River Valley

Four Compatibility Determinations (CDs) which evaluate various economic and/or commercial uses of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are available for public comment through April 9 of this year. The draft CDs re-evaluate the following uses of the Refuge:

• Commercial Fishing Floats
• Commercially Guided Wildlife/Wildlands Observation
• Guided Sport Fishing
• Guided Waterfowl Hunting.

Sunday, March 11, John Norris, Democratic candidate for the Iowa Governor's office, stopped by the Waterville Fire Station, where volunteers were serving up pancakes and sausage. Dennis Nebendahl of rural Waterville welcomed Norris to the firehouse and exclaimed, “This is the first time we’ve ever had a candidate for governor visit Waterville!”

Norris’s next stop was Milty’s in Lansing, where he met with a group of area residents. This is the candidate's second visit to Allamakee County.

During his visit, Norris talked about rebuilding the economies of rural Iowa as key to helping the state prosper, noting a goal of an agricultural economy made up of diverse family farm operations. He’d like to see farm programs which help beginning farmers succeed, which in turn helps rural communities succeed.

At its recent annual meeting, Our Savior's Lutheran Church congregation in Lansing supported two important additions to the church's mission statement to promote inclusion of all individuals in Lansing and surrounding communities. To that end, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church has adopted a new welcome statement and new belief statements. The impetus behind the changes centers around the thought that at a time where there is so much division in the nation Our Savior's Lutheran Church wants everyone to understand God’s inclusive grace and love.

The church's new welcome statement declares: "We welcome all because God welcomes all. Whatever your age, gender, race, ethnicity, political perspective, religious background, economic situation, citizenship, mental or physical ability, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity - there’s a place here for you."

The congregation backs this welcome statement up with belief statements. These belief statements include:

by Macie Hill

The regular meeting of the Lansing City Council was held Monday evening, March 5. Discussion centered around the renewal of the People Service contract, more rocks and concrete being placed near the Lansing Marina and a new position for a Lansing Police Officer being available.

Dennis White, regional manager for People Service, Inc., was at the meeting to ask the council to consider the renewal of the contract with People Service, Inc. for water and wastewater services provided for the City of Lansing. After further discussion by the council, a motion was made and seconded to approve the 2018 renewal of the contract with People Service, Inc.

John Norris, Democratic candidate for Iowa Governor, will be in Lansing this Sunday, March 11 at 12 noon at Milty’s Restaurant located at 200 Main Street. The public is invited to meet John Norris and learn more about his candidacy for governor and his vision for Iowa.

Norris has worked for Senator Tom Harkin and Governor Tom Vilsack as his chief of staff. When Tom Vilsack was appointed as the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Norris continued to work for Secretary Vilsack.

For more information about the event, contact Karen Pratte at 563-535-7254, Lori Egan at 563-568-1290 or Chris Applegate at 515-368-4084.

Tuesday, March 13, the public is invited to join State Historical Museum of Iowa Museum Educator Jessica Rundlett to learn about Iowa Culture, a new way to explore over 3,500 Iowa arts, history and culture sites across all 99 counties. Following a short presentation, attendees will play Iowa Trivia to learn about unique sites in the area and all across the state. The free program will be held from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. at Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library.
 

Plan now to attend the 10th Annual Bald Eagle Watching Day this Saturday, March 3 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.

Event activities are from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., with doors opening at 8:45 a.m. Returning to the program is the Decorah Raptor Research Project Decorah Eagle Cam organization presenting at 12 p.m. on “What we learned from an Eagle’s Nest”. John Howe and Amy Reis of the Raptor Resource Project and their team will be in attendance for the second time.

The Allamakee County Conservation Board will be hosting Captain Ted Peck Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m. at the Driftless Area Education and Visitors Center in Lansing. Captain Ted Peck will be speaking on walleye fishing techniques and presentations throughout the year on the Upper Mississippi River.

Peck has been fishing the Mississippi River for over 50 years and has been guiding for over 30 years. This has earned him sponsorships from numerous manufacturers including Evinrude Outboards, Lund Boats, Johnson Fishing and Northland Tackle. When not on the river, Peck writes outdoors stories for a number of national, regional and local outlets.

The Ferryville Farmers Market is holding an organizational meeting Monday, March 5 from 9-11:30 a.m. at the Ferryville Village Hall, State Hwy. 35, Ferryville WI. Anyone interested in being a vendor, as well as all present vendors at Ferryville Farmers Market, may attend.

Market Manager Robert Jelinek has organized the meeting to begin working together to launch another successful 2018 market season. This meeting is for those who have ever thought about growing some extra produce in their garden, wanted to try being a vendor or need help getting started with either.

Larry and Mary Wilson of Richard’s Orchards will talk about “Getting started with a Gangbuster Garden”.  A member of the Crawford County Master Gardeners will be present to participate in this discussion as well.

The Kee High School Speech Department will be hosting its annual Speech Dinner Theatre Sunday, March 4, beginning at 5 p.m. at TJ’s Banquet Hall in Lansing. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. for the annual fundraising event that showcases the Kee High School Large Group Speech teams while also providing a full buffet of beef brisket/barbeque chicken, cheesy potatoes, corn, dinner roll, and the traditional endless table of desserts. Tickets are on sale only this week through Friday, February 23 and may be purchased from any speech member or by calling the Kee High School office at 563-538-4201. No tickets will be sold at the door or the week before the event due to ordering the right amount of food for the evening. The event is a fundraiser for the Speech organization to help offset contest fees and All-State trip costs. Submitted photo.