Tyler Dahl of Mason City, Iowa, jumps into Big Blue Lake at Lester Milligan Park in Mason City on Monday, July 19, 2010. Big Blue, which is a rock quarry, is a popular place for North Iowans to cool off during the summer months. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Members of the Newman Catholic baseball team celebrate after winning Tuesday’s regional final baseball game against Bishop-Garrigan. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Newman Catholic left fielder Grace Moore chases a foul ball as fans recoil on the other side of the fence on Wednesday in Mason City. The first round of the Class 1A regional softball playoffs began on Wednesday. Newman advanced with a win over Rockford, and will play at home again on Friday. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Mason City sophomore Madeline Aberg competes in the 500-meter freestyle event during Tuesday’s meet against Decorah in Mason City. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

CeCe Esser, 7, slides down a slip ‘n slide in the front yard of their 8th Street NW home in Mason City as her sister, Hannah, 8, waits her turn. Both girls are students at Hoover Elementary, which let classes out early on Monday due to the heat. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Joe Terlisner of Clear Lake sweeps snow off his Chevy truck on Thursday. Terlisner works at Winnebago Industries in Forest City and said the commute from Forest City to Clear Lake was “a pure white-out.” (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Gary Johnson of Mason City wears a face mask to protect from the blowing snow while clearing his sidewalk on North Carolina Avenue on Wednesday. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Dan and JoAnn Mumby of Mason City dance on the floor of the Surf Ballroom on Thursday night during the 2010 Winter Dance Party. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Waverly-Shell Rock senior Hannah Walker, left, and junior Rachel Perth stop Dubuque Wahlert sophomore Amy Ihm’s spike attempt in Wednesday’s state quarterfinal game at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Vikings fan Josh Rahm, of Algona, reacts to a Vikings first down late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s NFC championship game against New Orleans. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Friends and family members of Darrion Rambo raise lit candles on Sunday during a vigil on Highway 122 in Mason City, the spot Rambo, 10, was struck and killed by a car last year on May 2, 2009. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Pleasant Valley sophomore Tyler Willers leaps into his coaches arms after winning the 103 pound state wrestling title in Des Moines on Saturday. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Three-year-old Taylor Steenblock sits in her chair as her mom, Kathy, folds a shirt at their home in Mason City on Wednesday. Taylor has a rare genetic disorder called Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, a condition in which part of the Chromisome 22 is missing. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

A woman lowers her head into the blowing snow on Wednesday as the latest winter storm began dumping snow across North Iowa.

Members of the Clear Lake girls basketball team, from left, Ashley Willms, Taylor Thenhaus, Kathryn Nieman and coach Kay Bacon react to a missed field goal in the last seconds of Tuesday’s game against Hampton-Dumont. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Participants of the 2009 Polar Bear Club warm up in the hot tub after taking a cold dip in Clear Lake on Sunday. The event raises money for the Make a Wish of North Iowa and Toys for Tots charity organizations. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Participants of the 2009 Polar Bear Club take a cold dip in Clear Lake on Sunday. The event raises money for the Make a Wish of North Iowa and Toys for Tots charity organizations. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Strong winds and white outs were to blame for numerous accidents in North Iowa on Monday, Jan. 25, 2010, like this multi-vehicle pile up in the southbound lane of Highway 65 one mile south of Mason City. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Mason City massage therapist Steven Page, left, talks with his attorney Richard Piscopo during trial on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, at the Cerro Gordo County Courthouse in Mason City. Page was accused of sexual abuse. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Noah Lindsay, 8, of Mason City watches the North Iowa Outlaws final game from the glass on Thursday at the North Iowa Ice Arena. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Northwood-Kensett senior running back Jayson Olson is upended after running for a short gain in Friday’s game against Lake Mills. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Bill Jurgemeyer combines corn as his wife, Karon, drives the tractor on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in their rural Rockwell corn field. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

NIACC freshman Akila Hudnell drives the lane in Wednesday’s game against Rochester. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

NIACC sophomore Karen Ott of Rockford looks to make a pass inside as Riverland’s Mandy May plays aggressive defense on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2009. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Newman Catholic senior Justin Fleming gives a thumbs up as fellow senior Morgan Dornbier adjusts his robe on Sunday, May 23, 2010, at Newman Catholic High School prior to the graduation ceremony. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

New Berlin Eisenhower senior Brittany Rader slides into home plate under the tag of New Berlin West catcher Ashley Nealon in Wednesday’s conference softball game at West High on April 30, 2008. Rader was called safe on the play. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Waukesha Freeman)

Mason City sophomore Max Krieger works on turning Urbandale’s Taylor Nordgren in their match at 152 pounds on Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Mason City senior Emily Wiltse swims the 500-meter freestyle against Ames at MCHS on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Newly elected Mason City Mayor Eric Bookmeyer, left, celebrates a win with co-campaign manager Cohl Bultje as Jean Marinos writes results on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, at Lorado’s Bar and Grill. Bookmeyer won over Democrat nominee John Jaszewski. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazettte)

Mason City Library director Mary Markwalter poses for a portrait in part of the library’s new extension. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Nick Briggs-Leaman of Mason City performs a hand-plant at the skate park at Lester Milligan Park in Mason City on Tuesday, June 23, 2009, as temperatures soared to above 90-degrees. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

A farmer combines a path into a soybean field in rural Clear Lake on Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. After several rainy days, Monday’s temperature soared to the upper 60s with a mostly sunny sky. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Emily Henkes, 21, of Chapel Hill, NC, is cooled off by her mom, Amy Henkes, at an overflow camp site in Clear Lake on Tuesday, June 27, 2010, during the RAGBRAI bike ride. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Don Ahrends, a farmer from rural Osage, reaches up to inspect the tassels on a stalk of corn from one of his fields on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. Ahrends reported his crops could use some water, but otherwise it has been a relatively good year so far. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Pilot Vince Muzzi of Greenville, Miss., applies pesticide on a soybean field on a farm east of Manly on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2009. Muzzi is employed by Gooden Lake Flying Service of Mississippi and has been sparying various fields in North Iowa. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Kelly Bucci, of Clear Lake, models during a cover shoot for the fall 2010 edition of WOW Magazine.

Waukesha artist Tom Noll poses for a photograph in the basement of his Waukesha home, where he paints rock and roll musicians. A lifelong fan of rock and roll music, Noll has painted some legends, including Keith Richards, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Marley and Eric Clapton, among others. When he’s not painting, Noll stays busy by riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, hanging out with his wife and kids, or learning to play the guitar. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Waukesha Freeman)

Rescue personnel from the Plymouth Fire Department search the ditch and a nearby cornfield for the occupant of a vehicle that was involved in a single-vehicle accident on Thrush Avenue near Plymouth on Monday night. Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette

Catholic Memorial senior Jordan Beres buries his face in his soccer jersey as the ribbon from his runner-up medal blows in the wind on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008, after the Crusaders dropped a 3-2 decision to Notre Dame in the state championship game in Milwaukee. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Waukesha Freeman)

James Law of Clear Lake looks out a bus window at Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2009, part of the Honor Flight. Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette

Milwaukee second baseman Rickie Weeks is hit in the mouth by a pitch against Cincinnati on Monday, April 13, 2009, at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Pilot Clay Adams of the American Barnstormers navigates around Clear Lake on Thursday, June 16, 2010, during the first day of the American Barnstormers tour in Mason City. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Algona junior Brittany Vaske knocks the ball over the net for a point in the Bulldogs’ game against Williamsburg in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

Forest City junior Aaron Sorenson celebrates after pinning Davenport Assumption junior Brody Grothus in their match at 145 pounds on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010,  in Des Moines.  (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)

One-year-old Jack Dunning plays as his mom, Sarah, talks about her husband’s service to the Iowa National Guard 1133rd Transportation Company from the living room of their Mason City home on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. The 1133rd will come home on Wednesday after a year-long deployment in Iraq. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Globe Gazette)