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Approximately 200 area residents (many of whom are pictured below) gathered at TJ Hunter’s Banquet Hall Thursday, June 20 for the premiere of “The Burial,” a short independently made film by Iowa native Jack Meggers filmed primarily in the Lansing area. A festive atmosphere surrounded the audience as they situated themselves with popcorn and refreshments, two necessary accompaniments to going to a movie. Many of them had previously seen the cast and crew in the Lansing area filming a year ago. Some came out of curiosity, wanting to know what a film billed as a “supernatural-psychological thriller” might have to say about the Driftless area. In addition to the film viewing, local residents took the opportunity to have some of their own “red carpet” moments with those involved in the film. Pictured in the center photo, members of the Betty and late Lloyd Welsh family had some fun with their “red carpet” photo opportunity with the film’s lead actress, Nokomis Leaman-Logsdon.

by Lissa Blake

Pursuing renewable, clean energy isn’t just about the environment. It’s also about keeping money in the community.

Conservation, sustainability and local economics are just some of the reasons a number of local residents have recently joined forces to pursue the creation of an Allamakee Energy District.

Andy Johnson, founding team member and executive director of the Winneshiek Energy District, said Allamakee County is among a number of counties in the region that have been working on establishing energy districts. They are partnering with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque to grow the network.

“Clayton and Howard counties were the first to follow and create their own districts. In the last six months, both Johnson and Delaware counties have created their own boards and incorporated,” said Johnson. “An energy district’s goal is local, clean-energy prosperity, wealth retention and creation.”

Joint meeting with Iowa and Wisconsin DOT to be held in Lansing

A joint Public Information Meeting with the Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation (DOT) has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 9 between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. at the Kee High School, located at 569 Center Street in Lansing. The proposed improvements on the Iowa 9 (Black Hawk) Bridge connecting Iowa and Wisconsin at Lansing will be displayed and discussed.

Details of the proposed project will be discussed at the meeting. Iowa DOT and consultant staff will be present to discuss the project informally. Interested individuals are encouraged to attend to express their views and ask questions about the proposed project.

The short film “The Burial” was filmed at several locations in the Lansing area last fall, including this and other scenes in the rural area surrounding Lansing. Film director Jack Meggers, son of Lansing resident Larry Meggers, will return to Lansing this Thursday, June 20 to premiere the film at a “red carpet” event taking place at TJ Hunter’s Banquet Hall in Lansing. The premiere presentation will begin at 7 p.m. with that “red carpet” event, with a viewing of the nearly half-four film slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. A Q&A question and answer session is then scheduled for 8 p.m. and will feature film director Jack Meggers and the film’s lead actress, Nokomis Leaman-Logsdon of New York City. All aspects of the event are open to the public and free of any admission charge. Photo by Bruce Bales.
 

Waukon Broadband Committee seeking public input

Some time ago, the City of Waukon formed a Broadband Committee to investigate opportunities for providing improved broadband services within the city. The committee is comprised of representatives from the Waukon City Council, local businesses and homeowners.

In the course of the committee’s work, they were approached by representatives of Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative about the possibility of providing such services. The Cooperative has been involved in providing broadband service within the rural areas around Waukon for the past several years and has built out a fiber and wireless infrastructure to support those areas.

New decorative street lights are in the process of being installed in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) street and sidewalk improvement project taking place through Waukon. As pictured in the photo foreground at left, 35 of the new decorative light poles approved by the Waukon City Council in July of last year are being installed by Voltmer Electric, Inc. of Decorah (as evident in photo background) and will replace 43  of the previous street lights throughout the Waukon downtown business district along Main Street, Spring Avenue and the first couple blocks of Allamakee Street. Standard photo by Joe Moses.
 

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, June 17 to address a full agenda of items including the approval and signing of the Solutions Annual Support Agreement and Information Technology (IT) Services Agreement for Fiscal-Year 2020, consideration of signing a letter in support of a grant application for the Sheriff’s Office and discussion of relocating a road in Rossville.

Without any members of the public in attendance during the Public Comment portion of the meeting, Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker discussed recent weather conditions and the current weather forecast. Allamakee County Conservation Director Jim Janett discussed river levels and that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) inspections will be taking place in areas damaged by flooding.

Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer’s staff is holding regular office hours at different locations throughout the district so that her office can more conveniently serve constituents. Members of her staff can assist Iowans who are experiencing difficulties with federal agencies, including backlogged veterans’ benefits, problems with Social Security and Medicare, and stalled passport application renewals. There is no need to call ahead or RSVP.

A member of Congresswoman Finkenauer’s staff will be in Waukon this Thursday, June 20 at Waukon City Hall, located at 101 Allamakee Street. Members of the public can stop by that location from 11 a.m.-12 noon to present any questions or seek help with matters such as described above.

In addition to these “mobile” office hours, Congresswoman Finkenauer’s staff is available to serve constituents at her permanent offices located in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Waterloo.
 

A gathering for the formation of an energy district in Allamakee County will take place Thursday, June 20 at 3 p.m. in the downstairs community room at Robey Library in Waukon. Anne and Dave Blocker of Waukon hosted an initial meeting in which three take-aways were defined:

• Allamakee County is different than Winneshiek, Clayton, Howard and Dubuque (the first four energy districts already formed), with its own unique challenges and opportunities.
• Those unique opportunities are very real, and include programming partnerships with existing districts and matching seed funds available from the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.
• A core team of champions is already forming to lead the effort, with the first three to four potential board members stepping forward and many others ready to play support roles.

A dream for Iowa native filmmaker Jack Meggers will come to full reality at the very location where its creation began - Lansing, IA.

A Mason City native and 2017-2018 Iowa Arts Council Artist Fellow, Meggers will be hosting the premiere screening of his short film, “The Burial”, at TJ Hunter’s Banquet Hall in Lansing Thursday, June 20. The 7 p.m. screening will also be hosted by Allamakee County Economic Development and Tourism and will begin with a “red carpet” event, with the screening to begin at 7:30 p.m. and a Q&A session at approximately 8 p.m.

Meggers said there will be a red carpet and a banner set up for movie premiere-style photo opportunities. Popcorn and candy will be available, and the screening of the film is free of any admission charge. Parents of young children are cautioned that  there is some adult language in the film.