River Valley

The Allamakee County Conservation Board and the Harpers Ferry Booster Club will host the annual Kids Ice Fisheree January 27, 2019 from 11-2 p.m. at Nobles Island Boat Landing. Nobles Island Boat Landing is approximately 5 miles south of Harpers Ferry on County Road 364. Anyone 15 years of age and under is encouraged to attend with an adult. Ice fishing equipment, bait, food, and hot chocolate will be provided. Entry to the fisheree is free of charge and prizes will be awarded to many of the participants.

In case of inclement weather or poor ice conditions a makeup date will be February 10, 2019 at the same time and location. Announcements will be made as soon as possible via the Allamakee County Conservation Facebook page.

Main Street Madness, the annual punch card event sponsored by Main Street Lansing, recorded a record-setting $220,100 in holiday sales between November 12 and December 15. The promotion featured punch cards that were available from participating businesses, and for every $5 spent, a customer received a card punch. Once a card was full with $100 worth of punches, a customer was eligible to enter a drawing for a variety of prizes, from business gift certificates to $150 in Downtown Dollars. The 2018 prize winners are:

An Allamakee County woman has won a $100,000 lottery prize. Susan Dolan (pictured above) of Harpers Ferry claimed the sixth of eight top prizes available in the Iowa Lottery’s “Star” scratch game. She purchased her winning ticket at Barry’s Mini Mart, 403 West Chestnut Street in Harpers Ferry, and claimed her prize Monday, December 24 at the lottery’s regional office in Cedar Rapids. Star is a $10 scratch game. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit www.ialottery.com. Submitted photo.
 

by Macie Hill

The Lansing City Council meeting was held Monday, December 17. Discussion centered around the adoption of the consent agenda, a Black Hawk Bridge update, acknowledging receipt of a letter from Attorney Karl Knudson, discussing the shoveling ordinance, a marina dock project update, rebuilding a pump for the jetter and purchasing body cameras for the City police officers.

The consent agenda consisted of the City Council Minutes from the meeting held December 3 and the Treasurer’s Report for November 2018. The consent agenda was approved with no major concerns.

The Allamakee County Conservation Board (ACCB) will host a Winter Solstice and Full Moon Hike this Friday, December 21, beginning at 6 p.m. The full moon will make the shortest day of the year a little bit brighter.

The hike will take place along County Road 527, along the Mississippi River, starting at 6 p.m. County Road 527 is approximately a two-mile, one-way level B County road that begins at the end of Power Plant Drive south of Lansing. Participants can park at the Rural Recycling drop-off site past the Alliant Energy Plant south of Lansing.

If snowshoes are needed, the ACCB has snowshoes and trekking poles for use free of charge. Those needing snowshoes are urged to register in advance.

Open Door To The Soul, Co., located in the former Waterville Lutheran Church, just outside of Waterville, will host Connecting Community Conversations, a series of monthly roundtable discussions intended to find commonality through shared experiences, bolster support and identify ways to make a difference for others. All discussions will begin at 7 p.m. on the dates listed below in the basement area of the former Waterville Lutheran Church.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Upcoming Connecting Community Conversations currently include the following schedule and topics:

January 17 - The Shadows of Suicide
February 21 - Illness, Hospice and Dying
March 21 - Do We Dare Talk Politics?
April 18 - Poverty, The Truth About Money
May 16 - Foregiveness and Healing Wounds
June 20 - Land Stewardship in the Driftless Region.
 

Eastern Iowa artist Fred Easker’s landscape paintings offer an extraordinary view into what is too often considered ordinary. Most often drawing on familiar sites in the backroads of his native Eastern Iowa, he celebrates both the aesthetics and the character of place and offers a keen meditation on the power, vulnerability and eloquence of land and relationships to it.

His landscape paintings are on full display in a new book “Connected to Place Landscape Paintings.” The book is in landscape page format of 11 inches wide by 8-1/2 inches tall to give the reader/viewer the largest view. Some images spread across both pages giving a full view of Easker’s work. The book includes commentary by Joni Kinsey, Professor of Art History at the University of Iowa, and other art professionals.

Kerndt Brothers Insurance Agency in Lansing recently made a donation of a new ice rescue saw to the Lansing Fire Department. The new rescue saw replaces an older model that had become unreliable. Ice rescue saws are specially-designed to quickly cut through ice in cold water and ice rescue situations.

Gary DeVilbiss, President of Kerndt Brothers Insurance said, “When we learned that the previous ice rescue tool might not work when it was needed most, we contacted Chief Tony Becker to see how we could be of assistance. Our discussion led us to Dave Moritz at CARQUEST, who also represents Stihl Power Equipment. We were pleased to learn that the community’s new ice saw could be both purchased and serviced locally. The ice rescue saw is ready for service to our Lansing EMS and the surrounding area. We are indeed thankful that our EMS professionals serve us so well.”

At the urging of some interested citizens, the Lansing Park and Recreation Board and the Lansing City Council are planning to add a multi-activity, interactive splash pad to further enhance the 2017 Lions Club Playground Enhancement Project in the Lansing City Park area. Splash pads have become the most popular park and recreation attraction. The chosen site for the proposed splash pad has the necessary infrastructure available, an adequate water supply and the discharge piping for the removal of the waste water from the site. There are also restroom and change facilities adjacent to the site, making the location ideal for a splash pad.

by Macie Hill

The regular session of the Lansing City Council was held Monday, December 3. Discussion centered around the Fehr Graham engineering agreement for the Clear Creek Sewer Project, a sewer line bill regarding two Main Street businesses, the Northern Engraving Well, a wireless squad car system, a splash pad update and a Marina Board update.

The council approved the motion for an engineering agreement with Fehr Graham regarding an additional $32,000 engineering fee for completion of the Clear Creek Sewer Project.

The council was advised that T.J. Hunter’s Banquet Hall and the Century Link building’s private sewer line had a blockage that was professionally resolved recently. The $800 bill for the project will be sent to T.J. Hunter’s Banquet Hall owner Jason Drape, and the two property owners will negotiate what amount of the bill owners of the Century Link building will pay.