The Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Board of Directors met Wednesday, December 10 at Kee High School in Lansing, holding an organizational meeting followed by the district’s regular and annual meeting later the same evening.
Voting members of the board present included Heather Lutz, District 2; Joe Manning, At-Large; Melanie Mauss, At-Large; and Arla Wagner, District 3. Tommy Martin, District 1 board member was absent.
Others in attendance at the meeting included EACSD Superintendent Jay Mathis, Board Secretary/Financial Clerk Michele Martin, Grades PK-12 Principal Donna Thomas, Special Education Director/Associate Principal Liz Hill, and Technology Director Dave Ellefson.
Alliant Energy is seeking applications for its 2026 Innovation Scholarships. Across Iowa and Wisconsin, up to 25 students will receive $1,000 scholarships to further their academic goals.
Applicants will write an essay that identifies a challenge in their community and presents their own innovative solution using science, technology, engineering and/or math. Scholarship recipients will be selected based on essay content, participation in leadership roles, volunteer work, community service, activities and grade-point average.
Applicants must be enrolled in their first full-time program at an undergraduate school. They also must be less than 25 years old and either a dependent of a current Alliant Energy customer or a customer themselves.
Students can submit applications to the Alliant Energy Innovation Scholarship Program online. The deadline is February 3, 2026.
TrustPoint, LLP, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants, has released an audit report on Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA) 1 in Elkader. Financial highlights include the AEA’s revenues totaled $24,085,662 for the year ended June 30, 2025, a 9.19% decrease from the prior year. Expenses for the AEA operations for the year ended June 30, 2025 totaled $23,486,493, a 9.87% decrease from the prior year.
The decrease in revenues is due primarily to a reduction in operating grants and contributions and property tax revenue, while the decrease in expenses is attributed to a reduction in instructional staff support and administrative expenses. These reductions are attributable to House File 2612, which brought significant changes to the operations, funding and governance of the AEA system. A copy of the audit report is available for review on the Auditor of State’s website at https://auditor.iowa.gov/audit-reports.
Effigy Mounds National Monument will continue its full slate of winter activities as the new year unfolds. The Children’s Winter Story and Craft Times will continue to take place through April, the annual Winter Film Festival is scheduled to begin in January, and there will also be an Eagle Viewing Hike taking place.
Story Times are scheduled for a 10 a.m. start time in the Visitor Center auditorium each Saturday in January - 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. Craft Times are scheduled for a 2 p.m. start time in the Visitor Center auditorium each Sunday in January - 4, 11, 18 and 25.
Effigy Mounds National Monument is beginning a new Golden Eagles Club as the new year gets underway. The new club will offer a weekly gathering for “mature adults” each Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m., at the Effigy Mounds Visitor Center, and each month will include a Book Club meeting to discuss various published works.
Join the Allamakee County Conservation Board (ACCB) for a Full Moon Snowshoe Hike Friday, January 2, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. The hike will take place in the Fish Farm Mounds State Preserve and will be approximately two miles. Participants should meet at the Fish Farm Mounds parking area approximately three miles south of New Albin on the Great River Road.
The Full Moon Snowshoe will be a guided trail hike taking place after dark to enable the participants to see the stars and full moon like they have never seen before. The event requires preregistration for those wishing to use snowshoes provided by the ACCB and is open to all ages. However, anyone under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. In the case of inclement weather or poor snow conditions, the Full Moon Snowshoe may be postponed or canceled and will be announced via the ACCB’s Facebook page.
Game-high 22 points ... Kee girls basketball senior Addison Winters powers her way to the hoop for a basket in the Hawks’ 55-49 home win over Crestwood Friday, December 19. Winters scored a game-high 22 points and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, dished out a team-best three assists and swiped one steal. Photo by Danielle Potter. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photos link on this webpage.
A final busy stretch prior to the holiday break for the Kee girls basketball team saw the Lady Hawks play three games over a five-day span and put two of those three games in the win column. The only loss in that pre-holiday series came to Class 3A 14th-rated Center Point-Urbana, 52-48 in overtime, in a game that was recently scheduled for Monday, December 22. On each side of that lone loss that was close to not even happening, Kee’s girls posted a pair of Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) victories at home, including a 55-49 win over UIC newcomer Crestwood Friday, December 19 and a 48-32 triumph over Central Elkader Tuesday, December 23 in a game rescheduled from December 9 due to winter weather.
Soaring and scoring ... Kee boys basketball freshman Oden Welsh glides toward the hoop in the Hawks’ 77-40 loss at home to Crestwood Friday, December 19. Welsh scored six points, grabbed two rebounds and swiped one steal in the ballgame. Photo by Danielle Potter. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photos link on this webpage.
The Kee boys basketball team entered the holiday break in the grips of a five-game non-winning streak, falling in two more games that included one on each side of the final weekend before this year’s holiday break began. The Hawks first fell at home to Crestwood by a 77-40 final result Friday, December 19 before suffering a 61-42 home loss to Central Elkader Tuesday, December 23 in a game rescheduled from a December 9 winter weather postponement.
The Hawks will return to court action following the holiday break Tuesday, January 6 to play at New Hampton before hosting Waukon Friday, January 9. They will then play at South Winneshiek Tuesday, January 13 before playing back-to-back games at home, including Friday, January 16 against MFL/MarMac and Saturday, January 17 against Valley Lutheran.
In its only competition of the week prior to the holiday break from school, the Waukon girls wrestling team took part in another large tournament event when the Lady Indians competed in the Bubba Randles Winter Classic hosted by Cedar Rapids Prairie Saturday, December 20. A total of 26 teams involving nearly 200 wrestlers were competing in the tournament, and the Indians had 11 wrestlers taking to the mat for them, with four of those mat ladies bringing home placewinnings within the top eight of their respective weight class to help the mat Tribe tally 47.5 team points and finish 17th in the final team standings.
As Followers of Jesus the Christ, we have received the free gift of God, which is eternal life. Romans 6:23. This free gift is available to all who turn their lives over to our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. And yet this free gift comes with a very high cost. The cost of this “free” gift is twofold. There was and is a cost to the provider of the gift, God and there is a cost to the receiver of the gift, which is us.
Each persona of the Triune God has paid and continues to pay to make this gift of salvation possible. John 3:16 and Romans 8:32 tell us of God’s sacrifice of His only Begotten Son. God gave up Jesus for us. Jesus sacrificed His Life for us. Even the Holy Spirit has a ministry in and through us that has spanned the ages, constantly trying to change or at least guide the stubborn hearts of sinful people. John 14:26.
