The Caregiver Support Group meetings that were held monthly at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon continue to be held through conference calls during COVID-19. Northeast Iowa Agency on Aging is offering weekly Caregiver Support Group conference calls every Monday from 10-11 a.m.
To join a call, just dial 1-800-264-8432. Then enter the participant code 961847# to then be connected to the support group conference call, joining other caregivers.
Contact Kelly Kuennen of Northeast Iowa Agency on Aging at 800-779-8707 with any questions.
Lucille Brink of Postville will be celebrating her 80th birthday February 11. Her family is hosting a card shower in lieu of a gathering, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In honor of the occasion, cards and well wishes may be sent to 328 Bobwhite Drive, Postville, IA 52162.
Nathan and Amanda Bakker of Cedar Falls announce the birth of their daughter, Audrey Mae Bakker, born October 20, 2020 at UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital in Waterloo. She weighed 6 lbs. 12 ozs. and measured 19-1/2 inches in length at the time of her birth. She joins a brother, Calvin (3-1/2).
Grandparents are Alan and Lori Heitman of New Albin and Larry and LeAnn Bakker of Dike.
The Iowa Senate recently passed SF 159, which some are referring to as the school voucher bill. This bill affects education in Iowa in a variety of ways. The main provisions are to expand charter schools, expand open enrollment, and create scholarships for students who wish to attend private schools rather than public schools (also known as vouchers).
This bill may seem like it would not have much effect on school districts in the area, especially because there are no private schools in the Eastern Allamakee Community School District. That assumption is incorrect, as it is anticipated that it will have a huge effect on the budget of all public schools in the state. The Legislative Services Agency, which is a nonpartisan agency that provides budget analysis for the Iowa legislature, shows increasing negative impacts to all public school district budgets in Iowa over the next four years. There are no budget projections beyond that point.
You’ve heard that saying, “Silence is golden.” This may hold true in some cases, but today, more than ever, citizens need to stand up, speak up and tell the truth!
After reading the article in The Standard by Jodi Peake about her presence at the January 6 rally in Washington. D.C., we cannot, in good conscience, remain silent. Peake described her experience as “joyful and peaceful,” and also stated “the energy was filled with light and love.” That may describe her own experience, but we would be willing to bet that our elected leaders and their staff would disagree when they were forced to flee for their lives as insurrectionists stormed the Capitol.
Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
February 12: CRP Signup
February 26: CFAP 1 & 2 Updates
March 5: WHIP Quality Loss Adjustment
March 15: 2021 ARCPLC Signup
Forty Chances to Improve Your Soil Health
by LuAnn Rolling, District Conservationist
There is a book written by Howard G. Buffet called Forty Chances. It is based on the notion that the average farmer gets forty crops, or forty chances to make changes. This book is a dire warning about what happens when the farmers, and the food they produce, goes away.
Horse owners and enthusiasts will have an opportunity to learn more about management of equine during a monthly webinar on equine management decisions.
Beginning February 11, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will provide a monthly series of short virtual meetings over four months. The webinar topics include nutrition, the importance of soil for pasture and hay, weed control and environmental management. Opportunities for interaction with the presenters will be available. “The program is designed to provide attendees with an interactive and informative opportunity to further develop their knowledge of equine related topics, including management and care,” said Peggy Auwerda, associate professor in animal science and extension equine specialist at Iowa State University.
What many had described locally as a winter that had “not been too bad” early on certainly took a turn toward the worse late last week with the snowstorm that dumped reports of up to five inches of new snow across Allamakee County Thursday, February 4 and coupled that new fallen snow with winds gusting up to 30 miles an hour that blew that snow around well into Friday, February 5, not only covering area roadways initially but continuing to cover them with blowing snow into the weekend (as evident in the photo of the initially covered road above Thursday afternoon and the road streaked with blowing snow pictured below Friday morning).
Even though the map of vaccine provider locations on the State of Iowa COVID-19 website (https://coronavirus.iowa.gov) continues to show Allamakee County as one of eight counties in the state of Iowa without a list of vaccine provider sites as of Monday, February 8, Allamakee County Public Health officials say the limited vaccine doses that have been alloted to Allamakee County by the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) are being injected into as many arms as those limited doses allow.
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, February 8 to address a full agenda of items including the approval of Collective Bargaining Agreements between Allamakee County and the County Sheriff’s Office and the County Road Crew, approving the Fiscal-Year 2022 salary for the Board of Supervisors and the hiring of a full-time maintenance person for the Secondary Roads Department.
There was no Public Comment during that designated portion of the meeting. Manure Management Plan updates for Manderfield Ag 1 and 2, Crossroads Dairy and Steve Weymiller were individually reviewed by the Supervisors with all four plan updates being accepted and placed on file.
