PARTLY CLOUDY THIS MORNING, MOSTLY CLOUDY THIS AFTERNOON AND A HIGH
OF 72.     RAIN COMING.    SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, NO RAIN AND IN THE 80'S.

THE UN-PAVED PART OF PARKING LOT AT TIMBER CITY TRAVEL (THE TRUCK STOP)
AT THE SOUTH EDGE OF MAQUOKETA WILL BE PAVED BY JUNE 15TH.   THE CITY AND THE DEVELOPER HAVE HAD ONGOING DISCUSSIONS ABOUT GETTING THE PAVING WORK DONE.       THE CITY WILL RELEASE $60,000 NOW (AND ANOTHER $60,000 WHEN FINISHED) FROM CITY HELD TAX INCREMENT FINANCE FUNDS.   THE OWNER WILL HAVE TO PAY THE BALANCE FOR WORK DONE.    THE LOT USED FOR SEMI PARKING NEEDS TO BE PAVED BECAUSE OF RUN-OFF CONCERNS BY THE CITY.     AND OF COURSE,
THE BUSINESS WILL LOOK BETTER TOO.     LOTS OF TRUCK TRAFFIC THERE EVERY DAY.  IT IS OPEN 24-7.

THE CITY OF MAQUOKETA IS SEEKING A USDA GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $28,000
FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO CITY HALL, ESTIMATED TO COST $80,000.   THE
IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDE WINDOWS, FURNACES, LIGHTING, OCCUPANCY SENSORS,
CARPETING AND PAINT.    ALREADY, $25,000 IN GRANT MONEY HAS COME FROM THE STATE OF IOWA ENERGY INDEPENDENCE FOR SOME WORK AT CITY HALL.
AND....WHAT'S NEW ON THE WIND TURBINE FOR THE YMCA?     THE ESTIMATED COST NOW IS OVER $630,000.     ONE GRANT HAS BEEN RECEIVED FOR OVER $156,000 AND THE CITY IS APPLYING FOR ANOTHER $100,000 GRANT.    LONG WAY TO GO.

THE STARTED WORK AGAIN AT THE BIG HOLE DOWNTOWN.     THE HAULING IN OF FILL BEGAN EARLY THIS MORNING.

THE MAQUOKETA M.E.A.  HELD THEIR SOCIAL AND DINNER LAST NIGHT AT MICHEL'S HALL AND HONORED TWO INDIVIDUALS.      TEACHER OF THE YEAR, LONGTIME
MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR CAROL  HAMMIL AND FRIEND OF EDUCATION AWARD WENT TO CAROLYN CLARK, YOUTH PROGRAM ASSISTANT WITH IOWA STATE
UNIVERSITY EXTENSION IN JACKSON COUNTY.     ALSO LAST NIGHT, BOTH CERTIFIED AND NON-CERTIFIED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE RETIRING WERE  HONORED, INCLUDING M.E.A. MEMBERS MARY FLAGEL, BRENDA SNYDER, RON BAKER, MARGO SPRENGER AND HOLLY PARMER.        SERVING AS  M.E.A. CO-PRESIDENTS THIS PAST YEAR WERE KATHY QUINLAN AND TOD BOWMAN.   THEY  HAVE AGREED TO SERVE IN THAT CAPACITY AGAIN NEXT SCHOOL YEAR.

BRUCE BEARINGER, THE EXTENSION DIRECTOR FOR  JACKSON, DUBUQUE AND
DELAWARE COUNTIES HAS RESIGNED TO TAKE AN AG TEACHING POSITION AT JESSUP.    A NEW DIRECTOR IS BEING SOUGHT WITH RESUMES DUE JUNE 3RD.

A COUPLE ACCIDENTS IN MAQUOKETA.     KATHLEEN PINTER, 21, OF MAQUOKETA
WAS CHARGED WITH FAILURE TO YIELD TO A STOP SIGN AT 3:30 YESTERDAY AFTERNOON AT SUMMIT AND MAIN.    SHE PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF A MOPED
DRIVEN BY TRENT BOLLMAN, AGE 14 AND THEN LEFT THE SCENE.  NO DAMAGE TO HER CAR AND $500 DAMAGE TO THE MOPED.   NO INJURIES.

AND A BICYCLIST RAN INTO A CAR TUESDAY AFTERNOON ON SOUTH MAIN STREET.
CASSIE BURNS OF MAQUOKETA HAD PULLED UP TO MAIN FROM A PRIVATE DRIVE.    TINA EDWARDS, AGE 12, WAS RIDING HER BIKE AND  HIT THE FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE OF THE VEHHICLE.      NO DAMAGES.   EDWARDS WAS TAKEN BY PRIVATE VEHICLE TO THE HOSPITAL WITH POSSIBLE INJURIES.

ALAN GERONZIN, 52, OF CLINTON DIED SATURDAY.    SURVIVORS INCLUDE HIS BROTHER JIM GERONZIN OF MAQUOKETA.

JASON SHUSTER IS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE MAQUOKETA HIGH SCHOOL FFA CHAPTER, THE 2ND OLDEST IN THE STATE,  FOUNDED IN 1928, TWO WEEKS AFTER MUSCATINE'S CHARTER WAS FILED.   JASON WILL BE A SENIOR NEXT YEAR. THE FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA PRESIDENT LAST YEAR WAS MAGGI  MUHLHAUSEN.
THE FFA ANNUAL AWARDS NIGHT WAS TUESDAY NIGHT.     THERE ARE 85 MEMBERS....ABOUT 50% GIRLS AND THE ADVISORS ARE GARY BRUNS AND
GENNY NABB.      THE MAQUOKETA STATE BANK SCHOLARSHIP WAS PRESENTED BY DEAN ENGEL TO JILL HEINRICH.    THE FFA ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIPS WENT TO
JODY SPAIN AND MAGGI MUHLHAUSEN.      I ATTENDED, MADE SOME INTERVIEWS FOR MY MORNING FARM SHOW ON KMAQ-AM, "RFD 1320" AND ENJOYED ICE CREAM AND CAKE AND STRAWBERRIES.     EVENT HELD IN THE NEW MCHS GYM.
THE FFA...A GOOD  ORGANIZATION.   

SORRY FOR THE LONG REPORT.  CHECK THE PHOTO AND STORY BELOW TOO.

AND GIVE SOME THOUGHT TO BUYING A MAQUOKETA ROTARY DUCK.    YOU MIGHT WIN A THOUSAND DOLLARS.     I SOLD ONE TO A LADY FROM BELLEVUE YESTERDAY.

DENNIS VOY

LAST NIGHT, DRIVING INTO MAQUOKETA FROM THE SOUTH, I NOTICED A BRIGHT
LIGHT AHEAD.     BEING THE ACE REPORTER I AM, I DROVE TO IT AND HERE IS WHAT I FOUND.    PHOTO ABOVE.  CLICK-ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT.     A BRIGHT LIGHT
WAS USED SO PAINTERS COULD PAINT (WITH A ROLLER) THE NORTH SIDE OF THE
HUGE "FAMILY DOLLAR" DISTRIBUTION CENTER BUILDING.    WHITE AND BRIGHT.
I BELIEVE THE BUILDING IS ABOUT 8 YEARS OLD.     AND DRIVING IN THE PARKING LOT, I FORGOT JUST HOW HUGE THE BUILDING IS.....AROUND 1-MILLION SQUARE FEET.
AND THE PARKING LOT HAD LOTS OF EMPLOYEE CARS FROM ALL AROUND THE
AREA.      I GUESS THE MAIN SHIFT IS THE LARGEST AND THE NIGHT SHIFT, STILL
BIG AND SOME WORK A THIRD SHIFT.    LAST TIME I HEARD, OVER 350 WORK THERE.
SO, IT HAS REALLY BEEN A GOOD ADDITION TO MAQUOKETA.    THEY ALWAYS HAVE
AN AD IN PAPER FOR HELP AND AT VARIOUS PAY SCALES,  STARTING CLOSE TO $10 PER HOUR TO START.    THEY HAVE A FAMILY DOLLAR RETAIL STORE IN MAQUOKETA.    PLUS, WE HAVE A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE AND A DOLLAR STORE DOWNTOWN....IN ADDITION TO WAL MART.   THE ONE DOWNTOWN HAS NOTHING PRICED OVER A DOLLAR.    SO...  LOTS OF PLACES TO BUY SOME TOILET PAPER.     THE THREE DOLLAR STORES DO NO....NO ADVERTISING ON KMAQ.       NEVER HAVE!   WE GET SOME ADVERTISING FROM WAL MART.     IF TWO DOLLAR BILLS WOULD BE MORE POPULAR, I MIGHT OPEN A TWO-DOLLAR STORE AND YOU COULD BUY NONE OF MY FANTASTIC SPECIALS  UNLESS YOU PAID FOR IT WITH A TWO-DOLLAR BILL.
AND RIGHT NEXT TO IT, I WOULD OPEN A "BIG-T-TURKEY ONLY RESTAURANT".
DENNIS VOY