Category Archives: News

by Marianne Gasaway Clear Lake continues to be a shining example of taxation done right. City Administrator Scott Flory presented a preliminary Fiscal Year 2020 budget to the City Council Monday night which keeps the city’s tax rate at a modest $9.70 per $1,000 of taxable valuation.  The proposed rate represents the fourth consecutive fiscal…

(Above) Perfect weather for Sun Dogs - If you are looking for a silver lining to the bitterly cold weather, turn your eyes to the sky.  Two large rainbow-colored shapes, called Sun Dogs, flanked the sun in North Iowa Monday afternoon.  The National Weather Service explains the atmospheric phenomenon appears when sunlight refracts off of ice crystals in…

(Above) Remember when we were worried there wouldn’t be enough ice for the Color The Wind Kite Festival?  Those were the days!  Sub-zero temperatures have provided plenty of ice on the lake. Extreme cold closes down businesses, schools by Marianne Gasaway If you are reading this, you are probably inside and warm.  Good for you,…

Outdoor writer Lowell Washburn proclaims, “The Canada goose is about as tough as a water bird can get.”  This year, the living has been easy – even in extreme northern Iowa, he explains.   “With endless supplies of waste grain and plenty of open water, the winter weather has offered little challenge.  But times have…

H Milton Duesenberg leans into the wind and makes his way home from the Clear Lake Public Library as the snow begins to fly Friday afternoon.  The Clear Lake area received six-inches in the winter storm.  Another four to six-inches of snow was expected to fall Tuesday.  That snowfall followed a glazing of freezing rain,…

by Marianne Gasaway The Clear Lake City Council started the ball rolling with assessment proceedings to help fund the paving and other improvements needed on North 32nd Street to make the area more attractive to developers. The city plans to spend an estimated $1.7 million to extend concrete from approximately 375 feet north from its…