The Spencer Daily Reporter

The Spencer Daily Reporter The Spencer Reporter is the hometown newspaper of Spencer, Iowa. It publishes each Tuesday and Friday.

Ask longtime Spencer residents, and they will have their own story about the community’s Citizen of the Year Jeff Huckfe...
04/23/2025

Ask longtime Spencer residents, and they will have their own story about the community’s Citizen of the Year Jeff Huckfelt — nominated by Mabel Rush for his years of what she describes as his selfless acts in a variety of capacities. Yet he still had plenty of time for his family.

If you haven’t seen him, you may have heard him at Spencer wrestling events or at the baseball/softball fields, cowbell ringing loudly, cheering on his grandchildren Olivia and Logan Huckfelt.

READ MORE: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/2024-citizen-year-huckfelt-recognized-service-community

A black and yellow garter snake curled around 5-year-old Lucas Baker’s fingers as the boy showed the reptile to the doze...
04/22/2025

A black and yellow garter snake curled around 5-year-old Lucas Baker’s fingers as the boy showed the reptile to the dozen or so other children he’d spent the morning hiking with.

Baker, his fellow children, and their guardians were participating in the Clay County Conservation Board's Nature Hike Club’s April hike at the Stub Johnson Family Equestrian Area, a mile or so west of Menards in Spencer. Bri Blom, the CCCB’s environmental education coordinator, led the hike, which started at about 10 a.m. on April 21. The day’s hike served a double function, not only was it a way for some kids and their families to spend a morning outside on what turned out to be a beautiful day, but it was something of an early celebration of Earth Day, too, Blom said.

READ MORE: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/young-nature-hikers-celebrate-earth-day-early

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04/21/2025

The Spencer Fire Department responded to a report of a “room” on fire in a home in the 800 block of 11th Ave. West on April 21. No injuries were reported. We’ll have more information when it becomes available.

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, recently announced Jim Jordan, Ohio congressman and chairman of the House Judiciary Co...
04/21/2025

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, recently announced Jim Jordan, Ohio congressman and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, will be his special guest at this year’s Feenstra Family Picnic on Friday, May 30, in Sioux Center.

Read more about the event here: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/jordan-attend-feenstra-family-picnic

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The community of Royal has been busy making plans for its Quasquicentennial — 125th — and Fun Days Celebration, which wi...
04/20/2025

The community of Royal has been busy making plans for its Quasquicentennial — 125th — and Fun Days Celebration, which will be held July 18-20.

The weekend event will include many free, family-friendly activities including a parade, all-school reunion, free Friday night concert with Jeremy DeWall Band, free Saturday night street dance with Johnny Holmes Band, a car show, historic events and many more activities celebrating the town’s history.

Read more here: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/royal-quasquicentennial-committee-preparing-big-weekend

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Northwest Glass in Spencer was one of 84 businesses in town that have applied for more than $1.5 million in disaster rel...
04/19/2025

Northwest Glass in Spencer was one of 84 businesses in town that have applied for more than $1.5 million in disaster relief grants administered by the Spencer Economic Development Corporation before the program’s application deadline of April 1.
So far, SEDC has awarded about $988,000 to local businesses impacted by the devastating June 22, 2024, flood, according to Jason Warren, who sits on the grant committee. Of the 84 applications received, 62 have been reviewed and approved so far, with 22 additional grants still under review, according to Warren. Businesses applying for grants reported an estimated $22 million in total damages.

Read about how the SEDC grant program has helped two local businesses here: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/sedc-disaster-relief-program-set-award-15m-grants-local-businesses

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ALL STRUCTURE FIRES INVESTIGATED, SPENCER FIRE CHIEF SAYSSpencer Fire Chief Jesse Coulson told the Spencer Reporter this...
04/18/2025

ALL STRUCTURE FIRES INVESTIGATED, SPENCER FIRE CHIEF SAYS

Spencer Fire Chief Jesse Coulson told the Spencer Reporter this week that his department is mandated by state law to investigate the causes and circumstances of any fire that damages property or results in injury. The department’s investigator must also file reports on their investigations with the state fire marshal.
Iowa fire departments are required to immediately report any fire that causes a death, more than $250,000 in damage, or is a suspected arson to the state fire marshal.
So far in 2025, Spencer firefighters have responded to six "working" or actively smoking and flaming structure fires. Deputy Chief Mark Stover, the Spencer Fire Department's certified investigator, scrutinized five of the structure fires. The sixth fire was a mutual aid call, and another department conducted the investigation.

Read more here: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/workshop-north-spencer-suffers-extreme-damage-late-morning-blaze

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Prior to each year’s gillnetting, both of Iowa’s hatcheries, Spirit Lake and Lake Rathbun, receive fry stocking requests...
04/17/2025

Prior to each year’s gillnetting, both of Iowa’s hatcheries, Spirit Lake and Lake Rathbun, receive fry stocking requests from across the state. This helps each hatchery manager determine the number of walleyes that need to be brought to the hatchery. For example, the 2025 fry request is 51 million walleye fry, which means about 615 quarts of eggs. This means netting about 650-700 ripe females and 250 males for fertilizing the eggs.

Read more here: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/outdoors-2025-gillnetting-completed-2-nights

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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will not seek reelection in 2026, she announced in a video Friday.Reynolds, the first woman to se...
04/16/2025

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will not seek reelection in 2026, she announced in a video Friday.

Reynolds, the first woman to serve as Iowa governor, said in a video posted on social media Friday that deciding not to run “wasn’t an easy decision,” but she planned to focus on her family after completing her current term in office.

“As Iowans know, family is everything,” Reynolds said. “And through the years, my parents and my husband Kevin, our daughters and our grandchildren, have stood by my side, supporting me through every challenge and every victory. And now it’s time for me to be there for them, to help them through the next stage of life, to watch every track meet and basketball game, to see them grow before they’re all grown.”

Get some local perspectives on Reynolds' announcement here: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/new-leadership-26

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Spencer's Fire Department has fought six structure fires showing smoke and flame when firefighters arrived so far in 202...
04/15/2025

Spencer's Fire Department has fought six structure fires showing smoke and flame when firefighters arrived so far in 2025, the latest occurring on April 14. In all of 2024, the department responded to 10 structure fires.

It’s not just major incidents either. In each of the last 12 months, the department has seen its call volume increase by double digits over the same month a year earlier. In March, for example, the department saw an 84% increase in call volume year over year. The increase stretched across both fire calls, which saw a 65% increase from 16 in 2024 to 26 in 2025, and ambulance calls, which increased by 100% from 22 in 2024 to 44 in 2025. Again, Coulson said there doesn’t appear to be a single cause for the rise in calls.

Read more, find safety tips, and watch a video showing the differing burn rate of modern furniture compared to furniture built decades ago. https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/fire-department-seeing-more-fire-calls-so-far-2025

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New information is available on the north Spencer workshop fire that occurred on April 14. A workshop in the 3600 block ...
04/15/2025

New information is available on the north Spencer workshop fire that occurred on April 14.

A workshop in the 3600 block of Fourth Avenue West near the Spencer Redimix facility and Vander Haags Inc. on the north end of town suffered severe damage from a fire on April 14.

According to a news release from Deputy Fire Chief Mark Stover, the Spencer Fire Department responded to a report of smoke rolling from under the doors of the building at about 11:46 a.m. The first fire engine arrived around 11:57 a.m. and reported heavy smoke outside the building.
Stover said the firefighters at the scene placed two attack lines and began spraying the exterior with water. Firefighters also broke through the building’s front doors to attack the fire, but were withdrawn within minutes because fire was seen burning through the roof. Firefighters then moved to open the building’s plywood ceiling to attack the fire in the attic and ultimately extinguish the fire.
In his release, Stover said the building sustained “extreme” fire damage to the attic structure, while the interior and its contents suffered severe smoke and water damage. Due to the damage in the attic, a full fire investigation wasn’t immediately possible, and the fire’s cause couldn’t be determined. Firefighters left the scene at about 2:37 p.m.

April 6 fire

In a separate news release on April 14, Stover announced that investigators had determined the April 6 fire in a home at 130 East Third Street in Spencer had been caused by improperly discarded smoking materials.

04/14/2025

The Spencer Fire Department has a blaze in the 3500 block of 4th Ave. West near Vanderbilt Haag’s Inc. under control. We’ll have more information on the fire as it becomes available.

The Spencer Fire Department is working to suppress a fire in a workshop on 4th Ave. West in Spencer near the Vander Haag...
04/14/2025

The Spencer Fire Department is working to suppress a fire in a workshop on 4th Ave. West in Spencer near the Vander Haag salvage yard.

Budget cuts meant folding chairs remained stacked for a planned severe weather training session at the Milford Fire Stat...
04/13/2025

Budget cuts meant folding chairs remained stacked for a planned severe weather training session at the Milford Fire Station.
The National Weather Service called off the Severe Weather Awareness Spotter Training planned for April 3 for volunteers and responders in the Spencer and Milford areas.

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Read more: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/weather-webinar

Spencer’s new finance director has never worked in government before, but he’s done just about everything else in the wo...
04/12/2025

Spencer’s new finance director has never worked in government before, but he’s done just about everything else in the world of financial management.
Perry Borchard, who grew up in Hartley, officially stepped into the finance director role on April 7 after the City Council voted unanimously to hire him to fill the long vacant post. Borchard brings more than three decades of private sector experience to the position. He’s served as a financial officer in a rapidly growing dairy empire, started an accounting and financial advising firm with several clients in the health care industry, and worked closely with many nonprofits. Borchard said that while he hasn’t worked in government until now, he’s confident his skill sets will translate well.
"If you can do a Medicare cost report, you can do a tax return and a financial report necessary to the state," he said. "I'm confident I'll grasp it quickly."

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Read more: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/new-spencer-finance-director-bring-private-sector-expertise-critical-role

04/11/2025

Obit Services

Funeral services for Mr. Verdis Koehlmoos will be conducted at 10:30 a.m., Monday, April 14, 2025, at Christ the King Lutheran Church, of Spencer.

Funeral services for Todd Watson, 4, of Spencer, will be conducted at 11 a.m., Wednesday, April 16, 2025, at First Congregational Church, of Spencer.

Spare Change Theatre will stage “Senior Living” at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, at Spencer Community The...
04/11/2025

Spare Change Theatre will stage “Senior Living” at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, at Spencer Community Theatre Playhouse in Spencer.

Connie Goeken, a longtime SCT volunteer, is directing the special effort.

“In producing ‘Senior Living,’ we're reaching out to actors over the age of 50 who might like to participate but either don't want to memorize or commit to an eight-week rehearsal period. We're presenting the play as a type of modified readers' theater — actors will use scripts, but will be acting, using props and sets, just as if they were memorized, but with a safety net, if you will.”

Read more: https://www.spencerdailyreporter.com/dont-throw-away-spare-change

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Address

22 E. 4th Street
Spencer, IA
51301

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+17122626610

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