Secondary Roads worker Lynn Stevens will retire this week after seven years with the department.

Stevens, of Algona, was honored Tuesday, July 8, by Kossuth County officials with a certificate of appreciation for his years of service upon his retirement. The framed certificate was presented to Stevens during the regular Kossuth County Board of Supervisors meeting in Algona.

Save a life this summer

Community blood centers, like LifeServe Blood Center, collect approximately 60 percent of the nation’s blood supply. Annually, it takes thousands of generous volunteer donors to support local hospital patients through blood donation.

The CHIPS Woodworking Club recently gave a $500 donation to the Kossuth County Shriners for support of the Shriners Children Hospital.

Anne Kohlhaas, one of the directors for Stinson Prairie Arts Council, holds the 4x5-foot canvas that will be set up at Art in the Park on Saturday, July 12 during the Founders Day event. Artists will have booths set up on the Carnegie Centre for the Arts lawn and anyone can place their own art on this canvas to be displayed at a later date. Materials will be provided, let your imagination go wild.

The Science Center of Iowa is bringing their mobile planetarium to the Twin Rivers Elementary gymnasium on July 12. The first of two programs will be at 1 p.m. featuring “Iowa Skies Tonight” which will locate constellations and planets. The planetarium holds approximately 30-40 people. Hot dogs, chips, star crunch cookies and moon pies will be served at the shelter house west of the school. The gymnasium and the planetarium are both handicapped accessible.

The Algona Public Library's Summer Reading Program is in full swing, thanks to the help of their summer interns and the support of some of our local organizations and foundations. One of these is the Donald Tietz Charitable Foundation, whose mission is to support area youth and education.

1. Founders’ Day: There will be plenty to do this weekend at the Algona Founder’s Day celebration. Art in the Park, food trucks, parade, live music, a tour of Wildhaven Campus, Kid’s Bash, bag tournament, live wrestling, and more! A complete schedule is available at algonaiowa.gov.

July is all about summer reading for the Kindergarten through 5th grade students. Students recently participated in the Pixel selfie project at the West Bend Public Library.

The Algona baseball and softball teams presented a check to Julie Stundahl, director of the Kossuth County Cancer Support Foundation on June 30.

Join Kossuth County Naturalist intern Hannah Severson for an afternoon of learning from photographers and taking your own photos on Friday, July 18. You may join session 1 from 1-3 p.m. or session 2 from 4-7 p.m. The afternoon starts off with a presentation from three local photographers. Then a quick lesson on how to use the provided cameras. The afternoon will end with a hike around Smith Lake taking photos and then downloading the photos to keep.

Avoid potential violations by following Iowa's One Call law

The Department invited 764 mathematically extraordinary Iowa 3rd graders to apply to this comprehensive national support program

When school lets out for summer, many children look forward to swimming, traveling, and playing outside. But for students in kindergarten through second grade, those carefree months can come with a hidden risk: the summer slide. This term refers to the loss of academic skills and knowledge over summer break, especially in reading and math. Research shows that young children can lose up to two months of reading progress if they don’t engage in consistent learning during the summer.

This is a big week in Algona, with Founders’ Day activities happening alongside our usual Kossuth County Farmers Market days. Don’t forget that Wednesday markets are now underway. Stop by on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m. to check out the wide variety of vendors that join us on the Carnegie Lawn. You’ll be glad you did!

AMES, Iowa - This year marks the 95th anniversary of Iowa State University’s Northern Research and Demonstration Farm in Kanawha. Originally, the farm’s research included several crops, including sugar beets. Now, the property has expanded to include some of the longest-running experiments on soil fertility and crop response to micronutrients, continuously running since the 1960s and 1980s, respectively.