River Valley

Join the International Crane Foundation and more than 1,800 volunteers Saturday, April 15 from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. for the annual Midwest Crane Count. Each year participants travel to their local wetlands and favorite birding locations to survey the Sandhill and Whooping Cranes and report the data collected.

The survey takes place in more than 150 counties in seven states - including all of Wisconsin, and portions of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio. Each crane count site will have a county coordinator who will assign a site and provide instructions on how to participate and report the data.

Visit cranecount.org to view the list of county coordinators and find other useful links on how to download the data sheet and enter data. The coordinator listed for Allamakee County is Lee Cox.

The Inclusivity Club of Kee High School in Lansing will host a community celebration of International Transgender Day of Visibility this Friday, March 31 from 5-6 p.m. at Lansing Office Works, 274 Main Street in Lansing. Following personal sharing by students, refreshments will be served. This event is free of charge and open to the public.
International Transgender Day of Visibility began in Michigan in 2009 and has grown to a global observance which honors the joy and resilience of transgender and nonbinary people. It also aims to raise awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide.

There are over 1.6 million transgender youth (age 13+) and adults across the United States. The Inclusivity Club shares that while there has been significant progress in recent years, with more visibility than ever before, the basic human rights of transgenders are under threat, especially for those under 18 years of age.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

During its regular meeting Monday, March 20, the Lansing City Council set a public hearing date on the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 24) budget for Monday, April 17 at 7 p.m. in Lansing City Hall.

ECONOMIC VITALITY COMMITTEE REPORT
Council member Ian Zahren introduced two new topics for the council’s consideration as part of his report from Main Street Lansing’s Economic Vitality Committee. One involved the possibility of instituting a tax abatement policy in Lansing, as part of an effort to “grow Lansing economically, residentially, commercially, and industrially.” Where tax abatements would be approved in the interest of increasing the number of long-term occupancy units and affordable single family-zoned housing stock, Zahren emphasized that there would be “no impact on [the] current tax base. We’re just providing an incentive for people to build long-term housing.”

Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) Family Service offices is taking applications for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through April 30 of this year. All eligible homeowners and renters are encouraged to apply.
LIHEAP customers will need to furnish the following when applying for LIHEAP:
• form of identification for all household members
• a copy of their most recent heating and electric bill
• proof of all household members’ gross income for the past 30 calendar days, the most recent 12 months or for the past calendar year.

All low-income northeast Iowans are encouraged to apply, including senior citizens and individuals with disabilities. Households burning wood or where heating is included as part of the rent may also be eligible for assistance.

Lansing VFW Auxiliary #5981 is holding a Soup & Sandwich Supper to honor Vietnam Veterans and their surviving spouses Thursday, March 30 from 3-7 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church Hall, located at 648 Main Street, Lansing. A special ceremony to commemorate National Vietnam Veterans Day, which is March 29, and to honor the Veterans and surviving spouses of Vietnam Veterans, will begin at 5 p.m.

Featured in that honoring will be Lansing’s own Don Peters, the one surviving brother of five brothers in the Clem and Helen Peters family who served as Marines in Vietnam. All Veterans are invited to attend.
 

Island restoration continues on the McGregor Lake Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project located in Pool 10 between Marquette and Prairie du Chien, WI. Stage two of this project will be completed by Newt Marine Service of Dubuque and is approximately a $12.8 million project located within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, McGregor District.

Construction for this stage is scheduled to be completed in 2025. The project is funded through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program and was planned and designed cooperatively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources.

The Friends of the Refuge Headwaters (FORH) group is encouraging all amateur photographers to get outside and capture the beauty of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) for a Centennial photo contest.

The Refuge, which was established in 1924 through the efforts of Will Dilg, founder of the Izaak Walton League of America, includes much of the lands and waters of the Mississippi River from Wabasha, MN to Rock Island, IL. Photos taken on the Refuge will be accepted for entry into the contest until October 27 of this year. Winning entries will become part of a traveling display at events being held up and down the Mississippi River in 2024.

Photographers may enter a total of three photos in the following categories; Scenic Views of the Refuge, Wildlife and Plants of the Refuge, and Connecting People with Nature on the Refuge. There is a fourth category, Young Nature Photographers, for youth ages 16 and under.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

According to the Wikipedia entry for the historic Black Hawk Bridge, it “spans the Mississippi River, joining the town of Lansing, in Allamakee County, Iowa, to rural Crawford County, Wisconsin … Named for Chief Black Hawk, it is popularly referred to as the ‘Lansing bridge.’ It carries Iowa Highway 9 and Wisconsin Highway 82.” As anyone who crosses that bridge on a regular basis knows, though, it carries more than those roadways; it carries people - as they pursue their livelihoods, do their shopping, gather with their friends and family. In the case of this story, the bridge was the conduit by which two area businesses - one on each side of the Mississippi River - came together to offer five women who came from elsewhere an opportunity to get together over a shared passion for sewing, and to enjoy amenities offered by two Upper Mississippi River towns – Lansing, Iowa and De Soto, Wisconsin.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

During its regular meeting Monday, March 6, the Lansing City Council approved Andrew Boddicker’s presentation of the final version of the objectives and projects that will be listed as part of Lansing’s application for an Iowa Great Places designation through the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. The vote for approval was unanimous, with two changes: 1) removing the objective for a rec center and indoor pool and 2) adding an annual town hall for keeping the citizens more informed, involved and providing opportunities for outreach by the City.

“Now we wait,” Boddicker said in an email following the meeting. “We may be asked to provide more information or be visited by the review committee in April. We will find out if we get the designation by June 30, but likely before that.”

Ukrainian Village in Lansing, a new carry-out restaurant starting up March 12, presented a Ukrainian Open House and Experience, serving over 150 visitors Sunday, February 26. The experience included a variety of Ukrainian food specialties, such as Varenyky, Borscht, Milyntsi and Holubtsi, Ukrainian songs and dance, and information about Ukraine, all taking place at Lansing Office Works.

Owner Lesya Ryzhenkova, along with her sisters, mother and partner, as well as friends from the Twin Cities, provided a variety of folk songs, accordion music by Michael Petelin and performances by Natalia Scoville. Also helping with the event were Iryna Fink and her mom, Luba. Her team also prepared 10 different food items for a buffet style meal throughout the weekend for the event.