Before purchasing Okoboji Boat Works, Mr. Parks was well aware that city zoning limited his activity to the sale, service and storage of boats. Mr. Park's father, as mayor of Okoboji, was instrumental in creating the zoning to protect the neighborhood atmosphere in the City of Okoboji. The recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling agreed with that limitation on the use of this property.

Online magazine Smith has something to say. Know what's amazing about their project?
They say it in six words.
Every topic is at their fingertips - love, living green, parenting and more - and the world is logging in. Submissions are funny, serious and worldly. They touch millions with their experiences.
Here are my favorites from Smith:
__Life memoirs__
- Learned more from poverty than wealth.
- Nevermind "the moment..." live to SHINE!

April 30, 1923 - April 9, 2009
A funeral service was held on Monday, April 13 at the United Methodist Church of Holstein for Donald Wayne Buell, 85, of Holstein who passed away on Thursday, April 9 at the Cherokee Regional Medical Center of Cherokee.
Rev. Jerry Miller officiated. Burial was held at the Holstein Cemetery of Holstein with military honors by American Legion Dessel Schmidt Post #225.

May 23, 1921 - March 29, 2009
Funeral services were held Wednesday, April 1 at Union Memorial Church in Milford for Virgil Duane Hoffman, 87, of Milford who passed away March 29, 2009.
Rev. Karl and Jan Whiteman officiated.

Sept. 7, 1939 - April 13, 2009
Funeral services were held Friday, April 17 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church for James "Jim" Lyle Manzer, 69, of Wahpeton, who passed away Monday, April 13 at the Longhouse Northshire Nursing Home in Spencer. Jim fought a valiant 10-year battle with heart disease that was filled with his incredible example of strength and optimism.

Nov. 9, 1930 - April 10, 2009
A memorial service was held Wednesday, April 15 at the Nemaha Methodist Church for Donald "Donnie" Olsen, 78, of Spirit Lake, who passed away Friday, April 10 at Hilltop Care Center in Spirit Lake.

Aug. 12, 1940 - April 11, 2009
A memorial service was held Monday, April 13 at the United Methodist Church in Spirit Lake for George Smith, 68, of Spirit Lake who passed away Saturday, April 11 at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake.
George was born on Aug. 12, 1940 in Rolfe to George and Dorothy (Heathmen) Smith.

Dec. 13, 1942 - April 10, 2009
A funeral mass was held April 14 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Spirit Lake for Duane Thompson, 66, of Spirit Lake, who passed away Friday, April 10, 2009, at the Spencer Hospital in Spencer.
Interment was at St. Margaret's Cemetery in Spirit Lake.
He was born on Dec. 13, 1942, in Spirit Lake, to Derald and Bernice (Landmesser) Thompson.

Glamor, glitz and grace combine with high school enthusiasm later this month as area schools host their annual junior/senior prom events.
Graettinger/Terril kicked off the prom festivities with its "Night in Paris" event on April 4. On Saturday, April 25, Harris-Lake Park will bring students to "Sunset City" and Okoboji celebrates "Arabian Nights." Spirit Lake hosts the final prom of the season with "A Night in the Orient" on May 2.

<em>"We learn stereotypes; we can unlearn them."
-- Rekha Basu</em>
Newly-syndicated columnist Rekha Basu, known mostly for her opinions that appear in the Des Moines Register, shared her thoughts on tolerance Sunday evening at the Pearson Lakes Art Center. She was invited to speak by the Iowa Lakes Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to a nearly full auditorium in the Lauridsen Performing Arts Center.

Two members of the Spirit Lake School Board were asked by community members to step down from their positions at the board's regular meeting Monday night. Valentine Waltz and Mark Niccum made formal requests for board president Beth Will and vice president Anne Goerss to vacate their positions. Niccum reasoned that the change could come at a good time for incoming superintendent David Smith to have new a board with new leadership. Smith will step into his new position July 1.

With exactly one month before the Arnolds Park Amusement Park opens its doors to patrons, employees are working frantically to prepare the attraction for the 2009 season.
Arnolds Park General Manager Scott Pyle says the to-do list is endless in the final month.
With more than 20 different rides and attractions, much of the summer prep work deals with getting the equipment ready for patrons.

The Scoreboard Lounge in Milford and Cocktails in Arnolds Park run the risk of losing their liquor licenses for violations of the Smokefree Air Act.
Attorney General Tom Miller says the Scoreboard and Cocktails complaints are among 41 liquor license enforcement actions brought by the Attorney General's Office since the law took effect.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics website (www.bls.gov) provides a wealth of information related to unemployment and homelessness. For example, when looking at state-by-state homelessness counts, Iowa had 2,734 homeless persons in 2007(.4 of the total), compared to 671,859 overall in the US. In Iowa there were 9 homeless persons per 10,000 population that year, compared to 22 per 10,000 population in the U.S.

Several years ago my son got a yellow Labrador from some friends who were having to move and couldn't take him with them. My son took him home to his three small boys who named him "Highway." Highway quickly learned what time the school bus came and seemed to know the boys would be getting off of it. So every afternoon Highway would sit at the end of the drive and wait for the bus. Highway no longer sits at the end of the driveway waiting for the boys because he's gone.