Page 1 - Clear Lake Mirror Reporter E-Edition 12-16-2015

Weather
Sunny on Saturday with a high of 27 degrees.
Chance of snow on Monday.
USPS 117-120 VOL. 145 Issue 50
Clear Lake
Mirror-Reporter
Record breaker?CALENDAR
Thursday
Chili supper
The CARES After Prom
Committee will be hosting a
chili/soup supper Thursday,
Dec. 17, during the Varsity
wrestling meet at Clear Lake
High School. Serving will be-
gin at 5:30 p.m. and continue
until gone. Cost is $6, which
includes a choice of chili or
chicken noodle soup, a cinna-
mon roll, and lemonade. All
proceeds will go to the CARES
After Prom Party.
Friday
Raffle drawing
The Clear Lake Lions Pride
will hold its Holiday Raffle
at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18,
at the Clear Lake V.F.W. Two
prize packages will be raffled off:
a John Deere wagon and a John
Deere bicycle. Each comes with
a huge basket of toys, certificates
and gift items. Each prize is val-
ued at over $500. In advance
of the drawing tickets may be
purchased at Clear Lake Bank
& Trust, the Chamber of Com-
merce and Hall Realty. Tickets
sell for $1 each or six for $5.
Sat. - Sun.
Santa House
Santa welcomes visitors to
his City Park House each Sat-
urday and Sunday before the
Christmas holiday. Hours are
1-4 p.m.
Inside
Opinion..................4-5
Weather.................... 5
Sports................13-15
Legals..................... 17
Classifieds.........18-19
Last week’s rain caused
the lake to rise 3.24”
to its new reading of
+5.76” above the weir.
Last year at this time
the lake was frozen.
The latest ice-in on
record was Dec. 24,
2001 according to
officials at the Water
Treatment Plant.
Mail: 12 N. 4th St.,
Clear Lake, IA 50428
Telephone: 641-357-2131
Fax: 641-357-2133
Email: office@clreporter.com
Website: www.clreporter.com
@CLReporter
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More weather on page 5.
Dec. 16, 2015
Thinking
outside
the box
CLHS team designs
greenhouse, class
space for school
A team from Clear Lake High School
had the opportunity to compete in a hands-on
learning experience which could potentially be-
come reality for their school.
Braydon Emerson, Quinton Goeman, Ty-
ler Wolfe and Aaron Kelso participated in the
Student Collaborative Design Competition
(SCDC), a new venture created by Waggoner
and Wineinger Architects in cooperation with
area school districts.
For the competition, teams of students
were “hired” to design an innovative outdoor
learning space for a client— their school. The
new learning area was to be located on land
adjacent to the school and intended to be for
multi-purpose use. The task was to make it
both aesthetically pleasing and a functional as-
set to the school.
The CLHS team worked throughout the
fall to identify a project and bring it to life
through a written proposal, site plan, floor plan cessible from two locations in the high school,
and models. Last week the team made its pre-
sentation to a panel of judges and other com-
peting teams.
The team envisioned a greenhouse and
classroom space constructed on bare ground on
the north side of the high school building. The
Mariana Ros and Nevyn Fisher are hard at work having fun while learning the basic principles of coding
in Melanie Marreel’s fourth grade classroom at Clear Creek Elementary. Third, fourth and fifth graders
at the school participated in the Hour of Code to introduce students to computer science.-Reporter photo.
Members of
the Clear
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Serving Clear Lake and Ventura since 1869 • Hometown newspaper of Dean & Muriel Hess
(L-R) Aaron Kelso, Tyler Wolfe, Quinton Goeman and Brayden Emerson represented CLHS at the first
Student Collaborative Design Competition created by Waggoner and Wineinger Architects in cooperation
with area school districts.-Reporter photo.
free-standing all-season building would be ac-
as well as from the circle drive parking lot at the
school.
Industrial Arts teacher Mike Lester said cost
estimates have not been made for the project,
but they speculate the building could be con-
structed for under $100,000. Electrical, plumb-
ing, mechanical and other costs have not been
determined. Students will continue to study
the plan and gather further information before
hopefully presenting their idea to the School
Board sometime in the new year.
“We see the greenhouse growing produce
dining combo w/breakfast bar. $242,000.
Santa
Letters
Pages 10-11
$1.50
Ice-in date
will likely be
latest ever
Unseasonably warm weather is making the likeli-
hood of a record “ice-in” date for Clear Lake a good bet.
Officials at the Water Treatment Plant say interest
has been high from those who take an interest in the
lake’s level and ice-in and ice-out dates. They share that
according to city records, the latest date on record for
the lake to be declared iced-in is Dec. 24, 2001.
The earliest date on record is Nov. 4, 1991, which
many recall as the year of the Halloween blizzard.
According to forecasts compiled by Iowa Weather
Network, temperatures will be back in the 40s by the
weekend and remain well above freezing through Dec.
25.
In the event our strange winter weather continues
into 2016, you may want to keep these dates in mind:
the latest “ice-out” date was recorded on April 28, 1951;
the earliest “ice-out” was March 5, 1931.
Arrest made after
high speed chase
Driver captured after vehicle
gets stuck in muddy field
A Cedar Rapids man is un-
der arrest after a high-speed pur-
suit with Cerro Gordo County
law enforcement Monday night,
Dec. 14.
A report from the Cerro
Gordo County Sheriff’s Depart-
ment states that shortly after 9:15
p.m. a deputy located a Hyundai
Sonata which was reportedly sto- McCLEARY
len in Cedar Rapids. The deputy attempted a traffic
stop as the car entered US Highway 18 off of US High-
way 65, but the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed. The
Sonata continued westbound on Highway 18, crossing
over into the eastbound lanes for a period of time. The
car then fled south onto Interstate 35, where speeds
during the pursuit reached 120 miles per hour. The ve-
hicle exited onto County Road B-43 and then turned
south onto Grouse Avenue south of Clear Lake.
The car left the roadway into a ditch and then
for the school lunch program, or maybe pro- struck a Mason City Police Department patrol vehicle
ducing things which could be sold at Farmer’s and a Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office patrol ve-
Market,” Braydon Emerson explained to judges. hicle. The Sonata then drove into a plowed corn field
“In addition, the classroom space would hold where it became stuck.
approximately 25 students. It could be a space Trenton McCleary, 29, attempted to flee on foot,
for science classes and an FFA (Future Farmers but was quickly apprehended. He was transported to
of America) room. Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa for minor injuries.
The students suggested the project could in- A female passenger was evaluated and released with
volve and potentially benefit Central Gardens of no injuries and was not charged.
North Iowa. They would like to see the school According to the Cerro Gordo County Jail website,
and gardeners work together, providing both McCleary is charged with eluding law enforcement,
volunteers to keep the greenhouse growing, as reckless driving, two counts of failing to obey a traffic
well as a space to nurture young plants. control device and speeding. He is being held in jail on
$5,000 bond.
See DESIGN on page 3
Cracking the code to
make learning fun
Angry Birds, Mindcraft and movement’s statement that com- gram continues to be extremely
Star Wars aren’t exactly reading, puters are everywhere, but fewer popular, according to Marrell.
writing and arithmetic. Or are schools teach computer science After watching a short video
they? than 10 years ago. Girls and mi- about the Hour of Code, stu-
Students at Clear Creek El- norities are severely underrepre- dents were instructed to open
ementary are getting lessons in sented. The Hour of Code project their Chrome Books and log into
traditional core subjects while is a strategy for teaching critical their accounts. From there, Mar-
they are gaming on their laptop skills for 21st century success. reel led them through a series of
computers. It’s all part of the “It promotes computer sci- steps which ultimately opened
Hour of Code— a mission to in- ence in our youth,” said Mar- an Angry Birds game. Working
troduce students to computer sci- reel. “It feels like a game, but the individually, the students were
ence. Clear Creek third, fourth thinking they are doing applies to challenged to make the bird move
and fifth graders took part in the so many areas— problem solving, left, right, up or down a specific
Hour of Code movement last critical thinking, the need to try number of spaces. The move-
week. again a different way. It promotes ments were determined by the
Fourth grade teacher Melanie thinking outside the box— ask- code the students devised. When
Marreel and third grade teacher ing themselves ‘why isn’t this they successfully completed the
Sara Allen attended a training working?’” task, they were rewarded with a
to become certified to lead Hour This is the second year Clear sticker and allowed to advance to
of Code exercises with students. Creek students have participated the next level. Success in Angry
They strongly believe with the in the Hour of Code and the pro-
See CODE on page 5
with vaulted ceilings,
lower level rec area. built-ins & slider flooring, fixtures, bath, kitchen, electrical,
family room with fireplace. $228,000. $138,500. to patio. $129,500.
plumbing & water heater. $87,000.