Order photos found in the Maquoketa Sentinel-Press

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
Jackson County’s elected officials would receive 3.6 percent salary increases this year if the Board of Supervisors approves the recommendations of the county Compensation Board.
The Compensation Board held its once-a-year meeting Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 25, to propose salaries for the county’s eight elected officials for the 2012-13 fiscal year.
The board’s vote was split, with two of the six members attending favoring a lesser increase.
Here are the present salaries and recommended increases for the 2012-13 year:
- Supervisors Chairman Larry “Buck” Koos, $32,664 proposed, up 3.3 percent, or $1,094 over the chairman’s current salary of $31,570.
- Supervisors Steve Flynn and Jack Willey, $31,486 proposed, up 3.6 percent, or $1,094 over their current salaries of $30,392.
- Attorney Chris Raker, $80,224 proposed, up 3.6 percent, or $2,788 over his current salary of $77,436.
- Sheriff Russ Kettmann, $67,023 proposed, up 3.6 percent, or $2,329 over his current salary of $64,694.
- Auditor M. Joell Deppe, $53,951 proposed, up 3.6 percent, or $1,875, over her current salary of $52,076.
- Treasurer Nancy Roling, $53,951 proposed, up 3.6 percent, or $1,875, over her current salary of $52,076.
- Recorder Arlene Schauf, $53,951 proposed, up 3.6 percent, or $1,875, over her current salary of $52,076.
The Compensation Board’s action is a recommendation that will go to the Board of Supervisors for a final decision.

For the complete story see the Jan. 28th issue.

By KELLY GERLACH
Maquoketa Community School District may be searching for a new superintendent to lead the district for the 2013-14 school year - but no sooner.
Too many uncertain variables factored into the Maquoketa Community School Board’s unanimous decision Tuesday not to grant early retirement for the superintendent at the end of this school year.  However, he will be granted the opportunity at the end of the 2012-13 school year if he so chooses.
Just before winter break, district superintendent Dr. Kim Huckstadt said he told board president Brian Tabor of his intent to file an application for early retirement, which would take effect at the end of the current school year.  
Huckstadt said he’s been contemplating early retirement for more than a year.  “I told Brian that I planned to step down.  It’s one of those things that I wanted to create awareness about.  It leads to big decisions for the board.”
Huckstadt had already alerted the board of his early retirement eligibility at the board’s Nov. 14 meeting, at which time board members discussed offering early retirement to all eligible employees. 

For the complete story see the Jan. 28th issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
The process of planning either a major remodeling of the Jackson County Regional Health Center or a new facility is continuing, the hospital’s Board of Trustees was told this week.
Curt Coleman, hospital executive director, said plans call for a report with recommendations to be delivered to the board in late March.
Coleman gave trustees an update on the planning process at the board’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
He said the Shive-Hattery engineering firm has completed the schematic layout of the facility. The firm also has completed cost estimates, calculated per square foot for each department and a total overall cost.
He said the cost information has been given to Denman & Co. of West Des Moines, the hospital’s auditing firm.
The firm will analyze the impact of the proposed project on the hospital’s Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements “so we will know the impact of a new project on our financial position.
A major portion of the hospital’s revenue is from Medicare and Medicaid.
Coleman said the auditors will analyze the impact of the proposed project in several financial areas, including the impact on the income statement, balance sheet and cash position.
He said the firm will give current information and will make a five-year projection.
That work is expected to be completed by mid-February, Coleman said. He said the financial analysis is an essential component to help the board determine whether or not to proceed with a project.

For the complete story see the Jan. 28th issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
A Delmar family lost their house and its entire contents last weekend in a fire that brought firefighters from four departments.
Delmar volunteer firefighters were called at about midnight Friday, Jan. 20, to the residence of Aaron Johnson and Elizabeth Cronin in the 600 block of Vane Street in Delmar.
Delmar Fire Chief David Schneden said the first firefighters to arrive saw flames coming from one of the windows in the upper level of the two-story home.
He said the basement contained three windows on the east and west sides and firefighters also could see flames throughout the basement.
“It had gotten in to the walls by then, too. Smoke was coming out of the eaves and corners,” Schneden said.
He said the house formerly had been a church that was converted to a residence. It had wood frame construction and wood siding.

For the complete story see the Jan. 25 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
The property tax rate for the City of Maquoketa would rise by 40 cents next year under a tentative budget scenario the City Council informally agreed on this week.
The council, at a work session Monday night, Jan. 23, took its first look at the proposed 2012-13 budget, which will take effect with the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
Although no vote was taken, the council informally agreed to a proposal to increase the tax rate from the current rate of $12.45 per $1,000 assessed valuation to $12.85.
The council turned down a staff proposal to increase the rate by an additional 10 cents, to $12.95.
City Manager Brian Wagner noted that the city has maintained the $12.45 rate for the past four years.
The entire amount of the increase is related to covering the city’s share of its annual police pension fund obligations.
Wagner explained that for the past several years, the council has used the remaining local police pension fund to pay for the city’s share of officer pensions.

For the complete story see the Jan. 25 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
For the third year in a row, the Maquoketa area generated an unusually low number of fire calls during 2011.
The Maquoketa Volunteer Fire Department responded to just 53 fire calls during the year.
The average of just over one call per week represents a decrease of seven calls, or nearly 12 percent, from the 60 calls turned in during 2010 and is down from 66 calls in 2009.
Maquoketa Fire Chief Mark Beck reviewed those statistics and others at the annual Maquoketa firemen’s banquet, held Saturday night, Jan. 14, at the Decker House Restaurant in Maquoketa.
Approximately 65 firefighters, spouses and other guests attended the event, which included a prime rib and chicken dinner.
Bryan Hafner, the department’s fire prevention officer, was presented with the Maquoketa Firefighters Memorial Award, the department’s highest honor.
The award is given annually to a firefighter for his outstanding contributions and service above and beyond the call of duty. Recipients are chosen by a secret ballot vote of fire department members.
Hafner is a seven-year veteran of the department, having joined in late 2004.
He is starting his fourth year as the department’s fire prevention officer. In that role, he performs a variety of fire prevention education and public relations duties.

For the complete story see the Jan. 18 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
Maquoketa’s city water will continue to be fluoridated, the City Council decided this week after hearing a panel of community dentists strongly urge its continued use.
The council, on a 4-2 vote, upheld the city’s current ordinance, which has required since the late 1970s that fluoride be added to the city’s drinking water.
Council members Jerry Bowen and Amy Moore voted against retaining the ordinance. Council members Troy Thede, Chad Specht, Cory Simonson and Todd Mang voted in favor and Mayor Don Schwenker also supported the maintaining fluoride.
Councilman Eric Pape was absent.
The council’s action overturned a recommendation of the council’s Utilities Committee that the council repeal the ordinance requiring fluoridation. The recommendation was based on recent breakdowns in the equipment that adds fluoride to the water supply and the cost of replacing parts.
The council heard from six Maquoketa dentists and a physician who cited reasons why the city should continue with fluoridation.

For the complete story see the Jan. 18 issue.

By KELLY GERLACH
Maquoketa Community School District residents need no longer worry about which director district they live in if they want to run for school board.
The Maquoketa Community School Board Monday, Jan. 9, voted unanimously to adopt a resolution changing the way future members are elected.  The change would take place with the next election in 2013.
The district will no longer require candidates for school board to reside in a specified director district.  The board currently has four director districts and one at-large seat.
Passage of the Monday evening’s resolution makes all five seats at-large, thereby allowing any eligible district resident to run for any open seat on the board.
The board hopes to encourage more residents to run for school board by eliminating the director districts, what they called “barriers to the election process.”
The board received no written or oral comments during a public hearing scheduled earlier in the meeting.
However, district residents now have until Feb. 6 to file a petition requesting a public election on the matter.  If no petition is received, the board can proceed to certify the change in election method with the Iowa Department of Management.

For the complete story see the Jan. 14 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
We knew it had to happen.
Maquoketans finally were able to break out their snow blowers and shovels this week as the first significant winter storm of the season finally arrived, bringing with it several inches of snow and causing the first wave of school early dismissals and other postponements.
The snowfall began early Thursday morning, Jan. 12, and continued throughout the day and evening.
Students in the Maquoketa Community School District were dismissed at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
The City of Maquoketa declared a snow emergency that went into effect at 5 a.m. Thursday and was to continue through 5 a.m. Saturday.

For the complete story see the Jan. 14 issue.

By KELLY GERLACH
East Central Community School District could have a state-of-the-art elementary program, even if the Sabula building closes.  East Central and Northeast school districts could realize stable enrollments, make more efficient use of class time, create taxpayer savings.  
In essence, the two neighboring school districts could greatly benefit from a merger of the two districts.
District residents heard these recommendations, projections and more – including support to reorganize - during a 75-minute public meeting in East Central’s gymnasium Wednesday, Jan. 11.  About 30 people attended the meeting, as well as both school boards and superintendents.
Dr. Robert Decker, Dr. Liz Jurgensen, and Dr. Michael Jurgensen presented their findings regarding the possibility of merging East Central and Northeast school districts.  The information was first presented to the public Nov. 2 in Northeast’s new auditorium.  
There were no modifications from that Nov. 2 presentation.  The trio still supported merging the two districts, saying such a merger offers financial incentives and benefits, more steady enrollment, efficient use of classroom time, more diverse and broad activities, and efficient transportation.
“It’s about what’s good for the kids,” said Decker, who has worked with the University of Northern Iowa for 28 years and conducted various reorganization studies since the 1980s.  “While indeed schools may be for many things, they are primarily for education.”
Decker first noted that this feasibility study is based on data from the 2009-10 school year.  Thus, the results could not take into account the affects of the whole grade sharing agreement already in place between the two districts.

For the complete story see the Jan. 14 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
A Maquoketa City Council committee’s recommendation that the council no longer require the city’s water supply to be fluoridated has drawn the opposition of a Maquoketa dentist.
The council on Jan. 3 tabled action on a recommendation of its Utilities Committee that the council repeal its ordinance requiring that the city’s water supply be fluoridated.
The three-member Utilities Committee made the recommendation after hearing that the city’s water utility several times has had to replace equipment that adds fluoride to the water supply at increasing costs.
The proposal drew the opposition of Dr. Salvador “Buddy” Atienza, who has been a Maquoketa dentist for the past 18 years. Atienza attended the meeting after hearing earlier in the day that the topic would be on the agenda.
If the city stopped adding fluoride to its water supply, the effects wouldn’t show up for about two to five years, Atienza told the council. But he added, “Those people will be affected for a lifetime.”
He said the cost of repairing a cavity is not only shown in the pain and financial cost to the patient, but it also weakens the tooth over time, which leads to more costly dental work later, such as root canals and crowns.

For the complete story see the Jan. 11 issue.

A Baldwin teenager died last weekend when the vehicle he was driving ran off a Jackson County road and struck a utility pole.
Daniel Christian Kidd, 19, died in the single-vehicle accident, which occurred at 8:35 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, on 82nd Avenue a half mile north of the junction with Iowa 64.
The location was two miles east of Baldwin and approximately eight miles west of Maquoketa.
Iowa State Patrol troopers said Kidd was driving a 1998 Dodge south on 82nd Avenue when he lost control of the vehicle.
The vehicle ran off the road, rolled, struck a utility pole and came to rest on its right side facing south, troopers said. Kidd was not wearing a seat belt.
He was transported by a Jackson County medical examiner to the Jackson County Regional Health Center in Maquoketa.
Jackson County sheriff’s deputies, the Maquoketa Rescue Squad and crews from the Maquoketa Valley Rural Electric Cooperative assisted troopers at the scene.
Further details were not immediately available. Investigation into the accident is continuing, troopers said.
The accident marked Jackson County’s first traffic fatality of 2012.

By KELLY GERLACH
A Maquoketa native returns to Haiti this week, teaming with other paramedics, doctors and nurses to improve living conditions by administering better medical care.
D.J. Head of Colorado, formerly of Maquoketa, is preparing for his fourth voluntary trip to Haiti, leaving Jan. 13 and returning Jan. 25.
Head, who is now the director of ambulance for Lake County DEEP in the mountains of Colorado, is the son of Mick and Jeanne Head of Maquoketa.
He’s been traveling to Haiti for these medical mission trips since 2008, but this will be the first year Head will be able to examine and treat patients in a cinder-block clinic, constructed and paid for through donations and grant funding.
“We have stocked this clinic with some great equipment, mostly all donated. It even has X-ray! Unfortunately, no air conditioning though,” Head said in an e-mail to the Maquoketa Sentinel-Press regarding the upcoming trip.
“In addition to seeing patients in the clinic, two of the days that we are there we head up into the mountains and get into the villages and see patients there as well. This is where we will be seeing patients in dirt-floor, thatch-roof huts,” Head said.
His group examined 711 patients during his last Haitian mission trip.

For the complete story see the Jan. 11 issue.

Many took advantage of the warmer than usual temperatures these past few days with all kinds of outside activities that are usually not seen this time of year in Iowa. Golfers, motorcyclists and kayakers were spotted getting in one last outing before the snow flies.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
As they did four years ago, Jackson County Republicans bucked the statewide trend at their precinct caucuses this week, making Ron Paul their top choice in the presidential preference poll.
Paul received 163 of the 549 votes cast at the GOP’s four Jackson County caucus locations Tuesday night, Jan. 3.
The Texas congressman’s 29.7 percent winning margin was four points better than former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who received 139 votes, or 25.3 percent and eked out an eight-vote victory in statewide voting over Rick Santorum.
In Jackson County, Santorum didn’t fare as well, finishing a distance third with 92 votes and 16.8 percent of the total.
Jackson County Republican chair Jean Davidsaver of Bellevue said she wasn’t surprised that Paul finished first in Jackson County, while he placed third statewide.
“This wasn’t entirely unexpected,” she said. “The Paul supporters worked very hard and you have to give them credit,” she said.
While a late surge by Santorum left the former Pennsylvania senator in a virtual tie with Romney statewide, Santorum’s momentum wasn’t felt as keenly in Jackson County.
“In some of the other counties you could visualize that he was surging, but Jackson County didn’t see that nearly as strongly,” Davidsaver said. “He worked hard and ran an old-fashioned type of campaign.”
Santorum finished two votes ahead of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who receive 90 votes, or 16.4 percent.

For the complete story see the Jan. 12 issue.

By KELLY GERLACH
The Catholic Daughters made their last pies.
Unless someone else organizes the charitable pie-making fundraiser, there will be no more homemade pies from the Catholic Daughters of America from Sacred Heart Church in Maquoketa.
Regent Janet Saunders said that as of Dec. 23 no one has stepped forward to organize the project, which has made more than a thousand pies and collected thousands of dollars for area charitable causes.
“We’re not planning to make pies next year unless someone takes it over,” Saunders said.
2011 marks the fourth year for the Catholic Daughters’ fundraiser, which began in 2007 to raise money for the Jackson County Habitat for Humanity House built in Maquoketa the following year.  They made a total of 351 apple, peach, cherry, and rhubarb pies that year.
In 2008, the number of homemade pies increased to well over 350 pies, raising $1,776.64 for Habitat for Humanity.
Pie sales jumped in 2009 as Catholic Daughters members prepared 575 homemade pies ready to take home and either bake immediately to enjoy or freeze for future use.  The proceeds, $2,741.90, were donated to DAC, Inc.

For the complete story see the Jan. 4 issue.

By DOUGLASMELVOLD
Jackson County Regional Health Center board members will be asked next month to decide whether the hospital should undertake an extensive remodeling of its present facility or should build an all-new facility.
The hospital board last month received an updated report on planning that has been accomplished so far.
Dwight Duckstein, hospital facilities manager, said Shive-Hattery engineers have talked with employees in all hospital departments to determine their needs.
He said it’s important to design the new areas with the right amount of space, “so it’s the right size, big enough but not too big.”
He said the main design will be nearly the same regardless of which option the board chooses.
“For all intents and purposes, it’s the same design,” Duckstein told the board at a Dec. 20 board meeting. “There are some variations between them, but the same goals are accomplished with each site. It’s coming together really well.”
He said the next phase of the study will be to put together financial projections, including cost estimates and options for how the project would be financed.

For the complete story see the Jan. 4 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
With candidates jockeying for position and votes as the campaign rode into the final stretch, Iowa caucus goers will have their say and the nation’s attention next week.
The Republican and Democratic parties will hold their statewide caucuses Tuesday night, Jan. 3.
The nation will be watching to see how the finish winds up in a Republican field that appeared to be wide open.
“I’m not making any predictions. Almost every candidate has had his time at the top,” Jean Davidsaver, chairman of the Jackson County Republican Central Committee, said Thursday, Dec. 29. She noted that she had given the same answer to all other reporters who have asked her the same question.
Davidsaver, however, did venture a prediction that turnout for the caucuses in Jackson County will be higher than the caucuses four years ago, when 552 Republicans participated.
“I think we’ll definitely go over 600,” she said.
Registration totals as of Thursday, Dec. 29, show there are 14,276 registered voters in Jackson County. Of that number, 6,217 are registered as Democrats, 2,580 as Republicans and 5,479 with other parties or no party.
Davidsaver noted for the record that Mitt Romney carried Jackson County by a wide margin in the 2008 caucuses, although Mike Huckabee finished first statewide.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, the eventual nominee, did little campaigning in Iowa.

For the complete story please see the Dec. 31 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
A Dubuque area businessman and property developer has offered to purchase the former S&H Fabricating building in Maquoketa’s Timber City Industrial Park from Jackson County.
A. J. Spiegel of Peosta has offered to pay $450,000 for the 53,150-square-foot steel building and the 3.93-acre property it sits on at 1201 E. Summit St.
Larry “Buck” Koos, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, disclosed the offer during a board meeting Tuesday, Dec. 27. He said he has been in contact with Spiegel, who has given him a check for $25,000 as earnest money.
Supervisors expressed interest in pursuing the possible sale and scheduled a public hearing on the offer for 10 a.m. Jan. 10 in the supervisors meeting room at the Courthouse.

For the complete story please see the Dec. 31 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
A fire that extensively damaged a vacant Maquoketa house this week is being probed by state investigators.
Maquoketa volunteer firefighters were summoned at 8:05 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, to 402 S. Matteson St.
Assistant Fire Chief Al Muhlhausen said firefighters arrived to find extensive smoke and flames coming from the house.
“There was lots of smoke everywhere; it was very heavy inside,” Muhlhausen said. He said firefighters “went through a lot of air packs” entering the house.
He said the house sustained extensive smoke and heat damage throughout.
The department sent four fire trucks to the scene, including its aerial unit to pour water from above.
Firefighters cut a ventilation hole in the roof of the two-story wood frame home.
There was visible damage on the north side of the second floor exterior.
Most fire units remained at the scene until about 11:45 p.m.
Muhlhausen said a deputy state fire marshal was at the scene Wednesday night.
He said the cause of the fire is undetermined. He declined to elaborate on a possible cause or to say where in the house the fire originated.
Yellow crime-scene tape surrounded the house after firefighters left.
The house is owned by Emilie Harmon.

For the complete story please see the Dec. 31 issue.

By DOUGLAS MELVOLD
America’s biggest export to the world is money—money to support wars and the military overseas and to bail out other countries—and if the spending isn’t curtailed soon, chaos will follow.
That was the message Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul gave to a standing-room-only crowd of about 125 at the Clinton Engines Museum in Maquoketa on Thursday morning, Dec. 22.
The 12-term Texas congressman’s 50-minute stop was the first of four eastern Iowa campaign appearances he made Thursday, with the Iowa caucuses less than two weeks away.
The friendly crowd applauded several times during his talk. Paul, a physician, began by introducing two granddaughters, one in medical school and the other in undergraduate school, who were accompanying him on the campaign swing.

For the complete story see the Dec. 28th, 2011 issue.

Christmas this year was made a little brighter for 29 Maquoketa area youngsters and their families, thanks to the Shop with a Cop program.
The annual project is sponsored jointly by Wal-Mart Stores, the Maquoketa Police Department and the Maquoketa Optimist Club.
Under the program, participating youngsters are chosen by the staffs of Briggs and Cardinal elementary schools and Sacred Heart School in Maquoketa.
On the evening of Dec. 14, the youngsters met officers of the Maquoketa Police Department at Maquoketa’s Wal-Mart store, where the youngsters were treated to a pizza meal. After they finished eating, they shopped in the store with a police officer for gifts. Nearly all of the department’s full-time and reserve officers participated.
Each child was given a $65 gift card to spend as he or she wished. Many brought lists of family members to buy for, with gift suggestions.
After the youngsters had completed their shopping, they took their gifts to an area that was turned into a gift-wrap center for the project.
Optimist Club members and some of the department’s dispatchers wrapped the gifts while the youngsters filled out gift tags.
Police Chief Brad Koranda praised the program, which he said is now in about its 12th year.
He said the program helps community relations and gives young people a positive experience with a police officer.
Wal-Mart Stores donated $1,800 for the gift cards. That contribution was supplemented by a $250 donation from the Optimist Club.
Wal-Mart also provides the pizza and pop and the gift wrap, tags and other wrapping supplies.