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Tue

Jan

Marquette discusses business and tourism issues

Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/20/2015 - 13:18

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

Councilwoman Cindy Halvorson broached the subject of the city of Marquette restoring funding to the McGregor-Marquette Chamber of Commerce at the city’s Jan. 14 meeting, citing dissatisfaction with Marquette’s business and tourism efforts.

“I feel the Chamber is the best choice for Marquette,” Halvorson said. “We need to listen to what the taxpaying businesses want. We’re not voted in for what we want, but what they want.”

Thu

Jan

Morgan Alonzo Loper

Submitted by admin on Thu, 01/15/2015 - 11:57

Morgan Alonzo Loper, 86, of McGregor, died Saturday, Jan. 10, at Crossing Rivers Health in Prairie du Chien.

He was born on May 8, 1928 to William and Ethel (Cooper) Loper in Dubuque, Iowa. He attended country school in Dubuque. Morgan was united in marriage with Marilyn Adney on Aug. 19, 1949. They enjoyed 65 happy years together. He worked construction in his younger years and was the head mechanic specializing in alignments at Huinker Chevrolet in Monona for 25 years. At one time he was the state inspector for car alignments. Morgan enjoyed tinkering with broken things, camping, fishing, hunting, Saturday evening dinners with friends and family and taking rides to Dairy Queen and having a milk shake.

Tue

Jan

R Place Sports Bar and Grill slated to open in Monona soon

Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/13/2015 - 12:39

Monona will soon have another dining option, with the opening of R Place Sports Bar and Grill planned before the end of January. Located at 107 E. Center St., the former home of Jodi’s Americana Grill, R Place will be owned and operated by Lary Walter, who also owns One R’s St. Olaf Tap.

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

Monona will soon have another dining option, with the opening of R Place Sports Bar and Grill planned before the end of January.

Located at 107 E. Center St., the former home of Jodi’s Americana Grill, R Place will be owned and operated by Lary Walter, who also owns One R’s St. Olaf Tap. The name R Place is a play on Walter’s first name, which is spelled with just one “R.”

“I thought people needed a place to come and eat, sit and relax and have drinks and a meal in a family atmosphere,” said Walter, a 1990 MFL graduate. “I’d really like to see Monona thrive.”

Tue

Jan

Driftless Area Ambassadors Program looks to connect people with nature

Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/13/2015 - 12:36

A nature photography workshop taught by local photographer Kat Busse will be one activity people can participate in as part of the Driftless Area Ambassadors Program. The program is facilitated by the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre in Marquette to connect people with nature. (NIT file photo)

Another activity kids can participate in to earn their Driftless Area Ambassadors badge is a pottery workshop. (NIT file photo)

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

The Driftless Area Wetlands Centre in Marquette has launched the Driftless Area Ambassadors Program in an effort to help both children and adults connect more with nature.

By partnering with other environmental education efforts in the area, it is hoped participants will develop a sense of place and earn the Driftless Area Ambassador badge by learning about their local environment, intimately connecting with it through personal interactions and positively impacting the Driftless Area through personal projects.

Wetlands Centre Director Katrina Moyna said the Wetlands Centre Board felt it was important to champion the program because, these days, kids spend less time outdoors.

Tue

Jan

MFL MarMac receives TLC grant

Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/13/2015 - 12:26

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

MFL MarMac Superintendent Dale Crozier announced at the Jan. 12 school board meeting that the Iowa Department of Education recently awarded the district a Teacher Leadership Compensation (TLC) Grant that is roughly $240,000.

According to the Department of Education, the TLC System “rewards effective teachers with leadership opportunities and higher pay, attracts promising new teachers with competitive starting salaries and more support and fosters greater collaboration for all teachers to learn from each other.”

Tue

Jan

Printing paradise

Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/06/2015 - 14:29

Printer Steve Weipert places a piece of film containing four pages of the newspaper onto a printing plate so that the words and images can be burned onto the plate. (Photos by Audrey Posten)

Sharon Tesar places the plate so it can be burned.

Tesar and Weipert place the plates in the press, between the blankets, which are squeezed to print the words and images on the paper.

Weipert adjusts one of the 24 keys that controls color. “From red, yellow and blue, you can print every color in the world,” Weipert said.

Weipert, standing near the folder, makes an adjustment to the press as papers are printed.

Tesar and Denny Riebe handle the newspapers as they come out of the folder, which slits the paper in half before sending it around a cylinder that cuts it into a 22-inch sheet of paper. “It goes through a folding process and it comes out just as you get it at home,” Weipert explained.

Weipert and Riebe change a roll of paper. Each roll of paper weighs 1,000 pounds and is 34 inches wide. One roll could yield 17,000 eight-page papers, which is the standard size of the NIT.

Although the press is referenced as a singular entity, it’s actually a series of six printing presses, with some printing black ink, while the others print red, yellow and blue.

Over the years, Weipert has learned the intricacies of the press. As the papers come out of the folder, he grabs one, checking to see where adjustments need to be made. After making the tweak, he returns to the fresh papers, selecting a new one to start the process over again. This continues on throughout the printing process.

Weipert and Riebe change a roll of paper. Each roll of paper weighs 1,000 pounds and is 34 inches wide. One roll could yield 17,000 eight-page papers, which is the standard size of the NIT.

Weipert explains the newspaper’s printing process

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

Editors and reporters are often the faces of a community newspaper. They’re who readers see at events and meetings, and it’s their names in the article bylines. However, after the journalist’s furiously-written interview notes come to life as a story on the computer screen, it’s up to the printer and his press to make sure those stories are conveyed to readers. For the North Iowa Times, as well as its sister papers, the Courier Press and The Guttenberg Press (the Clayton County Register is printed in Calmar), that printer is Steve Weipert.

Tue

Jan

Corn, grain bin lost in New Year’s fire at Northern Ag Services

Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/06/2015 - 14:06

Smoke can be seen rising from a grain bin at Northern Ag Services, outside McGregor, on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1. The fire, which started after a corn dryer malfunctioned, ruined 1,500 bushels of corn at the facility. (Photo by Al Anderson)

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

A New Year’s Day grain bin fire at Northern Ag Services, outside McGregor, resulted in the loss of 1,500 bushels of corn.

According to McGregor Fire Chief Dan Bickel, McGregor Hook and Ladder responded to the scene at 7 a.m. with 15 men and five pieces of equipment after a corn dryer malfunctioned, setting fire to an industrial-sized grain bin.

The fire department, assisted by the Monona Volunteer Fire Department, spent five hours on scene. Bickel said firefighters had to saw into the dryer to put the fire out.

The bin had to be unloaded by hand, as corn was shoveled and washed out the back. The bin, dryer and corn were all a total loss.

Tue

Jan

Monona discusses annexation possibilities

Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/06/2015 - 14:02

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

For several months, the Monona Council has familiarized itself with the process of land annexation, or expanding its municipal boundaries into areas not currently within the city. As the city looks ahead to phase II of its sanitary sewer project, City Administrator Dan Canton said Monona wants to know if its planned upgrades will work for possible future development. While areas to the west of town, as well as the area where the Birdnow Dealership is located and across the highway where Kwik Star and TJ’s Pizza reside, have been targeted for potential annexation, the council agreed Monday night not to move forward until gather more information and consulting with the sewer project engineer.

Tue

Oct