Wednesday, November 09, 2005

WINDY AND COLD TODAY....
SHOULD BE DOWN INTO UPPER 20'S TONIGHT. NO SNOW IN FORECAST.

A LIFELONG RESIDENT OF MAQUOKETA WAS ELECTED TO THE MAQUOKETA CITY COUNCIL YESTERDAY.
JASON HUTE DEFEATED THREE CHALLENGERS FOR THE POSITION. HE WILL TAKE OFFICE JANUARY 1ST FOR COUNCILMAN AT LARGE, REPLACING LONGTIME COUNCILMAN JOHN CRESSEY. HUTE CARRIED ALL FIVE WARDS IN MAQUOKETA AND GOT A TOTAL OF 454 VOTES. JAMES SEWARD WAS NEXT WITH 229. FORMER COUNCILMAN AND MAYOR JACK ROSENBERG CAME IN THIRD WITH 152 VOTES AND KRISTI SCHECKEL TALLIED 33. INCUMBANT MAYOR TOM MESSERLI, FIRST WARD COUNCILAMAN MATT WINEGAR, SECOND WARD COUNCILMAN TIM CLARK AND 4TH WARD COUNCILMAN GALEN SAUNDERS WERE ALL UNAPPOSSED AND WON RE-ELECTION. ALSO YESTERDAY, MAQUOKETA RESIDENTS GAVE THEIR APPROVAL TO THE CITY TO FORM A TELECOMMUNICATIONS UTILITY. THE YES VOTE WAS 553 AND 312 VOTED NO. LOTS OF MONEY WAS SPENT TRYING TO GET VOTERS TO VOTE NO ON THIS ISSUE. MAQUOKETA HAS NO PLANS TO FORM A UTILITY, BUT BECAUSE OF YETERDAY'S VOTE, THE DOOR IS LEFT OPEN FOR THE COUNCIL TO FORM ONE IN THE FUTURE.

MAQUOKETA PART-TIME ANNOUNCER , JIM KELLOGG, OF LOST NATION, WAS RE-ELECTED TO THE LOST NATION CITY COUNCIL. HE HAS SERVED 8 YEARS AND THIS WILL BE HIS THIRD TERM. THERE WERE 6
RUNNING FOR THE 3 SEATS.

I HEARD YESTERDAY, THERE ARE NOW ABOUT 75 EMPLOYEES WORKING AT THE BIG GENERAC PLANT AT THE SOUTH EDGE OF MAQUOKETA IN THE INDUSTRIAL PARK. FOR A LONG TIME, ONLY ABOUT A DOZEN OR SO WORKED THERE. THE COMPANY MAKES MODULAR ELECTRIC GENERATORS AND I UNDERSTAND THAT
THE BAD HURRICANES DOWN SOUTH CAUSED A BIG DEMAND FOR GENERATORS.

YES, A MAQUOKETA POPULAR RESTURANT HAS BEEN SOLD, BUT THE SALE HAS NOT BEEN
OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED AND I HEAR THE NEW OWNER WILL NOT TAKE OVER UNTIL EARLY NEXT YEAR. THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY NOW. NO, THE OLD KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN BUILDING HAS NOT BEEN SOLD AND STILL IS LOOKING FOR A NEW OWNER. DEAN TILTON AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SELLING IT.
EVERYTIME I GO OUT TO PIZZA HUT AND SEE THE EMPTY KFC BUILDING NEXT DOOR, I GET HUNGER PAINS FOR THAT FINGER-LICKEN-GOOD CHICKEN. DEAN ALWAYS KEPT THE SECRET RECIPE IN HIS BILLFOLD, SO I'M SURE THAT'S WHERE IT IS TO THIS DAY, DOWN IN THE VILLAGES IN FLORIDA, WHERE DEAN AND KAREN MOVED TO A NEW HOME.
ANYWAY, THE PRICE OF THE OLD KFC BUILDING HAS BEEN REDUCED, IN CASE YOU ARE INTERESTED OR KNOW OF SOMEONE THAT IS.

A NEW MAQUOKETA LITTLE THEATRE GROUP IS GETTING READY TO HOLD AUDITIONS FOR A PRODUCTION OF "ANNIE" AT THE NEW OHNWARD FINE ARTS CENTER. MORE LATER.

THANKS FOR CHECKING IN.

DENNIS VOY