52 YESTERDAY....
CLOUDY THIS MORNING....
PARTLY SUNNY THIS AFTERNOON AND HIGH NEAR 40.
WARMER TOMORROW.

IN BASKETBALL, THE MAQUOKETA BOYS TRAVELED TO ANAMOSA LAST NIGHT
AND ON THEIR 6TH GAME IN A ROW, BEATING ANAMOSA 44 TO 40. PAYTON
RIVER HAD 16 POINTS. THE CARDINALS ARE NOW 11 AND 3 IN THE
WAMAC AND 12 AND 4 OVERALL.
NEXT UP, THE BOYS WILL PLAY BENTON COMMUNITY THURSDAY NIGHT AT VAN HORNE....A 6:30 WAMAC CONFERENCE GAME. MATT CLARK WILL BE THERE
TO BROADCAST THE GAME ON KMAQ-FM AND ON OUR INTERNET SITE.
THEN FRIDAY NIGHT, THE BOYS WILL BE AT SOLON FOR ANOTHER WAMAC
GAME, AT 7:30 AND MATT CLARK WILL ALSO BROADCAST IT.
DON'T MISS LISTENING TO THESE TO GAMES.
THE MAQUKETA GIRLS....ON THE OTHER HAND....ARE IN A BAD SLUMP.
LAST NIGHT, HERE ON THE CARDINAL GYM, THEY LOST THEIR 8TH STRAIGHT
GAME....AGAINST ANAMOSA....40 TO 32. BAILY MILLER HAD 10 POINTS TO
LEAD MAQUOKETA. THEY ARE NOW 5 AND 10 IN THE WAMAC AND AND 5 AND 15 OVERALL.
THE CARDINAL GIRLS HAVE A TOUGH DRAW FOR THE TOURNAMENT OPENER.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT, FEBRUARY 15TH, THEY WILL PLAY DAVENPORT ASSUMPTION AT THE ASSUMPTION GYM. ASSUMPTION IS CURRENTLY RANKED
SECOND IN THE STATE IN CLASS 3-A.
AND, THE BELLEVUE COMETS WON AGAIN LAST NIGHT AND THEY ARE
17 AND 0....BUT STILL NOT RATED.

THE BIG NEWS STORY TODAY! IT IS POSSIBLE THE CAVES AT THE MAQUOKETA CAVES STATE PARK WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC THIS YEAR. THE
STATE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES IS CONSIDERING OPENING
THE CAVES ON A LIMITED BASIS THIS SUMMER. SCOTT DYKSTRA, CAVES
RANGER, SAID THE DNR HAD A MEETING LAST WEEK ABOUT THE TOPIC.
THE DNR CLOSED THE CAVES....NOT THE PARK....IN 2009 BECAUSE OF THE
WHITE NOSED BAT SYNDROM AS THE DNR FEARED PARK VISITORS WOULD
TRANSPORT THE FUNGUS FROM STATE PARK TO STATE PARK ON THEIR CLOTHING WHICH WOULD CONTAMINATE THE BATS IN THE CAVE.
MOST PEOPLE DISLIKE BATS, BUT THEY HAVE A DEFINITE PURPOSE IN LIVE.
TODAY, SEN. TODD BOWMAN OF MAQUOKETA, SAID HE HAS FILED LEGISLATION
TO REQUIRE THE DNR TO REOPEN THE CAVES. BOWMAN SAID THE LEGISLATION WOULD HELP STRUGGLING BUSINESSES. HE POINTED OUT
THAT THE NUMBER OF VISITORS AT THE PARKED HAS DROPPED DRAMATICALLY
THE LAST TWO YEARS. IN 2009, THERE WERE MORE THAN 200,000 VISITORS
TO THE PARK AND THAT NUMBER DROPPED TO 40,000 LAST YEAR.
THE MAQUOKETA STATE PARK IS A GREAT PARK WITHOUT THE CAVES,
INCLUDING A NICE CAMPGROUND....BUT PEOPLE COME HERE FROM ALL OVER
EASTERN IOWA TO MAINLY GO THROUGH THE CAVES.
IF THEY WILL BE OPEN THIS SUMMER, IT WILL BE GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS
FOR MAQUOKETA.

THE MAQUOKETA PUBLIC LIBRARY HAS A NEW DIRECTOR AND SHE IS ON-THE-JOB THIS WEEK. LIBRARY BOARD CHAIRMAN REBECCA TUBBS
LICHTER SAID THE BOARD HAS HIRED ELENA LANZ OF WEST PALM BEACH,
FLORIDA. SHE WORKED FOR A LIBRARY THERE. SHE AND HER HUSBAND, TY, RELOCATED TO MAQUOKETA TO BE CLOSER TO FAMILY IN EASTERN IOWA.
SHE WILL BE PAID $42,000 A YEAR. THE BOARD RECEIVED MORE THAN
30 APPLICATIONS FOR THE JOB. THERE WERE 12 PHONE SCREEN INTERVIEWS AND FOUR CANDIDATES WERE INTERVIEWD FACE-TO-FACE.

HERE AT KMAQ, WE WELCOME A NEW BUSINESS IN MAQUOKETA.....
"SOUTH END COMPUTER SALES AND SERVICE". IT OPENED TODAY AT
902 SOUTH MAIN STREET, IN THE SAME BUILDING WITH OBERBROCKLING AND SCOTT INSURANCE.....FOR MANY YEARS, THE HOME OF THE SOUTH END
SUPPER CLUB,OWNED BY CURLY AND VIVIAN MILLER. THE OWNER OF
"SOUTH END COMPUTERS" IS RUSS SANFORD, WITH MANY YEARS EXPERIENCE IN COMPUTER SALES AND SERVICE. HE WILL BE OPEN FROM 9 TO 5 MONDAY
THROUGH FRIDAY AND HIS PHONE NUMBER IS 563-748-OO16.
BEST WISHES TO RUSS AND HIS NEW BUSINESS! STOP IN AN WELCOME HIM TO THE MAQUOKETA BUSINESS COMMUNITY.

HAVE A GOOD WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY.

DENNIS VOY

THESE APPLE TREES HAVE BEEN CHOPPED DOWN AT THE FAMOUS TUBB'S ORCHARD ON WESTERN AVENUE IN MAQUOKETA. THEY ARE THE ONES
TO THE NORTH OF THE HOME (IN BACKGROUND) AND THE WORK IS
BEING DONE BY A CEDAR RAPIDS FIRM. OWNER TOM TUBBS TOLD A FRIEND
TODAY THAT HE PLANS TO PLANT 1,000 OAK TREES WHERE THE APPLE TREES WERE AND WILL DO THAT THIS SPRING. APPARENTLY, THE TREES TO
THE SOUTH OF THE HOUSE, TO SUMMIT STREET, WILL STAY. I'VE HEARD
THEY ARE NOT AS OLD AS THE ONES BEING CHOPPED DOWN. ACROSS THE STREET TO THE EAST OF HIS HOUSE, LAST YEAR TOM PLANTED ROWS AND
ROWS OF WALNUT TREES.
MAQUOKETA...THE TIMBER CITY!
CLICK-ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM AND ENJOY AN APPLE TONIGHT.
DENNIS VOY

OK...TODAY, A BETTER LOOK AT THE FIRE PHOTO THAT WAS UP HERE LAST NIGHT,
SIDEWAYS. NOTHING NEW ON THE FIRE OTHER THAN CAPT. JAMES CONNOLLY OF THE MAQUOKETA FIRE DEPARTMENT SAID
IT IS STILL NOT KNOWN WHAT CAUSED THE FIRE. THE FIRE IS STILL UNDER
INVESTIGATION AND NOT CONSIDERED
SUSPICIOUS. HE SAID FIREFIGHTERS WERE ABLE TO SAVE MANY BELONGINGS IN THE UPSTAIRS APARTMENT AND THAT
DOWNSTAIRS HAD SMOKE AND WATER DAMAGE. HE ESTIMATED DAMAGE TO THE HOME AT $50,000. THE HOUSE
IS OWNED BY DAN AND KAREN BREITBACH
WHO OWN THE DOWNTOWN FLOOR
COVERING BUSINESS IN MAQUOKETA AND
WHO JUST OVER 4 YEARS AGO, LOST THEIR
BUILDING IN MAQUOKETA'S BIG DOWNTOWN FIRE. CLICK-ON THE PHOTO
TO ENLARGE IT.
DENNIS VOY