CLOUDY TODAY....SNOW PREDICTED BUT DIDN'T ARRIVE....AND IT WAS 32 FOR A HIGH.

THE MAQUOKETA VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT RIGHT NOW IS FIGHTING A HOUSE FIRE EAST OF MAQUOKETA. THE FIRE IS AT THE OWEN LINDSTROM RESIDENCE ON 17TH STREET. ANDREW FIREMEN WERE CALLED TO BRING A TANKER.

LONGTIME MAQUOKETA BUSINESSMAN, ST. REP. BOB OSTERHAUS , CALLED A NEWS CONFERENCE AT 4 THIS AFTERNOON AT THE MAQUOKETA CITY HALL TO ANNOUNCE THAT HE WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THIS NOVEMBER.
THE DEMOCRAT HAS SERVED 8 YEARS, HAVING BEEN ELECTED IN JANUARY 1996.
HE HAS ONE SESSION LEFT, STARTING LATER THIS MONTH AND SAID THE COMING SESSION WILL NOT BE AN EASY ONE, BUT BELIEVES MUCH CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED.
HE THANKED HIS WIFE, ANN, WHO HAS SERVED AS HIS LEGISLATIVE CLERK THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. ALSO AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE, OSTERHAUS INTRODUCED MAQUOKETA CITY COUNCILMAN TOM SCHUELLER, SAYING SCHUELLER WILL SEEK THE OSTERHAUS POSITION IN HOUSE DISTRICT 25. SCHUELLER IS A LOCAL CONTRACTOR AND ALSO OWNS A CARE CENTER FOR SENIORS. HE HAS BEEN A MEMBER OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR 10 YEARS.

AT THIS PAST MONDAY NIGHT'S CITY COUNCIL MEETING, APPOINTMENTS TO CITY
COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONS WERE MADE. THE MAQUOKETA MUNICIPAL
ELECTRIC UTILITY WILL HAVE TWO NEW MEMBERS APPOINTED BY MAYOR TOM
MESSERLI. THEY ARE BOB GAVIN AND RON FRANDSEN. THEY REPLACE TWO MEN WHO HAVE BEEN ON THE MMEU BOARD SINCE IT WAS STARTED BACK IN THE LATE 80'S.
PRIOR TO THEN, THE CITY COUNCIL GOVERNED THE UTILITY. GOING OFF THE UTILITY BOARD, BOB EVERDING AND ROY FRANDSEN. BOTH DID A GOOD JOB AND HAVE SEEN LOTS OF CHANGES AND GROWTH OVER THE YEARS. IN THE DAYS AHEAD, I'LL MENTION OTHER APPOINTMENS IN THIS DAILY REPORT.

MAQUOKETA POLICE INVESTIGATED A HIT AND RUN ACCIDENT WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON. BETTY ZIRKELBACH, 82, OF MAQUOKETA WAS DRIVING NORTH ON MCKINSEY DRIVE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON AND WHEN MAKING A LEFT TURN, SHE WAS HIT BY ANOTHER VEHICLE AND THAT VEHICLE DID NOT STOP. $2,000 DAMAGE TO HER 98 MERCURY AND NO INJURIES.

BILL PAYSEN, 408 BUTTERNUT, SAID SOMEONE TOOK HIS COMPUTER FROM HIS HOME. NO VALUE LISTED.

LONGTIME MAQUOKETA BARBER, JIM BELLER, AGE 77, DIED YESTERDAY AT HIS HOME.
HE WAS A BARBER FOR 52 YEARS. HE ALSO SERVED ON THE SCHOOL BOARD AND HAD A REAL ESTATE LICENSE. HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE, SHARON, 2 DAUGHTERS,
CONNIE ALBAUGH OF RENO, NEVADA AND KAREN SEDLACEK OF CEDAR RAPIDS.
ALSO 2 SONS, THOM OF ELYRIA, OHIO AND CHARLIE OF MARION. ALSO 13 GRANDCHILDREN AND 5 GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.

THE MAQUOKETA WRESTLERS HOST DEWITT TONIGHT. IN A SABER TOURNAMENT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE CARDINALS PLACED BELOW DEWITT, BUT TONIGHT, MAQUOKETA HAS THE HOME ADVANTAGE. SHOULD BE A GOOD MEET. WE'LL BE BROADCASTING IT ON KMAQ-FM WITH DR. PAUL KOOB DESCRIBING THE MATCHES.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES GO ON SALE TOMOROW, AT $3.00 A BOX.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE, MY CONGRATULATIONS GO OUT TO MY SON RICK, AGE 36, OF
BETTENDORF, WHO HAS BEEN PROMOTED TO A DETECTIVE POSITION WITH THE DAVENPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT. HE WAS AN MP WITH THE U.S. MARINES FOR OVER A DOZEN YEARS AND HAS BEEN WITH THE DAVENPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR
NEARLY 6 YEARS. THERE ARE AROUND 15 DETECTIVES ON THE DEPARTMENT.
NO MORE UNIFORM. HE HAS JOINED HIS DAD WITH SHIRT AND TIE GARB. AND, BETTER HOURS TOO, TO SPEND WITH WIFE SHERI AND DAUGHTER CASSIE.
CASSIE, IN FIRST GRADE, GETS BUSY TOMORROW SELLING THOSE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES I MENTIONED EARLIER. HER GRANDMA NANCY HAS ALREADY ORDERED SEVERAL BOXES FROM HER.

THANKS FOR CHECKING IN TODAY. I'LL HAVE THAT BIG WRESTLING SCORE FOR YOU TOMORROW.

DENNIS VOY