DES MOINES — The Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Recovery Center in Clay County has relocated from the Clay County Fairgrounds to the Spencer City Hall Council Chambers.

Recovery specialists from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration will begin provide information on available services, explaining assistance programs, and helping survivors complete or check the status of their applications at Spencer City Hall at 1 p.m. on Aug. 19.

Local officials say post-flood property tax assessments are in full swing, and it is critical for Spencer and rural Clay County residents impacted by the June 22 flood to share detailed information about the damage their properties received with the Clay County Assessor's Office.

DES MOINES — Gov. Kim Reynolds, on Aug. 14, announced that conditional awards are beginning to be approved for disaster-impacted Iowa homeowners through the state-funded Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance Program. The awards will allow homeowners to begin rebuilding or be reimbursed for eligible expenses incurred.

St. Alban's is thrilled to announce the Rev. Carolyn Tuttle as their new priest in charge. She comes to St. Alban's from New Mexico but is a Keokuk native with childhood memories vacationing in Okoboji with her family including attending St. Albans many times throughout the years. Carolyn attended Virginia Theological Seminary and has served Episcopal and Lutheran churches in Colorado, Pennsylvania and most recently New Mexico.

The Spencer Chamber of Commerce Foundation Grant Review Committee has announced that the P&S Showers, located behind Casey’s, will be discontinued after Friday, Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. After careful evaluation and consideration of the data collected, the Chamber Foundation believes that the donated funds for flood relief efforts would be more effectively used to benefit the community in other areas.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Small nonfarm businesses in 12 Iowa counties and neighboring counties in Minnesota and South Dakota are now eligible to apply for low interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, announced Francisco Sánchez Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business Administration.

By at least one estimate, the June 22 flood caused more than $170,000 worth of damage to the tennis courts at Spencer’s Riverview Park.

The June 2022 flood led to a 300% increase in the amount of material entering the Northwest Iowa Landfill and has sped up the need for more space, according to Mark White Spencer’s public works director

Spencer’s public works department manages the landfill. White said it was a stroke of luck that the landfill opened a new cell about a month before the flood. In a landfill, a cell is an area specially prepared to safely store garbage and its often hazardous runoff.

A Round Lake, Minnesota, man was cited for failure to maintain control after a crash early Monday morning, Aug. 12.

Summer honor list announced at Northwest Iowa Community College

Northwest Iowa Community College, Sheldon, has announced the honor list for the summer semester. Students on the list are full-time and have achieved an GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

Local honorees by city are:

Emmetsburg — Ben P. Saxton, radiologic technology; Carson J. Hoffman, powerline.

DES MOINES — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon recognized 44 Iowa farm families, including two from Clay County, with Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Awards at the 2024 Iowa State Fair.

The Clay County farm families honored were Jessob and Jenna Steffen, and Steve and Sue Anne Stoermer.

ISU Extension and Outreach Dairy Team webinar on Aug. 21 will be an alfalfa update and overview

ORANGE CITY — The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Dairy Team monthly webinar series continues Wednesday, Aug. 21, from noon to 1 p.m.

AMES — It’s no secret that much of Iowa’s farmland is rented, and non-operator farmland owners are often considered to be out-of-touch if they do not live on the land they rent. But data from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach shows that most landowners live fairly close to their land, and many have kin or friendship ties to their tenants.

The ninth annual Okoboji Blue Water Festival held this past Saturday drew one of the largest crowds ever! Starting at 8 a.m., with Chalkstock, Preservation Plaza came alive with both young and old alike, residents and visitors, enjoying the many activities of the largest clean water festival in Iowa set along the shores of West Lake Okoboji.

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Education recently announced five Iowa school districts located in disaster-impacted communities will receive a total of about $300,000 in emergency grant funds to support students experiencing homelessness as a result of this summer’s weather-related disasters.