•Attorneys ask for venue outside Emmet County

Attorneys representing a trio of former Armstrong city officials are each asking the court to grant their clients separate trials held outside Emmet County.

Subscribers of the Dickinson County News can expect next week's edition to arrive in their mailboxes a day late, due to the upcoming Christmas holiday. The Dec. 28 edition of the DCN will arrive Friday, Dec. 29. Staff may post the week's stories and other content online earlier that week, and hardcopy subscribers qualify for online access at no additional cost.

Subscribers can expect a similar delivery timeline the following week due to the New Year's holiday.

Vivek Ramaswamy stopped in Spencer Wednesday to help lay out a case against carbon capture pipelines and his own case for securing the Republican nomination to run for U.S. president.

This article was updated Dec. 20, 2023, to more clearly state the council's vote took place on Dec. 12.

The Okoboji City Council's decision in September to put out a second call for bids for upgrades at the Speier Park playground seems to have paid off. The council unanimously accepted a total bid of about $165,000 on Dec. 12 — that figure is about $100,000 less than the lone bid the city received for the work earlier this year.

The honorable John M. Sandy has been elected by his peers to represent the Third Judicial District of Iowa as a board member and officer of the Iowa Judges Association. There are eight judicial districts in the state of Iowa, and he will be one of eight to serve in such capacity.

In 2023, the Advisory Council awarded $123,751 to 18 nonprofit applicants and also chose to make four Special Project Grants. Area school districts were contacted and asked to consider projects which would directly impact students. The school districts then submitted their ideas for funding.

Second grade students at Spirit Lake Elementary were asked how Santa Claus travels around the world on Christmas Eve and how he can visit so many houses in one night. Students in Alyssa Naatjes' class, Lucas Doxtad's class, Emily Johnson's class and Anne Maris' class had a variety of creative theories to share. Here are their answers:

Mr. Doxtad's class

High speed chase ends in Clay County

Not only is Christmas coming, but so is Christmas break! Mom, dad, grandpa, grandma: what are you going to do with those kids for nearly two weeks? Bring them to the library, of course. There you can find books, movies and so much more.

Milford Memorial Library will be closed Saturday, Dec. 30, through Monday, Jan. 1, for the New Year’s Holiday. We look forward to seeing everyone when we reopen at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 2.

We wish you and your family a fun and safe New Year’s Holiday.

The Iowa Lakes Community College Board of Trustees recently announced a leadership change with Arden Kinnander's appointment as the new board president and Bob Jennings as vice president.

The annual organizational meeting of the Iowa Lakes Community College Trustees took place Dec. 12 at the Administrative Offices in Estherville.

Following the completion of all organizational business, a report was given by Emily Gottsche, welding program coordinator, and Joe Holtz, welding technology lab assistant and adjunct instructor.

The University of Sioux Falls recently congratulated more than 600 students who made the fall 2023 dean's list. Among them were Jordyn Hamm of Spirit Lake, who is majoring in applied mathematics and AA social media marketing, William Hoffman of Milford, who is majoring in computer science, and Mason Weeks of Spirit Lake, who is majoring in business administration. To qualify, students must be enrolled in at least 12 semester hours and earn a term GPA of 3.5 or greater on a 4.0 scale.

SLFD audit available

Winther Stave and Company LLP of Spencer recently released an audit of the Spirit Lake Community Fire Department for the year ended June 30, 2023.

The department's operating receipts totaled $240,403. Operating dispursments for business-type activities totaled $201,401. Non-operating disbursements, net of non-operating receipts totaled $436,446. Cash basis net assets decreased by $397,444 to $345,575.

The family of former Dickinson County Supervisor Wayne Northey announced his passing earlier this week. A visitation will be held from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21 at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake, with a funeral service starting at 11 a.m. Dec. 22 at Spirit Lake United Methodist Church. Northey passed away on Dec. 12 at the age of 90.