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Heroes of the Heartland nominations requested

DES MOINES -- As a community leader in emergency preparedness, response and recovery, the American Red Cross honors those making an impact through their courageous and compassionate actions, demonstrating a true commitment to creating safer, stronger communities.

Ritchart arrested for domestic abuse assault

On Dec. 31, The Clay County Sheriff's office responded to a report of an assault at 307 Long St. in Royal. After a brief investigation. Harry Ritchart, 39 of Royal, was placed under arrest and transported to the Clay County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault.

Jeffrey Siirtola

Services for Jeffrey Siirtola, 55, of Bisbee, Arizona, formerly of Spencer, will be conducted at a later date.
Burial will be conducted at Ahola Finnish Cemetery near Wing, North Dakota, in the spring.
Siirtola passed away of natural causes Monday, Jan. 5, at his home.
Espinosa Bisbee Funeral Home of Bisbee, Arizona is in charge of arrangements.

Ruth Siple

Services are pending for Ruth Siple, 94, of Le Mars, formerly of Spencer, who passed away Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, at the Prairie View Nursing Home in Sanborn.
Warner Funeral Home of Spencer is in charge of arrangements.

Charles Woods

Memorial services for Mr. Charles "Spider" Woods, 69 of Spencer, will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015 at Warner Chapel in Spencer. Mr. Charlie Gilmore and Mr. Dick Gilmore will officiate the service.
A public gathering with the family present will be conducted beginning 5 p.m. Friday evening at the funeral home.
Mr. Woods passed away Saturday, Jan. 5, 2015 in an auto accident near Laurel, Nebraska.

Gene Merrill

Services for Mr. Gene Merrill, 87 of Spencer, will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015 at First English Lutheran Church in Spencer. Rev. Paul Kaldahl will officiate the service.
Visitation with the family present will be conducted beginning 5 p.m. Friday at First English Lutheran Church in Spencer.
Burial will be conducted at Riverside Cemetery in Spencer.

Normadine Bredehoeft

Funeral services for Ms. Normadine Marie A. Bredehoeft were conducted at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 5, 2015 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Emmetsburg. Rev. Nicholas Thackery officiated the service.
Visitation was conducted beginning 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Emmetsburg.
Burial was conducted at Crown Hill Cemetery in Ruthven.
Ms. Bredehoeft passed away Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.
Martin Mattice Funeral Home of Ruthven was in charge of arrangements.

Back into the swing of things

All is calm and quiet now as the holiday season comes to a close. The whirlwind of holiday fun with Christmas and New Year's the past two weeks has definitely died down. Now it is time to return to the normal ebb and flow of our routines.
Due to both Christmas and New Years falling on Thursdays this year, I have had a two-week reprieve from writing a weekly column. So much has happened in that time.

SMU retransmission negotiations complete

SPENCER -- Spencer Municipal Utilities (SMU) has been working to renegotiate with several broadcast channels in the SMU cable lineup and the process has come to an end for nearly all networks. As a result, the following channels were removed from the SMU lineup on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m.: KELO (channels 11, 11.11, 11.12, 90, 211) and WHO (channels 20.2, 94, 82.3, 213, 82.4 and 95, 82.5 and 88).

Spencer man killed in Dixon County wreck

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- The Nebraska State Patrol says a 69-year-old man from Iowa was killed after his vehicle hit a semitrailer in Dixon County.
Charles Earnest Woods of Spencer was driving a pickup on Monday afternoon in the northeastern Nebraska county.
Authorities say Woods died after he passed a snowplow and struck the tractor-trailer near the intersection of U.S. 20 and Nebraska 116. Paramedics pronounced Woods dead at the scene.

Hobby Lobby cuts ribbon at grand opening
Winter storm warning
Catching Loki

There's a Belgian Malinois walking loose around the neighborhood of West Third Street, trailing a leash behind him. But don't try to approach him, he's skittish and may move farther away.
Loki, the 2- to 3-year-old Malinois, was adopted by Todd Erickson and his family about three and a half days before his Dec. 9 escape.
"You could tell that he'd had some traumatic stuff in his life," he said. "But he was adapting well."

Info requested in Tecton burglary

SPENCER -- Clay County Crime Stoppers is asking for the public's assistance in a theft investigation. Between Dec. 27 and Dec. 28, 2014, Tecton Industries, located at 1105 E. Milwaukee St. in Spencer, was burglarized. Suspect(s) entered the building and used a forklift to load and remove several thousand pounds of aluminum, stainless steel, and brass. If you have information regarding this theft, you are encouraged to contact Clay County Crime Stoppers at 712-262-6655.

Semi stalls on Grand
2 Spencer music students to perform in 2015 Northwest Iowa Honor Orchestra Festival
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