Local News

Error message

Warning: array_merge(): Expected parameter 1 to be an array, bool given in _simpleads_render_ajax_template() (line 133 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
Notice: Trying to get property 'settings' of non-object in _simpleads_adgroup_settings() (line 343 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
Warning: array_merge(): Expected parameter 1 to be an array, bool given in _simpleads_render_ajax_template() (line 157 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in include() (line 24 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/templates/simpleads_ajax_call.tpl.php).

Tue

Dec

Start the new year with a hike at Pikes Peak

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/26/2017 - 10:33

Join the staff and Friends of Pikes Peak State Park on a free, guided hike on New Year’s Day. Hikers can meet at 1 p.m., at the stone shelter in the park, for a one-mile hike led by park manager Matt Tschirgi.

“This is the seventh year the DNR is hosting First Day Hikes as part of an effort to get people outdoors and into our state parks,” said Todd Coffelt, chief of the DNR State Parks Bureau. “These hikes are a great way to get outside, exercise, enjoy nature and welcome the New Year with friends and family.”

Last year, more than 1,200 people began the year in an Iowa state park, hiking more than 1,100 total miles. This year, 25 state parks will host First Day Hikes.

Tue

Dec

TAG students benefit from trial and error

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/19/2017 - 12:47

Isabella Torkelson (left), Evelyn Ruff and Tricia Bacon work on their air drop packages during a recent TAG session at the MFL MarMac McGregor Center. (Photos by Audrey Posten)

Holden Mathis (left) and Kole Pape, with the help of Nate Weber, test their fish’s prosthetic tail.

Amelya Weigand (left) and Kaylee Nuehring use Play-doh to help form the fish's prosthetic tail.

Mindy Keehner hopes pipe cleaners will help the "fish."

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

Designing animal prosthetics, creating air drop packages to deliver food to disaster victims: these sound like activities conducted in high-tech laboratories. While that may be true, they’re also happening within the walls of the MFL MarMac McGregor Center, where students in the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program are taking on real-world engineering scenarios.

Around 40 students in fourth through eighth grade participate in the program, which gives them an opportunity to experience new learning challenges and think in ways they might not in the regular classroom.

Tue

Dec

City of Marquette ‘stuck’ when it comes to Walz Energy

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/19/2017 - 12:34

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

“There’s nothing you can do until something happens.”

That was Marquette city attorney Dan Key’s advice to the city council when asked, at its Dec. 12 meeting, if there is anything the city can do to halt construction of the Walz Energy facility currently being built east of Monona.

Construction on the 10,000-head cattle feedlot and biogas operation began earlier this year. Its location in the Bloody Run Creek Watershed, and in an area with sinkhole-prone karst topography, has many concerned about the effect on water quality, both to Bloody Run and the ground water.

Tue

Dec

Students hone writing skills through NaNoWriMo

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/19/2017 - 11:27

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

Few people can say they’ve written a novel. Even fewer have done it as teenagers. But, as of Dec. 1, most of the MFL MarMac eighth grade class had completed the unique accomplishment.

“Every year, it gets better and better,” said Scott Boylen, who, each November for seven years, has challenged his eighth grade language arts students to participate in the online creative writing project NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

Tue

Dec

Through Enrichment, students build on their own learning processes

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/12/2017 - 12:38

Nate Weber, K-12 outreach program coordinator with Clayton County’s Iowa State Extension Office, tests a bridge with MFL MarMac third graders and Enrichment participants McKenna Kozelka (left), Parker Waterman, Gunnar Ross and Hannah Jacobson. (Photos by Audrey Posten)

Second graders Kambry Keehner (left) and Addison Corlett work together to build a bridge during their Enrichment session.

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

Popsicle sticks, string, note cards, newspaper, masking tape. If you had to build a small bridge—sturdy enough to hold a jar of marbles—which materials would you use?

That’s a decision second and third graders in MFL MarMac Elementary’s Enrichment program had to make during a recent session.

Each tackled the project in his or her own way, adapting to the time constraints and the materials available to them. Bridge not long enough? Add another Popsicle stick. Not strong enough? Wrap it with another strip of tape. Buckling under pressure? Create a paper cylinder to hold the bridge up from beneath.

Tue

Dec

Workshops will allow participants to dabble in several art forms

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/12/2017 - 12:36

For the fourth year, the McGregor-Marquette Center for the Arts (MMCA) will offer a series of winter art workshops. Starting in January and running through early March, the low-cost workshops will provide instruction on a variety of mediums, from clay and painting to wool felting and basket weaving. (NIT file photo)

During one of the clay sessions, Mike Kabele will lead the class in making decorative wall pockets. (NIT file photo)

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

For the fourth year, the McGregor-Marquette Center for the Arts (MMCA) will offer a series of winter art workshops.

Starting in January and running through early March, the low-cost workshops will provide instruction on a variety of mediums, from clay and painting to wool felting and basket weaving.

“What got it started,” said MMCA board president Sandy Stevens, “was that we wrote a grant to work with students. We were able to purchase a kiln, pottery wheel and other supplies.”

Tue

Dec

Opposition strong at Walz Energy stormwater permit hearing

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/05/2017 - 13:17

A standing room only crowd packed the public meeting room at the Clayton County Office Building in Elkader Nov. 29, as the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) accepted public comments regarding the proposed individual stormwater permit for the Walz Energy facility currently under construction east of Monona. This photo shows construction at the site, which will be a 10,000-head cattle feedlot and biogas operation, in early November. (Photo by Larry Stone)

The Walz family and others associated with the facility attended the hearing. Debbie Walz was the only one to speak, but did not provide information about the project. (Photo by Audrey Posten)

Tammy Thompson, whose family lives near the Walz Energy site, spoke at the Nov. 29 hearing, stating it was “apparent Walz Energy found many loopholes in the system to avoid public comment and potential delays in their construction process.”

Scott Cherne, president of the Clayton County Cattlemen, said he supports Walz Energy because of the positive economic impact on Clayton County. (Photo by Audrey Posten)

Rowland Jones lives 2.5 to 3 miles north of the Walz Energy site and worried about the location's vulnerability to sinkholes. “An operation like this should have been put out in western Iowa or Kansas or Nebraska, some place in flat country where they didn’t know what a sinkhole was. It shouldn’t have been put around here," he stated. (Photo by Audrey Posten)

Winneshiek County resident Steve McCargar questioned the last time the DNR denied a NPDES permit. “How could our DNR allow this? Is the DNR the Department of Natural Resources or the Department of No Responsibility?” he wondered. (Photo by Audrey Posten)

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

A standing room only crowd packed the public meeting room at the Clayton County Office Building in Elkader Nov. 29, as the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) accepted public comments regarding the proposed individual stormwater permit for the Walz Energy facility currently under construction east of Monona.

Over 40 individuals shared their thoughts on the 10,000-head cattle feedlot and biogas operation, with a majority opposing issuance of the permit.

The hearing marked the first public meeting related to the project.

—————

Tue

Dec

Annexation of property for Dollar General Store moving forward

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/05/2017 - 13:08

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

At its Dec. 4 meeting, the Monona Council approved a resolution for the voluntary annexation of 3.7 acres of land at the intersection of 125th Street and U.S. Highway 18/52.

The property includes two parcels, one of which the Overland Group plans to purchase for construction of a Dollar General Store. The other is a residential property.

City administrator Dan Canton said a notice has been published indicating the city’s intent to voluntarily annex the site. The county has also been notified. Now, he said, the Iowa Secretary of State’s office will be notified. Once they give the go-ahead, the city of Monona will notify utilities, the DOT, DNR and other pertinent entities that the property is within city limits.

Tue

Nov

Festival of Trees kicks off holiday season Dec. 1-2

Submitted by admin on Tue, 11/28/2017 - 12:49

Check out dozens of beautifully-decorated trees at the Festival of Trees, held on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1 and 2, at the Backwoods Bar and Grill and Event Center in McGregor. (NIT file photo)

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

From dozens of beautifully-decorates trees to festive music and food, the sights and sounds of the holiday season will be on full display at the Festival of Trees.

Sponsored by Clan McGregor for Community Enrichment, the McGregor Historical Museum and the McGregor-Marquette Center for the Arts, the annual event will be held on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1 and 2, at the Backwoods Bar and Grill and Event Center in McGregor.

Tue

Nov

Holiday Train visiting Marquette Dec. 7

Submitted by admin on Tue, 11/28/2017 - 12:47

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will visit Marquette on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 4:15 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item or monetary donation as admission. (NIT file photo)

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will bring its festive display of lights and live music to the area when it stops in Marquette, at the marina parking lot, on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 4:15 p.m. The visit is the train’s lone stop in Clayton County this year.

Now in its 19th year, the Holiday Train is decorated with hundreds of thousands of lights depicting holiday scenes on 14 rail cars, one of which turns into a stage for musical performances.

Entertainment will include country music star Terri Clark, rock and country singer Dallas Smith and country artist Kelly Prescott, who will all perform classic holiday tunes. Santa Claus will also make an appearance.

You are here

Local News

Error message

Pages