River Valley

The Allamakee County Conservation Board will be hosting author Dick Stahl Saturday, April 14 at 2 p.m. in the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center library in Lansing. The program is free of charge.

Dick Stahl fell in love with the Mississippi River as a small child exploring and growing up in Davenport. His fascination with the river has led him to explore the Upper Mississippi River as well as many other rivers around the world including the Rhine River and the Nile River.

He has compiled a book, entitled “Bluffing,” of poems and color photographs inspired by the mighty river.  His work has also appeared in three other books, including “After the Milk Route” and “Under the Green Tree Hotel,” published by Augustana College’s East Hall Press and “Mr. Farnam’s Guests” published by the Midwest Writing Center. He served as Quad City Arts’ first Poet Laureate of the Quad Cities from September 2001 to September 2003.

Volunteers, contributions needed to make Post Prom possible

Kee High School’s Post Prom has been scheduled for April 22 from midnight until 4 a.m. for Kee juniors and seniors and their guests, following their Prom Saturday, April 21. The Post Prom event is a substance free celebration providing table games, raffles and silent auctions, snacks and drinks and door prizes.

All Kee junior and senior students are welcome, even if not participating in Prom. There is no fee to attend. Hypnotist Blake Powers from Wand Enterprises has been booked and all guests will be entertained by his show.

The Post Prom Committee has been hosting Sunday Bingo events and worked the brat stand at Lansing Fish Days to raise funds for Post Prom. The group is very appreciative to all area businesses and individuals for their continued support.

by Macie Hill

The Lansing City Council met in regular session Monday, March 19 at Lansing City Hall. Discussion centered around renewing the electric franchise contract, Allamakee Housing Survey review of results, summertime city mowing positions being available, hiring a part-time police officer, an open position for a full-time patrol officer and the City Clerk's office being closed Friday, March 30.

Craig Clefesch and Keith Sherman with Alliant Energy were present at the meeting to answer any questions about renewing the 25-year electric franchise with the City of Lansing. Clefesch, Sherman and the council had discussion about adding a franchise fee to the electric bills, although no final decision was made on that proposal. The topic will come up again during a future meeting.

Four Compatibility Determinations (CDs) which evaluate various economic and/or commercial uses of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are available for public comment through April 9 of this year. The draft CDs re-evaluate the following uses of the Refuge:

• Commercial Fishing Floats
• Commercially Guided Wildlife/Wildlands Observation
• Guided Sport Fishing
• Guided Waterfowl Hunting.

Sunday, March 11, John Norris, Democratic candidate for the Iowa Governor's office, stopped by the Waterville Fire Station, where volunteers were serving up pancakes and sausage. Dennis Nebendahl of rural Waterville welcomed Norris to the firehouse and exclaimed, “This is the first time we’ve ever had a candidate for governor visit Waterville!”

Norris’s next stop was Milty’s in Lansing, where he met with a group of area residents. This is the candidate's second visit to Allamakee County.

During his visit, Norris talked about rebuilding the economies of rural Iowa as key to helping the state prosper, noting a goal of an agricultural economy made up of diverse family farm operations. He’d like to see farm programs which help beginning farmers succeed, which in turn helps rural communities succeed.

At its recent annual meeting, Our Savior's Lutheran Church congregation in Lansing supported two important additions to the church's mission statement to promote inclusion of all individuals in Lansing and surrounding communities. To that end, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church has adopted a new welcome statement and new belief statements. The impetus behind the changes centers around the thought that at a time where there is so much division in the nation Our Savior's Lutheran Church wants everyone to understand God’s inclusive grace and love.

The church's new welcome statement declares: "We welcome all because God welcomes all. Whatever your age, gender, race, ethnicity, political perspective, religious background, economic situation, citizenship, mental or physical ability, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity - there’s a place here for you."

The congregation backs this welcome statement up with belief statements. These belief statements include:

by Macie Hill

The regular meeting of the Lansing City Council was held Monday evening, March 5. Discussion centered around the renewal of the People Service contract, more rocks and concrete being placed near the Lansing Marina and a new position for a Lansing Police Officer being available.

Dennis White, regional manager for People Service, Inc., was at the meeting to ask the council to consider the renewal of the contract with People Service, Inc. for water and wastewater services provided for the City of Lansing. After further discussion by the council, a motion was made and seconded to approve the 2018 renewal of the contract with People Service, Inc.

John Norris, Democratic candidate for Iowa Governor, will be in Lansing this Sunday, March 11 at 12 noon at Milty’s Restaurant located at 200 Main Street. The public is invited to meet John Norris and learn more about his candidacy for governor and his vision for Iowa.

Norris has worked for Senator Tom Harkin and Governor Tom Vilsack as his chief of staff. When Tom Vilsack was appointed as the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Norris continued to work for Secretary Vilsack.

For more information about the event, contact Karen Pratte at 563-535-7254, Lori Egan at 563-568-1290 or Chris Applegate at 515-368-4084.

Tuesday, March 13, the public is invited to join State Historical Museum of Iowa Museum Educator Jessica Rundlett to learn about Iowa Culture, a new way to explore over 3,500 Iowa arts, history and culture sites across all 99 counties. Following a short presentation, attendees will play Iowa Trivia to learn about unique sites in the area and all across the state. The free program will be held from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. at Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library.
 

Plan now to attend the 10th Annual Bald Eagle Watching Day this Saturday, March 3 in Ferryville, WI at the Village Community Center located on State Highway 35, the "Great River Road. ”This program is sponsored by the Ferryville Tourism Council, co-sponsored by Friends of Pool 9 and is free to the public.

Event activities are from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., with doors opening at 8:45 a.m. Returning to the program is the Decorah Raptor Research Project Decorah Eagle Cam organization presenting at 12 p.m. on “What we learned from an Eagle’s Nest”. John Howe and Amy Reis of the Raptor Resource Project and their team will be in attendance for the second time.