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With warmer temperatures of spring, restless paddlers are ready to put canoes and kayaks in the water. Early spring paddling can provide solitude, exercise and an opportunity to see amazing wildlife, but extra precautions are needed to stay safe.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recommends paddlers wait for warmer weather to allow water temperatures to rise slowly. It could be several weeks before water temperatures are ideal and safe as water and air temperatures continue to change.

“Air temperatures may feel warm in early spring,  but the water is still dangerously cold and can be deadly to boaters,” said Todd Robertson, Iowa DNR River Programs Water Trails Coordinator. “We have not had enough consistently warm days to raise water temperatures. Cold water shock and hypothermia can set in quickly if you are not dressed and fall into the cold water, so dress for a swim.”

The Waukon girls track team was finally able to compete outdoors for the first time this season, but had to make some quick adjustments in order to get two competitions this past week. The Lady Indians were able to host their own Early Bird Invitational Tuesday, April 12, winning that eight-team event, but then made a quick schedule change when their New Hampton Invitational scheduled for Thursday, April 14 was canceled due to cold, windy weather - the track Tribe instead getting some team members entered into the Tipton Invitational to end up seventh among 12 teams in that event.

For the first time in four scheduled tries, the Kee girls track team was finally able to compete outdoors this past week, but still was only able to get one of its two scheduled meets in for the week. The Lady Hawks competed at the Waukon Early Bird Invitational Tuesday, April 12 but had their Thursday, April 14 MFL/MarMac Invitational canceled due to cold, windy weather.

Within their first outdoor competition of the season, the Kee girls tallied 80 points to finish fifth in the meet’s field of eight teams. Half of those points came from the Lady Hawks’ four first-place event finishes, with Kee also adding a second-place finish to that mix.

The Waukon boys track team had a second consecutive unfortunately similar week, being able to compete early in the week but having a second scheduled meet canceled due to inclement weather, Thursday, April 14 at New Hampton. The similarity furthered with that early meet being held at Decorah for the second consecutive week, Monday, April 11, with the Indians once again finishing behind Decorah but this time in second place with 165 team points.

The Waukon boys were slated to return to Decorah for a third consecutive Monday, April 18, before hosting their own Indian Relays this Friday, April 22. The Indians will then compete at the Crestwood Invitational Thursday, April 28 and the New Hampton Invitational Monday, May 2 before taking part in the Northeast Iowa Conference Meet at Waverly-Shell Rock Thursday, May 5.

Greg Lonning, 60, went to his Heavenly home March 8, 2022, surrounded by his loving wife and children. He had suffered an unexpected brain aneurysm at his home in New Jersey.

A Memorial Mass will be held Saturday, April 23 at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon with Fr. John Moser officiating. A visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the church. The Mass will be streamed on the Martin-Grau Funeral Home Facebook page.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Luther College Regents Center in Decorah Sunday, April 24 at 1 p.m. There will also be a New Jersey memorial, with details to come later.
 

Bonnie A. Mussatti, 82, of La Crosse, WI passed away peacefully Thursday, April 8, 2022. A Celebration of Bonnie’s Life will be held later in the year.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to ASPCA at 888-661-ASPCA or ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. An online guestbook can be found at www.schumacher-kish.com.

She was born in Milwaukee, WI to Lawrence and Mildred Oswald. December 7, 1957, she married John A. Mussatti. Bonnie was a hard worker, employed at Curtis Industries in Milwaukee, WI for many years as the Human Resources Director.

Later moving to DeSoto, WI, on top of Lawrence Ridge, she embarked on a life as a National Owner/Operating trucker with her husband, John Mussatti, traveling the U.S. After retiring from trucking, she worked at Northern Engraving in Lansing until her final retirement, after which she provided caregiving to her family.

More than 30 years after three young women were murdered, and another was assaulted but survived, the man responsible has reportedly been identified using investigative genealogy, according to information released last Tuesday, April 5 by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Field Office in Indianapolis, IN. The four cold case crimes took place from February 1987 through January 1990 at hotel locations in Kentucky and Indiana and have been dubbed the I-65 or Days Inn Murders, due to their location and proximity to Interstate 65 in those two states.

According to State and local authorities, the investigation continues into the cause of the Sunday, February 13 fire that destroyed a pair of buildings on the initial block of Allamakee Street in downtown Waukon and impacted adjacent buildings with smoke, water and other damage. The arrival of an excavator (pictured below) at the fire site during the first full week of April had many speculating that demolition and clean-up work were set to begin at the site. However, the machine was only on site for several days and was not utilized for clean-up purposes but was instead used only to allow for safer and more convenient access to the investigation site, as evident with the knocking down of the front wall and canopy area of the former Tin, Rust & Harmony building believed to be the point of origin of the blaze and which is now noticeably more open in the photo above.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley spoke to about 80 people Monday, April 11 at Robey Memorial Library in Waukon, as part of his 42nd annual “99-County Tour.” Grassley, 88, is in his seventh senate term, having first been elected in 1980.

Monday afternoon, Grassley addressed topics ranging from infrastructure (“Iowa’s bridges are the worst in the 50 states in the nation,” he noted) to Social Security and the cost of insulin.

“There are still two and a half trillion dollars in the Social Security trust fund that will keep your check at 100 percent until about 2034,” Grassley said, in response to a question about the program’s long-term viability. “When this is gone, your check will be around 77 percent.” Addressing “looming deficits,” he said, “will take bipartisan leadership. I won’t be in Congress in 2034,” he noted, drawing laughter from attendees; “but it will have to be bi-partisan.”

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

Quilts of Valor were presented to six area veterans at the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center in Lansing Sunday afternoon, April 3. Recipients of the quilts included six local veterans who have been “touched by war,” according to event organizers, and those veterans included: Bill Rethwisch, Jerry Stussy,  Fred Rethwisch,  Randy Sickles,  Mike Bailey and Lanny Fields.

Bill  Rethwisch began his service in 1965 on an old WWII destroyer. He went to Vietnam and served as a boiler operator.

Jerry Stussy served beginning in 1987. He served in the U.S. Air Force for four years and then went into the National Guard for nine years.

Fred  Rethwisch served from 1972-1974 in the U.S. Army in Korea for 16 months. His duties included driving a truck, transporting materials.

Randy Sickles served in the U.S. Army and National Guard. He served in South America, the Middle East, the Gulf War and Iraq.