Glitz Grand Prize Claimed and Other News

According to Main Street Keokuk, Inc., the Glitz Grand Prize has officially been claimed. Advance Physical Therapy’s own physical therapist Julie Love is the winner of the ruby and diamond necklace grand prize from Cahill-Prybl Jewelry and Gifts.

Love will be presented with the prize at a special event on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 12:15 PM. The event will be at the Main Street office, 511 Blondeau. They would like to have all merchants who participated in Glitz to be in attendance for a photo.

The Lee County Board of Supervisors held their weekly meeting on Tuesday morning and with one of the first agenda items, officially approved having Ben Hall taking over as the Lee County Engineer. This is necessary with the retirement of longtime Engineer Ernie Steffensmeier. The move will take effect beginning Dec. 29.

Next, the board officially approved a contract for a bridge replacement on Abel Road, Project #BROS-SWAP-CO56(098)- -SE56, to AM Quarren and Son in the amount of $894,694.24.

The project will hopefully begin in the middle of January, according to Hall, but the work beginning is dependent on weather conditions. The company will have 80 working days to complete the project.

A bid was also awarded to Vogel Traffic Services for $103,045.96 to complete the pavement markings throughout the entire county. Hall said this includes markings such as white and yellow lines, stop bars and railroad crossings.

The hiring process will also begin for a new Assistant County Engineer and the Board said they will look both in the county and around the state for the position. Hall stated that a minimum requirement will be to have a degree in engineering and they will give favor to applicants that also have prior experience.

Two appointments were made to the Board of Health in Dr. Winger Keller, who is reappointed to his same position, and Dr. Philip Caropreso from Keokuk.

Tom Pollopeter from Fort Madison was appointed to the Conservation Board, a decision that Supervisor Ron Fedler said was not an easy one as they had three very strong applicants, but, unfortunately, they could only appoint one person.

Finally, the Board approved seven tax abatements  and several personnel actions, including step increases for the Auditor’s Office and Conservation, a new hire for the Health Department and a pair of retroactive step increases in the Attorney’s Office.

This was the final Board meeting for the 2018 calendar year and it was also the final meeting for Board Chairman Don Hunold as he did not seek reelection for his position.

Rich Harlow will officially take over as part of the Board of Supervisors beginning with the first meeting of the new year on Jan. 2. at the North Lee County Office.

In sports news, Keokuk’s Anthony Potratz was named the WGEM Prep Athlete of the Week for his performance against Washington last Friday night.

Potratz led the Chiefs to a 69-63 win over the Demons with 32 points, including 22 in the first half, and seven rebounds.

The last update seen by Radio Keokuk on Monday night had Potratz leading with over 69% of the vote and a nearly 100 vote lead over Drake Hammel from West Hancock.

Keokuk will be back in action on Thursday with a girls and boys basketball doubleheader at Fairfield. The girls will tip off at 6:15 PM and the boys will follow at 7:45. Coverage can be found on 93.9 WCEZ.

The girls freshman basketball game on Thursday has been cancelled while the boys freshman and junior varsity games have been moved to the Fairfield Recreation Center. The junior varsity team will begin at 4:45 and the freshmen will play afterwards at 6:15.

The Keokuk wrestling team will also be in action on Thursday with a meet on the road at Solon High School. The meet will include the teams from Midland, Solon, South Tama County and Vinton-Shellsburg.

Wrestling will start at 4:00 PM.

Iowa Hawkeye men’s basketball tips off against Western Carolina on Tuesday night in Iowa City at 8:07 PM. Western Carolina comes into the contest at 3-9 and are just 1-6 on the road.

Carlos Dotson leads them in scoring at 13.3 points per game and Matt Halvorsen follows at 12.8 points per contest.

Iowa, on the other hand, is led by Tyler Cook who is averaging over 16 points per game on an impressive 58.8% from the field. The #23 Hawks come in 8-2 and are still undefeated in non-conference play.

We will have game wrap-up coverage in Wednesday afternoon’s newscast.

Dave O’Hara with Radio Keokuk and Red Threads Card Co, the host of Hawkeyed and More every Saturday at 10:00 AM on Z93.9, is proud to bring Iowa Football Great, Marvin McNutt to the Tri-State for an Outback Bowl Viewing Part, Tuesday Jan. 1 at Kinnick South in Fort Madison.

The Meet and Greet includes autograph sessions for just $10 on the first item and $5 for each item after that with Iowa’s all-time leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. It will begin around 10:30 AM with game kickoff scheduled for 11:00 and will run throughout the game.

Stay Tuned to Radio Keokuk as more information becomes available.