GALENA, Ill. -- Nobody got exactly what they wanted. In fact, everybody got a fraction of their original request. Call it compromise, said the Jo Daviess County Board of Supervisors.
On Tuesday, board members voted, 8-7, to enact a half-percent sales tax that will pump an estimated $900,000 into area schools' bank accounts. But the decision also axed another $900,000 of voter-approved funds earmarked for schools.
More than 70 people packed the Jo Daviess County Courthouse to see where their representatives would side on an issue that made state history. On June 9, the board became the first in Illinois to overturn a voter-approved sales tax hike, in this case 1 percent. Board members said that the 53 to 47 percent margin was too slim in tough economic times.
The referendum was non-binding, meaning the board had final authority in the matter. Community members reprimanded supervisors at a July 14 board meeting, and the board voted then to reconsider its original vote.
Several school administrators pleaded with board members to consider the diminishing school funds. East Dubuque High School principal Greg Herbst pointed out that Illinois ranks 49th out of the 50 states for funding. Galena Superintendent Dale Greimann echoed these sentiments, adding that community members wanted the schools to benefit from a tax increase.
Mediacom bill to rise
For the second time in less than six months, Mediacom is raising rates in the Dubuque area.
Mediacom in Dubuque has nine systems, and the price change on video services will impact six of those areas -- Asbury, Dyersville, Sageville, East Dubuque, Ill., Galena, Ill., and the Dubuque County area outside of the city of Dubuque.
The cable company said last week that rate changes will take effect next month and include a $2 increase for broadcast basic, $2 for expanded channel sets and $4 for family cable.
All areas, including Dubuque, Epworth and Farley, will have an Internet price increase of $2.
Water main explodes
The road gave way around him. "I thought I was hallucinating," Jake Schmitz said.
The Dubuque resident was driving his SUV across the intersection of Asbury and Carter roads Thursday morning when the cement street buckled and exploded around him, raining pieces of the road on his 2003 Ford Explorer. As traffic backed up behind him, Schmitz backed his truck off the geyser despite the deluge of water blasting the vehicle's underbody.
Schmitz said the total damage to his vehicle was $6,000. He plans to file a claim with the city for the damages. The explosion also caused significant damage to the roadway, including a hole the size of a turning lane, a bulged surface and a crack that extended to the sidewalk. Witnesses said water was running down the street blocks away from the blast.
The water main broke just before noon Thursday, knocking out water service to five blocks. The street was reopened by late evening.
FEMA plan blasted
Stanley Schroeder's family moved into 2244 White St. in 1941, and it has lived there ever since. The property wasn't affected by the flood of 1965. Heavy rains that flooded North End homes in 1993 and again in 1995 didn't dampen his home.
So you can imagine Schroeder's surprise when he recently discovered that the Federal Emergency Management Agency considers his home to be in a floodplain.
"I was totally shocked," Schroeder said.
Schroeder left a meeting with Dubuque Planning Services and Engineering representatives Thursday armed with comment sheets. The city is collecting public input as part of its campaign to remove as many homes as possible from the proposed floodplains.
FEMA's inclusion of much of Dubuque's North End, from 22nd Street to beyond 32nd Street, Kaufmann Avenue and West 32nd Street, took city officials by surprise. The map also includes property on the West End in the Keyway/Keystone area, along Catfish Creek near Nordstrom's and a small section at the end of Edmore Lane north of Four Mounds.
The current maps were created in 1989 and place about 70 structures in flood zones. The proposal includes 1,806 properties. FEMA has agreed to re-evaluate the situation based on input it recently received from the city.
Memorial a reality
"ALL GAVE SOME. SOME GAVE ALL."
As the crane operator lowered the engraved 6,000-pound stones into place Wednesday morning at Veterans Memorial Plaza, it dawned on Louis Kartman that more than two years of planning, organizing and fundraising finally was set in stone.
"This makes me feel like we're doing something," Kartman said. "This is the best piece of art built in Dubuque in the last 50 years. This really means something."
Kartman, a Korean War veteran, spearheaded construction after visiting an all-veterans memorial in Park Rapids, Minn., which convinced him that if a town of 3,900 could do it, then so could Dubuque.
Bad storms hit area
The darkness rolled in, followed closely by the wind and the rain.
Severe weather brought heavy wind, rain and hail across the tri-states Sunday afternoon, with Epworth, Iowa, feeling the worst of it.
Another thunderstorm swept through the tri-state area Sunday night, resulting in a possible lightning strike on a Peosta home.
Tom Berger, director of Dubuque County Emergency Management, said there were "quite a few" calls Sunday after the afternoon storm, but, by far, Epworth was the worst hit.
"It seems like it just went right through town and then back out," said Epworth resident Trisha Greenwood said of the path of the storm.
Everyone in Epworth felt the impact of the storm. If it wasn't a tree on a roof or a power line in the street, it was a loss of power. The town was without power for about three hours, said Epworth resident Verna McDermott.
