CLOUDY AND 25 TODAY. A LITTLE SNOW WAS FORECAST FOR THIS MORNING
AND THIS AFTERNOON. WE HAVE HAD NONE. ONE OR TWO INCHES OVERNIGHT
TONIGHT....3 OR 4 TOMORROW....3 OR 4 TOMORROW NIGHT....SO BY WEDNESDAY MORNING, WE COULD HAVE AROUND 10 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND.
IT IS COMING IN TWO WAVES. NORTHERN IOWA WILL GET UP TO 15 INCHES
IN ONE WAVE AND SOUTHERN IOWA, UP TO 15 INCHES IN THAT WAVE. WE, HERE
IN THE MIDDLE, WILL GET LESS APPARENTLY. HOPE SO. IN ANY CASE, IT IS
ALL PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT TODAY. AND TV WEATHERMEN ADD TO THE
CHATTER IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

A SPRAGUEVILLE MAN LIKELY DIED DECEMBER 3RD AFTER PUTTING HIS VEHICLE
IN THE MAQUOKETA RIVER NEAR SPRAGUEVILLE. SATURDAY (NEARLY 2 MONTHS LATER) MORNING, A HUNTER SPOTTED THE VEHICLE. WHEN THEY PULLED THE
2002 FORD ESCORT OUT OF THE RIVER, THEY FOUND HIM WITH IT. PROBABLY MEDICAL REASONS CONTRIBUTED TO HIS DEATH. AN AUTOPSY WILL BE
DONE. LAST TO SEE HIM WAS HIS EX-WIFE. SHE TOLD DEPUTIES HE HAD
BEEN STAYING WITH HER AND DECIDED TO MOVE WEST. HE LEFT HER HOME DECEMBER 3RD AND ASSUMED THAT IS WHERE HE WENT. HE IS ESTRANGED FROM
HIS FAMILY, SO NO ONE APPARENTLY MISSED HIM. HE IS JOSEPH RAYMOND CLARK, AGE 51 AND HIS LAST KNOWN ADDRESS WAS SPRAGUEVILLE. NO FOUL P LAY IS SUSPECTED. THINK ABOUT IT....NOT EVEN OVER THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY
DID SOMEONE CHECK ON HIM....OR REPORT HIM MISSING. QUITE A STORY.
MAYBE WE WILL LEARN MORE SOON.

TWO ACCIDENTS OVER THE WEEKEND.
JONATHON BOPES, AGE 17, OF MAQUOKETA, WAS IN ONE SATURDAY MORNING NORTH OF BALDWIN. HE SLID THROUGH THE INTERSECTION OF 67TH STREET
WITH 50TH AVENUE AND WENT INTO THE DITCH WHERE HIS VEHICLE ROLLED
ONCE. HIS 2007 FORD ESCAPE WAS TOTALED AND HE WAS NOT INJURED.
NO CHARGES FILED.
THE OTHER ACCIDENT HAPPENED SATURDAY AFTERNOON ON HIGHWAY 52 AT EAST FIRST STREET. THE ACCIDENT INVOLVED A SAVANNA WOMAN AND A LAMOTTE WOMAN. NO INJURIES. ONE VEHICLE PULLED INTO THE HIGHWAY AND DIDN'T SEE THE OTHER PARKED IN A PRIVATE PARKING LOT.

A MINOR ACCIDENT SATURDAY EVENING, INVOLVING MAYOR JASON HUTE.
LEANN WILLISON OF MAQUOKETA WAS STOPPED ON PLATT AT NIAGARA TO PULL INTO A PRIVATE DRIVE AND JASON HUTE, 39,WAS DRIVING BEHIND HER AND COULD NOT GET HIS CAR STOPPED. ROADS WERE SLICK ACCORDING TO THE POLICE
REPORT. NO CHARGES FILED AND NO INJURIES. DAMAGES WERE LISTED AT
$3,000 TO WILLISON'S 2004 CHRYSLER AND $5,000 DAMAGE TO HUTE'S 2007 PONTIAC.

THE BIG ANNUAL CAKE AUCTION WAS HELD AT THE MCHS GYM FRIDAY NIGHT
BETWEEN GAMES WITH DEWITT. $4,200 WAS RAISED FROM A TOTAL OF 56 CAKES
ENTERED. THEIR WERE THREE DIVISIONS AND FIRST PLACE IN THE 3 WERE
TAKEN BY ASHLEY QUINLAN....THE MAQUOKETA FAMILY CLINIC.....AND
THE MAQUOKETA CHEERLEADERS.

THE MAQUOKETA WRESTLERS TOOK 11TH PLACE IN THE 16 TEAM FIELD OF THE
WAMAC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HELD SATURDAY AT MANCHESTER.

YESTERDAY, AT THE SACRED HEART BREAKFAST (MY OMELET WAS DONE BY
FLORIAN STEFFEN) (AND DONE WELL) ... I SAT NEXT TO THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (MANAGER) OF THE MAQUOKETA YMCA. HE IS SCOTT WARREN, AGE 39, A NATIVE OF ROCK ISLAND. SAID HE REMEMBERS GOING TO MY DRIVE-IN THEATRE YEARS AGO. HE COMES TO MAQUOKETA FROM A YMCA MANAGER JOB
IN PINBROOK-PINES, FLORIDA. SAID HE DIDN'T LIKE FLORIDA LIVING AND WAS GLAD TO BE BACK UP HERE. BEFORE GOING TO FLORIDA, HE WAS MANAGER
OF THE LONG ESTABLISHED TWO RIVERS YMCA AT MOLINE. HE IS MARRIED
AND THE FATHER OF THREE, THE OLDEST BEING 13. HE GRADUATED FROM THE
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-LACROSSE. LETTERED AND PARTICIPATED IN SWIMMING THERE ALL 4 YEARS.

"TRUE GRIT" IS STILL DOING WELL IN ITS 3RD WEEK AT THE VOY 3 THEATRE.
I SAW IT FOR A SECOND TIME YESTERDAY. GOOD SHOW.

HAVE A GOOD WEEK, WITH SNOW OR NO SNOW.

DENNIS VOY