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Corner of Hope, the local Foods Resource Bank (FRB) growing project, hosted the regional meeting of the Foods Resource Bank Saturday, February 21 at Zion United Church of Christ (UCC) in Waukon. Attendees of the meeting came from Conrad and area growing projects from all over northeast Iowa, as well as from Missouri and Illinois, and all were served lunch by the Zion UCC Women's Fellowship.

by Bob Beach

by Bob Beach

by Kelli Boylen
freelance writer

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The Corner of Hope local growing project will be hosting a regional meeting of the Foods Resource Bank this Saturday, February 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Zion United Church of Christ in Waukon. The meeting is open to the general public, and local Corner of Hope organizers invite anyone to attend who would like to learn more about the program or who would like to participate in solving issues of world hunger and food security.
Saturday's regional meeting will feature an individual from Honduras whose family has directly benefited from the efforts of Foods Resource Bank and the Corner of Hope local growing project. He will be sharing with those in attendance what his family has learned from the program to help them gain food security.

Becky Rea has joined ISU Extension and Outreach as the K-12 Youth Outreach Coordinator for Allamakee County. Rea will focus on new delivery approaches including school-based and summer youth development programming.
Rea joins Morgan Heim in fulfilling outreach to Allamakee youth. Heim is responsible for coordination and support of the 4-H community clubs in the county.
Rea grew up in Independence and is a Buchanan County 4-H alumna. In addition to club activities and showing dairy cattle, she was active on the County and State 4-H Councils. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Dairy Science from Iowa State University. She currently lives on a beef farm near Lansing with her husband, Matt, and daughter, Brinnly.
“I am excited to start as the new K-12 Program Coordinator for Allamakee County! Growing up in 4-H I know first-hand the opportunities the program has to offer and I am ready to explore these possibilities with today’s youth,” said Rea.

Iowa Senator Charles Grassley will be in Waukon Wednesday evening, February 18 for a question and answer session hosted by the Waukon Lions Club. Senator Grassley is expected to be at the Main Feature Theater on Main Street in Waukon for approximately one hour, beginning at 5:15 p.m. The general public is invited to attend.
 

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has scheduled two public meetings to discuss the status of the deer herd in Allamakee County after a third hunter-harvested deer has now tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) from the 2014 deer season. Just like the previous two animals from the 2014 hunting season, the third CWD-positive deer was also harvested within the five-mile radius surrounding Yellow River State Forest near Harpers Ferry established by the Iowa DNR following the initial discovery of a CWD-infected wild deer harvested during the 2013 hunting season.
This third positive animal was harvested north of the 2013 positive CWD test, while the previous two 2014 animals had been harvested southwest of the 2013 harvest location. The latest CWD-positive animal makes for a total of four Allamakee County wild deer that have tested positive for CWD.

The New Albin Community Center was the site of a legislative forum Saturday, February 7 where Iowa House of Representatives member Patti Ruff fielded questions from the audience. The first topic of concern was the proposed 10-cent increase in the gas tax. The bill was scheduled to be released Monday, February 9 and will come to a vote in the next couple weeks. Another item discussed was the need for fiber-optic broadband to "connect every lowan." The focus should be on bringing this fiber optic technology to small rural towns and the local telephone companies, Ruff said. Concerns were voiced about two of Iowa's mental health facilities in Mt. Pleasant and Clarinda facing closure.