cardiac arrest a year ago, sprang into action to administer CPR, contributing to Austin Crew's life being saved. October is Sudden Cardiac Awareness Month and last Saturday marked the one year anniversary of Austin Crew's cardiac arrest. The Crew family presented a generous donation from Faith Lutheran Church on behalf of Austin Crew — which was also generously matched by his parents — to Lisa Doran, representing Spencer Hospital's education department; Laura Manwarren, emergency department director; and EMT/paramedic specialists Brian Trojahn and Guy Hilgendorf, to honor emergency personnel and to be used to help fund public CPR classes. Watch for class offerings in 2019.

While the officers have changed, the mission is still the same: "advocate, develop and coordinate projects and resources for the education and prevention of child abuse and neglect to assist in promoting positive and effective parenting." After electing a new president; Shakira Meyer, and a new treasurer; Jessie Hansen, the Clay County Citizen's Awareness Council has set an ultimate goal of preventing all child abuse and neglect in Clay County by raising public awareness through public presentations, distributing information about social service and by raising and distributing funds to "reduce the stress of families in need.". ...

A barrage of precipitation in the month of September resulted in much to clean up in Clay County. The second major flooding event of the year, unlike the former, received no declaration of disaster for the county. Despite the lack of declaration, the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program is available for qualifying individuals who suffered damages from the Sept. 19 weather event until Nov. 5...

The 15th annual Artisans Road Trip highlighted the work of various northwest Iowa artists from Ida Grove to Estherville this past weekend and several artists offered a glimpse at the process to patrons at Arts on Grand. Twenty-eight artists were featured as part of the self-guided tour this year focusing on a variety of different mediums. (Above) Multimedia artists Karen Ruddy cut to size and aptly placed pieces of Venician Smalti glass into a larger mosaic design as part of her demonstration. (Below) Local painter and sculptor Kirsten Elyea took inspiration from many different images, fusing elements of each, as she demonstrated her oil painting process on Saturday. The first time Artisans Road Trip participant focuses her work primarily on elements taken from fairy tales and medieval times.

The beginning phases of what will be the new Spencer dog park in DeWolf Park in southeast Spencer were completed Saturday morning, when approximately 30 volunteers joined to plant 34 new trees in an area on U.S. Highway 18 just east of Del's Garden Center. A collaborative effort between Spencer Trees Forever, the Spencer Dog Park Committee and the Spencer Park and Recreation Board evenly situated a variety of red oak, swamp white oak, elm and male ginkgos trees after Spencer Municipal Utilities and Black Hills Energy divided the $4,000 bill to provide trees to the park. Before completion, the dog park will receive fencing with two entry points, a separate area for large and small dogs, and measures will be taken to increase vehicle and ADA accessibility. (Above) Seven-year-old Caitlyn shoveled loose dirt as her father, Mike Barr, steadied a sapling. (Below) Six-year-old Audrey and her mother, Hillary Stevenson, worked together to secure the first tree Audrey has planted.

After nearly 30 years working as the city clerk of Fostoria Kate Stouffer will retire from her post to enjoy more time with her family. As Stouffer prepares to step back from her formal duties with the city, she will continue her work with the Fire Department, emergency management services and on various local boards in the region...

I’m very fortunate to have been able to fish in a lot of different places during the past several decades. I’ve got lots of memories of outstanding fishing trips with wonderful people. Many of those memorable fishing trips occurred in the autumn. The fall months are a great time to be on the water for a number of reasons. Across the Midwest, fall fishing is the best season of the year to be on the water in the minds of many anglers. Following are some fall fishing memories of mine...

DES MOINES — A unique relationship between Iowa bowhunters and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Research Section is entering its fourteenth year of partnering to collect observation data on wildlife they see while sitting in their tree stand...

As I prepared to attend this year’s Prairie Lakes Conference, I looked at the array of topics. There were so many that I had to pick and choose. One title caught my interest: “History of Carp Management.” Ben Wallace, DNR fish management biologist, who manages a 12-county district in northwest Iowa, was the presenter...

Buena Vista University 2012 graduate Lindsay Peoples Wagner, currently the fashion editor at New York Magazine and its specialty publication The Cut, has been named editor of Teen Vogue magazine, effective this month. “As a former intern and assistant at Teen Vogue, I’m so excited to come full circle and be back at a time when there is nothing more powerful or important than a young person who is passionate about change,” Peoples Wagner said. ...

DES MOINES — Iowa farmers interested in reducing soil erosion, improving soil health and water quality, creating or protecting wildlife habitat and treating other resource concerns on their land have until Friday, to be considered for priority funding through USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program for fiscal year 2019. ...

Parks Marina and The Barefoot Bar in Okoboji is proud to announce the donation of $750 to the Abben Cancer Center in Spencer. Proceeds were a result of sales of a limited addition Pink “Barefoot for Boobies” T-shirts sold at Parks Marina. Parks Marina has a new limited edition T-shirt for Breast Cancer Awareness Month named “Tatas and Tiki Bars.” They will be available during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October at Parks Marina in Okoboji or can be ordered online at www.parksmarina.com.

Wow! It has been a few weeks since we wrapped up the 2018 Clay County Fair. What a great week for all the 4-H and FFA members. So much hard work goes into preparing human science and livestock exhibits for showcasing at the fair. It also takes a village of 4-H and FFA volunteers to make a Clay County Fair be successful. ...

AMES — Iowa State University has selected Hannah Zulk, of Spencer, to serve as an honors program peer mentor in the College of Human Sciences for the 2018-19 academic year. Zulk is studying kinesiology and health in the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State. ...

STORM LAKE — Buena Vista University was awarded a research grant in the amount of $329,633 in support of a project titled “Knowledge Accessibility and Availability in Forming Knowledge-to-Text Inferences Among Middle Grade Readers.” This three-year, Academic Research Enhancement Awards grant on behalf of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is the first of its kind in regard to topic and size awarded to BVU. ...

The Clay Central-Everly School District September Students of the Month include, from left: EmmaKay McClain (fine arts, physical education, Spanish departments), Abby Wassom (English, social studies departments), Wyatt Leininger (agriculture, technology, vocational education departments), Holly Campbell (business, math, science departments) and Gracelyn Thompson (reading department).

There were many smiles at Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary School last week as students learned about fall and the bounty of the season. Prekindergarten through third-grade students received pumpkins courtesy of Gary Holck. Gary's Garden donates all proceeds to Upper Des Moines Opportunity so Sacred Heart continued the tradition by donating $100 to UDMO.

A letter signed by over 1,000 law professors from elite colleges and universities around the country sent to the U.S. Senate urged them to reject Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. They cited that his lack of judicial temperament disqualified him for any court. ...

It's never too early. There's an annual gap which seems to continually shrink. That's, of course, the window between Halloween and Christmas. It seems to get shorter and shorter the older one gets. It's never soon enough for children, and it feels like the same week for the adults...

When then candidate Donald Trump made antagonistic statements on the campaign trail and during rallies — suggesting violent or inappropriate behavior toward those sharing different political views — I agreed with individuals in the media who made note at the time that such rhetoric was out of place in politics...

Oct. 1 — John Charles Means, 33, Spencer Judgment entry --- Oct. 1 — Mark Anthony Norton, 42, Milford Judgment entry --- Oct. 2 — Richard Granados, 39, Spencer Driving without license Provide proof of insurance Failure to obey traffic control device...

ROYAL — The season continued to be a might struggle for the Clay Central-Everly Mavericks Friday night as they played host to Harris-Lake Park without the services of leading rusher and leading tackler Cadence Hofmeyer who is done for the season due to injury...

LE MARS — Spencer had the honor of playing in the final game on the grass field in Le Mars Friday night before the Bulldogs have a new turf field in place for next season, but after a middle school game on the field Thursday and a freshman game before Friday’s varsity affair, most of that grass became a mud pit potentially negating the Tigers’ on paper superiority going into the contest. ...

MANNING — One week removed from gifting winless Manson Northwest Webster with 14 points on their home turf, the Sioux Central Rebel defense tightened things up and then some Friday against IKM-Manning with the district lead hanging in the balance. The Rebels allowed just one first down in a shutout first half and gave up just one score in the final two quarters to claim sole possession of first place in Class A District 2 with a 26-7 triumph...

COUNCIL BLUFFS — The Spencer Tiger swim girls are down to just two more meets before the all important regional meet in Fort Dodge on Saturday, Oct. 27 after taking part in the six team Lewis Central Melissa Fender Invitational Saturday. “The girls had a great Saturday meet and are gearing up for the end of the season,” Tiger girls swim coach Amie Lawrence said...

ALTA — Sioux Central’s boys claimed the Twin Lakes Conference championship for the second year in a row Saturday, placing three runners in the top 10 en route to a team score of 60. Pocahontas nearly knocked off the Rebels with a score of 68. Manon Northwest Webster was the only other school in double digits with a 99...