Named to dean’s list at South Dakota State

Six area students have been named to the dean’s list for academic excellence after the spring 2021 semester at South Dakota State University in Brookings.

To earn dean’s list distinctions in SDSU’s colleges, students must complete a minimum of 12 credits and earn at least a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

The following students from this area were named to the dean’s list.

Everly: Anne Elizabeth Dragseth (4.0), College of Education and Human Sciences; Alexander Dean Jorgensen and Ty J. Schoelerman, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

Hartley: Reece William Petersen and Brian John Schmidt, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Melvin: Ashilyn Rose Hulstein (4.0), College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

Critical staffing shortage leads to low blood supply

LifeServe Blood Center, the non-profit community-based blood supplier in this region, is now one of hundreds of organizations across the state facing unprecedented and critical staff shortages. These staff shortages and lack of blood donor turnout are causing the blood supply to dip to alarmingly low levels.

The staff shortage is impacting the blood center’s ability to hold mobile blood drives. LifeServe Blood Center is now urging individuals to schedule appointments to give blood at their local donor center to boost the blood supply.

“In an effort to ensure the adequacy of our community blood supply, we are shifting operations to utilize staff resources in the most efficient and effective manner possible. In lieu of holding numerous on-site mobile blood drives, which represent more than half of the blood collected by the organization, blood collection efforts will be focused at our nine donor center locations while we actively recruit, hire, and train new team members,” said Danielle West, Director of PR and Marketing at LifeServe in a news release.

Donor numbers are lower now than they were during the pandemic. Currently there is a day’s supply of certain blood types. The normal range is three to five days.

This shortage comes at a high need time of the year. Schedule a blood donation appointment online at lifeservebloodcenter.org or call (800) 287-4903.

Home Wine & Craft Beer Dept. to include more prizes

The 2021 Clay County Fair Home Wine and Craft Beer Department will include 15 divisions in the wine category and nine divisions in the craft beer category, as well as a new beer or wine label competition.

“No matter your skill level, entering your wine or beer exhibit into the fair is a great way to receive professional feedback on what you’ve brewed because our judges are either local winery and brewery owners or experienced certified judges,” said Superintendent Kristen Hartwig. “As home brewing of wines and beers become more popular, this is a great opportunity to win prizes and gain experience, and it’s really easy to enter.”

Sponsors include InnSpiration Wines and Vines, Doll Distributing, F8 Creative, and HyVee. Prizes will include cash premiums, gift certificates, growlers and beer signs.

All exhibitors planning to enter a project within this department must enter two bottles of wine or craft beer. This allows for the entry to be judged and displayed during the nine days of the Fair, Sept. 11-19.

Check out the exhibitor handbook online at http://www.claycountyfair.com or pick one up at the Fair Administrative Offices to find the rules and guidelines to enter your work at the fair. Pre-registration for all exhibits is encouraged and can be completed online, by mail or in person by Aug. 29. For those who choose not to pre-register, registration can also occur when entries are accepted at the Creative Living Center on Sept. 7 (11 a.m.-2 p.m., and 4:30-6 p.m.).

Dept. of Ed, UI launching new pre-K-12 school mental health center

Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Iowa Department of Education and the University of Iowa last week announced a partnership aimed at expanding support for mental health, including training, resources and outreach to educators and schools across the state.

The new Iowa Center for School Mental Health will leverage the capacities of the Iowa Department of Education and the University of Iowa College of Education’s Baker Teacher Leader Center. This partnership will expand training opportunities for student teachers and practicing teachers, provide professional development resources and services to support mental health needs in schools, and conduct research on the effective delivery of these services to students.

The center will start providing services and support to schools this summer and throughout the 2021-22 school year. This will include crisis response services, face-to-face and online training and coaching for teachers, strategic planning support, needs assessment and program evaluation of social-emotional learning and positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) implementation.

The Iowa Department of Education designated $20 million in federal relief provided in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER ll) Fund within the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRSSA) Act to help support the center’s work. The law provides for a portion of Iowa’s total ESSER ll funds to be used for state-level educational efforts to address urgent issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This partnership is part of a larger statewide initiative to support student well-being and mental health through new partnerships and strategies that help all students be future ready.

More information on how schools can access services through the new center will be provided in the near future.

Picture a Blue Ribbon at the 2021 Clay County Fair

With new themes and a new sponsor, now is a perfect time to begin sorting through all of the photos you have taken since the 2019 fair and enter them in one of the many photography competitions at the 2021 Clay County Fair.

Photographers may enter up to 12 photographs with one entry per class. Divisions include color photographs or black and white photographs of people, places, landscape, things, plants or animals/insects world.

A separate division for creative photography allows photographers to use different techniques to alter the photograph, including computer manipulation, multi-images into one photo, camera filters and trick lenses. A separate class, other than above, is available for people who have altered an image other than the three categories.

The Photography Department is also excited to have eight new special theme divisions, each with their own sponsor. New for the 2021 fair is a class entitled “Beauty.”

Other sponsored classes and divisions include “Nuts and Bolts” (Objects Division), “Reflections” (Water Division), “Standing on the Edge” (Concepts Division), “Breaking News” (Photojournalism Division), “Iowa Architecture” (Beautiful Iowa), “Helping the Water” (Conservation Division) and “Equipment in Action” (Action Division).

Exhibitors entering sponsored divisions have the opportunity to win increased cash prizes. All divisions include a youth class for those under the age of 18 and an adult class.

Check out the exhibitor handbook online at http://www.claycountyfair.com or pick one up at the Fair Administrative Offices to find the rules and guidelines to enter your work at the fair. Pre-registration for all exhibits is encouraged and can be completed online, by mail or in person by Aug. 29. For those who choose not to pre-register, registration can also occur when entries are accepted at the Photography Center on Sept. 3 (Noon-7 p.m.) and Sept. 4 (9 a.m.-3 p.m.). All mailed-in entries must be postmarked no later than Aug. 15.

Marty Schmidt on DMACC lists

Des Moines Area Community College President Rob Denson has released the names of students eligible for the spring semester President’s List. To be eligible, a student must have completed a minimum of six credits and earned a 4.0 grade point average for that semester.

Among those recognized is Marty Schmidt, of Hartley, a Liberal Arts student.

Schmidt was also recognized for being among the over 800 students who graduated from the spring semester at one of DMACC’s six campuses.

NWI fishing report

Fish are moving just off shore, making trolling and fishing by boat your best bet for success. The panfish/perch bite has been relatively good lately. The extended forecast calls for a weekend of hot temperatures with highs in the 80s and 90s.

East Okoboji Lake: The water temperature was 79 degrees last Thursday. Many anglers have had success with slip bobbers/spoons. Vertical jigging and drop shot fishing is working better and better lately. Fish are moving off shore making fishing by boat your best bet. A fair bluegill/crappie/yellow bass bite can be found trolling weed lines.

Black crappie, fair. Bite has improved in and around docks and hoists. Crappie are hard to target specifically, but can be caught mixed with other panfish. Bluegill, fair. Bluegill have started to move off their beds out of the shallows. Leeches or worms and a simple bobber setup work well. Pumpkinseed, good. Fun and easier to catch from most docks. Use a small hook, bobber and piece of worm.

Lost Island Lake: Find most fish species further off shore. Yellow perch, good. Bluegill, fair. Black crappie, fair. Walleye, fair.

Minnewashta Lake: Panfishing has been good for anglers trolling weed lines. Vertical jigging is improving. Black crappie, fair: A nice crappie bite can be found with a little movement around the lake. Bluegill, fair. Pumpkinseed, good.

Silver Lake (Dickinson): Walleye, fair. Try using slip bobbers and finding weed lines.

Spirit Lake: The water temperature was 79 degrees last Thursday. Fishing has been hit or miss lately. Perch and panfish bites have been fair. Yellow perch, fair. Bites from morning till 11 a.m. and mid-afternoon have been seen. Depths vary depending on the time of day. Walleye, fair. Bite is hit or miss at dusk. Use slip bobbers along weed edges.

West Okoboji Lake: The water temperature was 78 degrees last Thursday. Fish are moving just off shore, making shore fishing harder. Anglers slowly trolling weedlines have been successful catching a variety of species. Vertical jigging is improving lately. Bluegill, fair. Bluegill are starting to be found in shallower water as they move off their beds. Leeches or worms and a simple bobber setup work well. Black crappie, fair. Hard to target specifically, but crappie can be caught while picking through other panfish.