Lansing City Council members convened Monday, February 16 for a regular session that encompassed a range of fiscal actions, approvals for parks and recreation, environmental land management planning, and updates from city partners. The meeting featured discussions on the city’s budget amendment and capital project funding, including specific financial figures.
BUDGET AMENDMENT HEARING, APPROVAL
The meeting opened with a public hearing regarding an amendment to the city budget. No comments or concerns were expressed by the public during the hearing, which was then closed and moved the meeting into approval of that amendment.
The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met in a pair of sessions in February. The board met for a special session Tuesday morning, February 10, to set a public hearing for proposed Capital Improvements for 5:30 p.m. during its next regular session, which was scheduled for Tuesday, February 17 due to the President’s Day holiday falling on the board’s regular meeting date of Monday, February 16.
At that Tuesday, February 17 regular session there were no written or verbal comments made during a public hearing that was also held regarding the 2026-2027 School Calendar. There were also no written or verbal comments during the public hearing for the proposed Capital Improvements.
Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) has announced its Head Start Preschool open houses and registration nights to apply for the 2026-2027 school year. In the Waukon area, the open house and registration night will take place Wednesday, March 4 from 5-6 p.m. at the Waukon Head Start Conference Room located at 955 3rd Avenue NW in Waukon, the rear portion of the West Elementary School building.
Head Start Preschool is an all-day, five days a week, three- and four-year-old preschool program. Nutritious breakfast, lunch and snacks are served daily. There is no cost for tuition or meals for qualifying families. Qualified teachers use the Creative Curriculum to provide children with the academic and social skills they need to succeed in kindergarten.
Named Class 2A Assistant Coach of the Year ... Waukon varsity football assistant coach Ted Snitker is pictured in the middle of a huddle of defensive players during a Waukon football game, doing what he is being honored for this weekend. Snitker was selected by the Iowa Football Coaches Association (IFCA) as one of two Class 2A Assistant Coach of the Year honorees following the 2025 high school football season and will receive his recognition for the honor at the IFCA Annual Banquet this Saturday, February 28. Submitted photo.
Efforts spanning over three decades, with 29 of those years coming on the same field where Waukon native Ted Snitker grew his love of the game of football, will be recognized this Saturday, February 28 at the Iowa Football Coaches Association (IFCA) Annual Banquet. Snitker, an All-State selection as a player for the Waukon Indians prior to his graduation in 1986, and a fixture in the grid Tribe’s coaching staff for nearly 30 years, is being recognized by the Iowa Football Coaches Association as one of this year’s two honorees as Class 2A Assistant Coach of the Year.
Rising for the rebound ... Kee girls basketball senior Addison Winters skies for this rebound in the Lady Hawks’ 57-45 home win over Marquette Catholic in the semifinal round of the Class 1A Region 4 Tournament Friday, February 20. Winters scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds in Kee’s postseason victory. Photo by Danielle Potter. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photos link on this webpage.
The Kee girls basketball team took a couple steps down the postseason path this past week, making its way into a third consecutive regional semifinals contest and eventually its second straight regional championship game with back-to-back victories at home in Class 1A Region 4 Tournament play. The Lady Hawks opened their postseason possibilities with a third consecutive victory of this season over Clayton Ridge, 68-27 at home, in the Region 4 quarterfinals Tuesday, February 17, advancing to the regional semifinals Friday, February 20, where Kee’s girls played to a 57-45 home win over Marquette Catholic to bring themselves to the very brink of State Tournament qualification for the second consecutive season.
The Waukon boys basketball team had a pair of postseason opportunities in front of them this past week, making the most of the first of those to obtain the second, which ultimately proved to be the end of the bucket Tribe’s 2025-2026 season. The Indians opened their Class 2A District 7 Tournament scoring one of their highest point totals of the season in a 76-34 home triumph over Postville Monday, February 16. That win advanced Waukon’s boys to the District 7 semifinals where they were matched up Thursday, February 19 for the third time this season with a Crestwood squad that had beaten them twice during the regular season, surrendering their highest point total of this season in suffering that same fate in postseason play with an 80-57 loss that brought the Tribe’s season to an end.
After an opening-round step down the postseason path with a first-round Class 3A Region 4 Tournament win over Oelwein the weekend before, the Waukon girls basketball team’s tournament trail took a much steeper direction when the Lady Indians had to travel to fourth-rated Dubuque Wahlert Wednesday, February 18. Coached by 1978 Waukon High School graduate Kris Spiegler, the Golden Eagles returned more than half their starting line-up from a Class 3A State Tournament Runner-Up finish from last season and added a sharp-shooting freshman to the mix who nearly outscored the Indians all on her own in firing in seven three-pointers to lead Wahlert to a 71-30 defeat of the bucket Tribe.
Deadlines/Dates
February 26: Deadline to apply for the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Program
March 2: Deadline to apply for 2025 Livestock Indemnity Program
April 30: Deadline to apply for SDRP Stage 1, SDRP Stage 1 Quality Loss, and SDRP Stage 2
County Director Notes and Reminders
The Farmer’s Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program was announced by USDA Undersecretary Richard Fordyce, encouraging producers to contact their local FSA office to file an application. FSA staff have not been trained yet on this program and applications are not expected to be available until the last week in February. Payments could begin as early as February 28th, 2026.
Make no mistake; America has become an authoritarian country. The Trump administration no longer follows the constitution and the rule of law.
ICE has been transformed into a paramilitary answerable only to Trump. Masked men jump out of unmarked cars, stop, assault, arrest, and sometimes kill individuals all without probable cause. When ICE’s actions are challenged, the government lies about the behavior despite clear evidence to the contrary and refuses to investigate, claiming they have “absolute immunity.”
Plans have been announced to hold the 2026 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Waukon Sunday, March 15, beginning at 1 p.m. All are invited to participate in this year’s parade with an Irish-themed entry at no cost. Any businesses, organizations, families or individuals wishing to have an entry are asked to be lined up by 12 noon that Sunday, with float entries lining up in the parking lot of WW Homestead Dairy and the former Northern Engraving plant, tractors unloading and lining up at the Sweeney Auction Service parking lot and horse units gathering at the Croell Redi-Mix plant in southeast Waukon.
For additional information about the St. Patrick’s Day Parade contact the Sweeney family at Village Farm and Home in Waukon at 563-568-4577 or the Waukon Chamber of Commerce at 563-568-4110.
