Local residents can listen to state lawmakers discuss issues affecting northwest Iowa during the first Eggs & Issues forum on Saturday, Jan. 23.

Unlike the traditional in-person format held in council chambers at Spencer City Hall, Saturday's event will have no audience due to COVID-19 protocols. Participants are being asked to email questions to programs@spenceriowachamber or drop them by the Chamber Office on or before Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Each question will be asked to the legislators and they will reply as normal.

Legislators who have confirmed for Saturday's session include District 1 Sen. Zach Whiting, R-Spirit Lake; District 2 Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids; and District 1 Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake. Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand will also join the forum, which runs from 9-10:30 a.m.

The session will be aired live on SMU and taped by Mediacom Cable TV, with both stations replaying the session. The Spencer Signal will also live stream the forum. Other media outlets slated to attend include Spencer Radio Group, Community Broadcasting and the Spencer Daily Reporter.

The second and third sessions will be re-evaluated to determine if area COVID-19 numbers are low enough to allow a partial or full audience to attend. Those sessions are set for Saturday, Feb. 27 and March 20.

"Eggs & Issues" are a question/answer format session. If you have any questions, please call the Spencer Chamber at (712) 262-5680 or email programs@spenceriowachamber.org.