Friday, January 21, 2011

12 BELOW LAST NIGHT.
TODAY'S HIGH WITH SUNNY SKIES, 4 ABOVE. WARMER WEATHER AND A LITTLE
SNOW IN THE FORECAST FOR THE WEEKEND.

LAST NIGHT, IN WRESTLING HERE IN MAQUOKETA: SOLON DEFEATED
THE MAQUOKETA CARDINALS 48 TO 36 AND DEWITT BEAT THE CARDS,
48 TO 27. MAQUOKETA WILL WRESTLER IN THE MIDLAND TOURNAMENT
TOMORROW AT WYOMING.
TONIGHT, THE MAQUOKETA GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAMS PLAY AT VAN HORNE AGAINST BENTON COMMUNITY AND THE BOYS HOST BENTON AT THE NEW
MCHS GYM.

JACK MARLOWE IN HIS COLUMN LAST WEEK WROTE ABOUT OUR TWO LOCAL FATHER-SON BASKETBALL OFFICIALS. THEY ARE OWEN HAYES AND HIS SON JAKE, BOTH FORMER MCHS ATHLETES. OWEN, A 1980 GRAD, HAS BEEN AN OFFICIAL OVER 25 YEARS AND JAKE, WHO GRADUATED FROM MAQUOKETA HIGH SCHOOL IN 2007, IS IN HIS SECOND YEAR WITH A TEMPORARY LICENSE. HE HAS NOT WORKED
A VARSITY GAME.

THE MAQUOKETA CITY COUNCIL WILL CONSIDER A TAX INCREASE DURING A BUDGET WORKSHOP MONDAY NIGHT. CITY MANAGER BRIAN WAGNER SAID HE HAS A BALANCED BUDGET RIGHT NOW WHICH CALLS FOR AN 85-CENT PER $1,000
ASSESSED VALUATION TAX INCREASE.
THE TAX RATE NOW IS $12.45 PER $1,000 ASSESSED VALUATION. THE PROPOSAL
CALLS FOR A TAX RATE OF $13.30. WAGNER SAID THIS WEEK THE CITY COULD
SEE $18,000 IN INCREASED REVENUES FROM ASSESSMENTS THIS YEAR. HE SAID
THAT'S NOT MUCH. IN THE UPCOMING CENSUS CHANGE, HE SAID MAQUOKETA
(IF THE CENSUS FIGURE IS LOWER) MAY SEE A REDUCTION OF $40,000 IN ROAD USE TAXES FROM THE STATE. THE 2009 ESTIMATE OF THE MAQUOKETA POPULATION IS 5,810. THE OFFICIAL 2010 CENSUS FIGURE FOR THE CITY HAS NOT YET BEEN RELEASED.

MAQUOKETA'S POPULATION HAS BEEN OVER 6,000 FOR MANY MANY YEARS,
BUT MAY GO UNDER THAT.

MAQUOKETA POLICE CHIEF BRAD KORANDA ASKED THE CITY'S PUBLIC SAFETY
COMMITTEE THIS WEEK TO INSTALL SOME ADDITIONAL LIGHTS AT LITTLE
BEAR PARK. NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME
PROBLEMS IN THE PARK THE PAST YEAR....BAD LANGUAGE, FIGHTS, ETC.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND AND WEAR ENOUGH CLOTHING.

IF YOU GET A CHANCE, CHECK THE NEW KMAQ TRAVEL PAGE.
CLICK-ON THE BUS ON THE HOME PAGE.

DENNIS VOY