Founded on Oct. 1, 2010
News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region
RICEVILLE — Larry Donald Freerksen, 86, died September 21, 2026, at the Riceville Family Care and Therapy Center, or, as Larry himself might have put it, he “grabbed a harp.”
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, September 25, at Hindt-Hudek Funeral Home in Riceville, with Pastor Herman Bakker officiating. Visitation will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday at the funeral home. Larry will be laid to rest beside his wife, Elaine, at Wayne Cemetery in rural McIntire.
MASON CITY — Sharon J. Koenigsfeld, 84, passed away September 20, 2026, at MercyOne Medical Center in Mason City.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, September 25, at First United Methodist Church in Mason City, with Pastor Jon Montgomery officiating. Visitation will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, September 24, at Major Erickson Funeral Home in Mason City.
CORALVILLE — Iowa Hawkeye volleyball slammed the door at the net Tuesday night, piling up a season-high 18.5 blocks and beating Milwaukee in four sets to give the Hawkeyes their best start in two decades.
Iowa defeated Milwaukee 22-25, 25-20, 25-22 and 25-17 on September 22 at Xtream Arena, improving to 11-3 overall while extending its winning streak to five matches. The 11-3 start is Iowa’s best since the 2006 season.
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FOREST CITY — A sprawling Northern Iowa wildlife area assembled in just a few years is turning difficult-to-farm ground into more than 1,000 acres of prairie, wetlands and wildlife habitat while also helping protect water in the Winnebago River watershed.
The Pilot Knob Wildlife Area in Winnebago County includes about 850 acres of highly diverse restored prairie and another 170 acres of restored wetlands, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
FOREST CITY — Women’s college hockey is coming to Northern Iowa, and Mason City will be home ice when the newest Waldorf University Warriors team takes the rink.
Waldorf University announced that it will add women’s hockey beginning in fall 2027.
ho has been running the league, blasting in-state rival Drake in straight sets Tuesday night to open conference play with another convincing victory.
Northern Iowa swept the Bulldogs 25-13, 25-21 and 25-21 at the Knapp Center, improving to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in MVC play.
The victory extended UNI’s remarkable regular-season conference winning streak to 53 consecutive matches.
NEW HAMPTON — Delores Grove, 84, of New Hampton, passed away Monday, September 21, 2026, at Accura HealthCare of New Hampton with her loving family by her side.
A funeral service for Delores will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, September 25, at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Hampton, with Pastor Dan Christensen officiating. Burial will follow at New Hampton Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. until the start of the service Friday at the church.
WATERLOO — A 22-year-old man involved in last week’s officer-involved shooting in Waterloo has been released from the hospital and taken into custody on two felony weapons-related charges, state investigators announced September 23.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation identified the man as Deandrew Naqawn Spates (pictured at top). University of Iowa police arrested him September 22 on warrants obtained by Waterloo police following his hospital release.
Spates was being held at the Black Hawk County Jail, according to the DCI announcement.
A 32-year-old Iowa woman was killed and three children and an 18-year-old woman were critically injured when two vehicles collided with a semitrailer Tuesday evening on a lonely stretch of road.
MASON CITY — Cerro Gordo County supervisors unanimously closed a portion of Swallow Avenue and approved $601,925.98 in county claims during an 11-minute meeting Monday, September 21. Chairman Casey Callanan, Vice Chairman…
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MASON CITY — Donald K. Allen Jr., known as “Duck” to his colleagues at the Mason City Police Department, passed away September 21, 2026, surrounded by family. He was 80, a Marine Corps veteran and retired detective whose life also held plenty of room for hunting, fishing, bowling and cards with his mother.
A celebration of Don’s life will be held Saturday, October 3, from noon to 2 p.m. in the fellowship hall at Trinity Lutheran Church, 213 N. Pennsylvania Ave. He will be laid to rest at Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery following a private family service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the estate of Donald K. Allen Jr.
MASON CITY — A Minneapolis photographer who spent years turning his lens toward some of nature’s smallest creatures and biggest birds is now turning that work into a gift for Mason City’s Charles H. MacNider Art Museum.
Retired commercial photographer Ray Colby has donated a selection of his wildlife photographs, printed on canvas, for an online auction benefiting the MacNider museum.
The auction is already underway and will remain open until 6 p.m. Monday, September 29.
RICEVILLE — Michael J. Gaffey, 80, a Riceville native who became an internationally recognized planetary scientist, NASA mission participant and one of the world’s leading authorities on asteroids, died Sunday, September 20, 2026.
A private family service will be held. The public is invited to join Michael’s family at Goosey’s at 11 a.m. Thursday, September 24. His final resting place will be Calvary Cemetery in Elma.
Michael’s life carried him an extraordinary distance — from a one-room Iowa schoolhouse to work that helped scientists better understand objects moving through the solar system.
MASON CITY — Lyle John Paine, 75, of Mason City, died Sunday, September 20, 2026, leaving behind his wife, siblings, stepdaughters, grandchildren and a wide circle of relatives and friends.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, September 26, at Hogan Bremer Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third Street NE in Mason City. Visitation will be held at the chapel for one hour before the service, beginning at 10 a.m.
CHARLES CITY — Floyd County supervisors are giving themselves more time to write rules for large battery energy storage projects while county road crews push ahead with fall work and officials continue exploring a new Secondary Roads facility in Nora Springs.
A Northern Iowa predator allegedly took to the streets in a set of wheels law enforcement didn’t have listed on his registry — and the drive ended with him getting hauled to jail.
Records show the suspect has been convicted of indecent contact with a child, harassment, and more.
A Chicago felon who supplied recruits with stolen Treasury checks, fake identification and victims’ personal information to raid Eastern Iowa financial institutions has been sentenced to 13 years and four months in federal prison.
Tyrone Terrell Harris (pictured at top), 34, was sentenced September 9 after admitting his role in a scheme involving nearly $1.44 million in stolen or altered government checks. Federal prosecutors said Harris and his co-conspirators successfully pocketed $462,696.56 in taxpayer money.
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DES MOINES — Iowa farmers had fewer than two days suitable for fieldwork last week as soaking rains slowed harvest, left more than a quarter of the state’s topsoil with surplus moisture and dumped nearly six inches on Fayette during one extended storm system.
Just 4 percent of Iowa corn and 2 percent of soybeans had been harvested through September 20, according to the USDA’s weekly Crop Progress and Condition Report released September 21. Both crops trailed last year’s harvest pace.
Farmers had only 1.7 days suitable for fieldwork during September 14–20, compared with 4.9 days during the same week last year.
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HAMPTON — George Benjamin Wright, 88, passed away September 20, 2026, at MercyOne Medical Center Waterloo from complications of pneumonia.
Visitation will be held Monday, September 28, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Woodley Funeral Home, 306 Central Ave. East in Hampton. A memorial service will follow at 11 a.m. at the funeral home, with interment afterward at Hampton Cemetery.
GILMORE CITY — Donald “Don” Tool, 85, of Gilmore City, died Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Humboldt County Memorial Hospital in Humboldt.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, September 25, at First Lutheran Church in Gilmore City. Burial will follow at Marble Valley Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, September 24, at Lentz Funeral Home in Gilmore City.
WAVERLY — A disturbing social media post circulated to Waverly-Shell Rock students Sunday evening prompted an investigation involving two law enforcement agencies and school officials, with police identifying a male juvenile as its author and announcing extra patrols for the week.
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NORTHWOOD — Worth County’s proposed administration building moved closer to bidding at the Board of Supervisors’ September 21 meeting. A week earlier, supervisors approved wetland work, a drainage repair claim and a request to join a regional juvenile detention center.
IOWA CITY — Two days after Indiana handed Iowa field hockey its first loss of the season, the Hawkeyes got another shot at the Hoosiers. This time, Dionne van Aalsum delivered the winner in a shootout, giving Iowa a 2-1 nonconference victory Sunday at Grant Field.
TERRE HAUTE, Indiana — Northern Iowa’s defense held the line for more than 70 minutes Sunday, but two Indiana State goals seven minutes apart sent the Panthers to a 2-0 loss in their Missouri Valley Conference women’s soccer opener.
A twisted Iowa child predator who fled the state and abandoned his innocent pets while trying to escape the law has been dealt a brutal blow to his future: more than 27 years in federal prison with no possibility of parole.
An Iowa jury previously convicted this specimen of eight offenses connected to the sexual abuse of his then-girlfriend’s young daughter. The child was between 9 and 10 years old during the abuse. With investigators on his trail, he fled Iowa and left his pets trapped behind inside his home. Law enforcement officers later rescued the abandoned animals.
CORALVILLE — Iowa Hawkeye volleyball left little doubt Sunday afternoon, overwhelming Central Arkansas in straight sets to capture the Kwik Star Klassic championship and extend its winning streak to four matches.
The Hawkeyes rolled 25-12, 25-15, 25-14 at Xtream Arena on September 20, improving to 10-3 and matching their start from last season. The sweep was Iowa’s fifth of the year, while the four-match winning streak is its longest this season.
FENTON — Janean Ann Bierstedt, 83, died Sunday, September 20, 2026, at Algona Manor in Algona.
A graveside service was held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 23, at Fenton United Methodist Cemetery. Visitation followed from noon to 2 p.m. at the Fenton American Legion Building.
HAMPTON — Janice D. Campbell, 79, of Hampton, died peacefully September 18, 2026, at Franklin Country View. She is remembered for her dedication to caring for her family and the love she shared with generations of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, September 23, at Woodley Funeral Home, 306 Central Avenue East in Hampton. Funeral services will begin at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, September 24, at the funeral home. A private burial ceremony will take place at Dumont Cemetery.
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SWALEDALE — Judy P. Fessler, 74, of Swaledale, died Saturday, September 19, 2026, at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City. She is remembered for the family and friends she welcomed into her home, the things she made for those she loved, and the adventures she shared with her husband, Dick.
Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, September 24, at Ward Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 310 First Avenue North in Clear Lake. The funeral service will begin there at 1 p.m. Burial will follow at Clear Lake Cemetery.
MASON CITY — Lowell L. Butler, 88, of Mason City, died September 19, 2026, surrounded by family at Terrace Glen Village in Marion. His grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s latest adventures were among his greatest pleasures.
Visitation begins at 10 a.m. Friday, September 25, at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave., followed by the funeral at 11 a.m. Burial will be at Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery. Memorials may benefit the Parkinson’s Foundation.