News Center newsletter

Mason and Marissa Schlake of Waukon announce the birth of their daughter, Hazel Grace Schlake, born February 20, 2020 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. She weighed 8 lbs. 6 ozs. and measured 20-1/4 inches in length at the time of her birth.

Grandparents are Brian and Jennifer Hermanson and Darwin and Sharon Schlake, all of Waukon. Great-grandparents are Dick and Linda Hermanson of Waterville, Gary and Sherri Hovey of Decorah, Darlene and Chester Schlake of Waukon and James and Shirley Stortz of Waukon.
 

To the Editor:

The 2020 Census is fast approaching and its success relies on our participation. The Census is conducted every ten years by the US government and is intended to count every person living in the USA. It will include ten questions and will take ten minutes to complete.

When all of us take the ten minutes to complete our Census, we make a significant contribution and impact to our communities. Federal money and congressional representation are determined by total population size, so your Census response assists your community to get its fair share of more than $750 billion per year in federal programs. In addition, Census numbers determine the number of seats our state will have in the US House of Representatives and state allocations for legislative and school districts.

To the Editor:

March is National Social Work Month, a time to reflect on the invaluable efforts made by social work professionals and the positive impact they have made on our society for generations.

The Iowa Child Advocacy Board (ICAB), the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs of Northeast Iowa, would like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge them for the important roles they fill. Social workers deal with some of the most challenging issues facing individuals, families and communities.

Those of us at ICAB most often encounter social workers while we are advocating for children who have been removed from their homes and are under the care of the Department of Human Services. In these cases, social workers strive to protect children who have been abused and neglected, set up services for families trying to reunify, and help children find a safe, permanent home where they can thrive.

Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
March 16: 2019 ARCPLC Election
June 30: 2020 ARCPLC Election
September 30: PLC Yield Update

Plants and Their Relationship to the Soil
submitted by LuAnn Rolling, District Conservationist, Allamakee County

As we dive deeper into the topic of healthy soil we have to understand the relationship that plants create with the soil.  As a plant grows it excretes “food” called exudate into the area around the root.  Exudates are secretions of sugars along with a little protein and carbohydrates.  A plant can release as much as 50% of the sugars they make from photosynthesis to attract bacteria and grow fungi which eat the exudate.  One very important fungi is called mycorrhizal fungi.  This fungi actually grows with the roots and in return delivers nutrients and trace minerals back to the plant.

Topics will include managing stress, preparing for success and understanding the current grain market

“Setting the Table for Success” is the theme for the fourth annual Women in Agriculture Conference, to be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Washington, Iowa March 28.

The event is being hosted by the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Washington County office, along with the Washington County Women in Agriculture Advisory Board.

The goal of this year’s conference is to show women of all ages how they can set their table for success in agriculture by surrounding themselves with the right people and resources to make informed decisions.

The conference will feature four speakers: Scott Siepker, Iowa Nice Guy; Elaine Kub, grain market economist; Delaney Howell, host of Iowa Public Television’s “Market to Market,” and Kay Frances, a humorous and motivational speaker.

by Dr. Bob Hartzler, Professor of Agronomy, Meaghan Anderson, Field Agronomist in Central Iowa, Integrated Crop Management News, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

A common question when incorporating cover crops into a production system is, will the cover crop interfere with the performance of residual herbicides included with the burndown treatment? This article will discuss the fate of residual herbicides applied to crop residue and living cover crops, and how this may influence herbicide effectiveness.

The 12th Annual Bald Eagle Watching Day is scheduled to be held Saturday, March 7 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 to attend.

Event activities are scheduled to take place from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., with doors opening at 9 a.m. Returning to the program is the Decorah Raptor Resource Project/Decorah Eagle Cam organization presenting at 12:30 p.m. on “Rehabbing the 2019 Eagles”.  John Howe and Amy Reis of the Raptor Resource Project and their team tell about these frisky eaglets and how they recovered from injury to fly the Mississippi River Valley once again.

Waukon native and Ulysses S. Grant portrayer Pete Grady (pictured here) will present a show entitled “Unconditional Surrender: A visit with Ulysses S. Grant” Saturday, March 14 at 11 a.m. at the New Albin Community Center. The presentation will feature Grant’s childhood in Ohio on through to the final years of his life, when he struggled to complete his autobiography while dying of throat cancer. The event is free and everyone is welcome to attend. Submitted photo.
 

Local business can win $2,000 prize in Open 4 Business contest

The Main Street Lansing Annual Meeting and Dinner is set for Saturday, March 21 at TJ Hunter’s Banquet Hall on Main Street in Lansing. New this year is a contest that will award $2,000 to a local business in an Open 4 Business: Fish Tank Edition contest.

Open 4 Business is a statewide contest sponsored by Main Street Iowa, with potential winnings of $28,000 in grant funds. Any business located within a designated Main Street District and in operation for at least one year is eligible. Funds can be used for things like inventory, equipment, marketing, computers and software.

Iowa Representative Anne Osmundson of Volga filed her nomination petitions with the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office Wednesday, February 26 to seek re-election to District 56 in the Iowa House of Representatives this fall. Rep. Osmundson is pictured above filing her petitions with staff from the Secretary of State’s Office. She was first elected to her current position in the Iowa House of Representatives in 2018. Submitted photo.