Norwalk/Waukee goals were scored by Mason McDougal and Cameron Bostwick.  The defense allowed only 14 shots on  Norwalk/Waukee goalie Zach Kaldenberg.

The next game will be against West Des Moines Valley at 6:45 p.m. Dec. 6. Head to the Urbandale Metro Ice Facility at 5100 72d Street to  help cheer the team to victory.

A detour will take drivers from Fourth to Maple Street to Fifth.

But there’s one bit of Holiday spirit I’m fine with starting a month early.

I just finished writing a story about the annual Waukee Christmas Drive and Ann Strong, the woman who has taken the lead role in organizing the project for nearly 25 years. You can read all about it on Tuesday, but until then, here are the relevant details in case you’re itching to help needy families in Waukee. Just try to leave the tinsel in the closet for a little while longer.

Waukee Christmas Drive

WHAT: Donations are now being accepted to help needy families in Waukee celebrate Christmas and businesses, families and community groups can adopt a family to help.

HOW TO HELP: Donations will be accepted at the Waukee Police Department now through Dec. 18. Monetary donations are taken year around. Checks should be made payable to the Waukee Christmas Fund. Food donations should be delivered to the Waukee Food Pantry at Westview Church, 1155 Boone Drive.

HOW TO APPLY: To get on the assistance list, or to adopt a family, call Ann Strong at 978-4016. Any families who need assistance must call by Dec. 4.

McGee called to congratulate Peard after he found out the results, and said the two planned to meet in the coming weeks to discuss how they can both continue to serve the community.

McGee’s term on the council ended this year, but he said he would continue to serve the community despite not holding public office.

“I still think the issues I’ve been running on are important, and I’m glad I had the chance to bring those issues to the table,” McGee said. “Bill has the next couple years to move these issues forward, and I wish him the best of luck.”

The only incumbent in the race for three at-large council seats in Waukee held on to his seat. Mike Watts earned 938 votes.

The other two elected candidates were Dan Dutcher, who earned 1,045 votes, and Shane Blanchard, who earned 700 votes.

The three unelected candidates were Andi Tisor with 525 votes, Ethan Hohenadel with 413 votes, and Kaushal Kothari with 182 votes.

Jack Bryan is supervising the process at the Waukee school district administration building, 560 University Ave. A little after 1 p.m., 74 people had voted there, and there were no problems.

“I think people are probably voting at the place that’s handiest to where they work or live,” Bryan said.

At Westview Church, 1155 Boone Drive, 186 people had voted by the same time. Workers there described the pace of voters as “steady.” Once again, they hadn’t had any problems.

If you encounter an problems voting today, e-mail me at lhulsebu@dmreg.com and I’ll check it out.

The Waukee Area Arts Council will host the Community Jazz Center of Greater Des Moines’ November jazz session from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Arts Council’s new location, ArtsCentral, at 405 Maple Street in Waukee.  (If you like your musical references a tad dated, you can call it the Arts Building Formerly Known as St. Boniface Church.)

The event is free and open to the public to either listen or participate or both.

The jam session will include some of the best high school and middle school jazz musicians in the area playing with local jazz professionals. The kids in Waukee know what they’re doing—in large part because they learn jazz improv from Wayne Page, who reliable sources tell me is one of the heppest cats around.

If you want more info, or if you’re curious to know whether the kazoo is an accepted jazz instrument, visit www.WaukeeArts.org or contact the Waukee Area Arts Council at info@WaukeeArts.org, PO Box 790, Waukee, IA 50263, or 515-402-7870.

Wayne Page, seen here laying down some hot licks in the Waukee Triangle, has crazy chops that put the author to shame.

This year’s Second-Most-Common Easily Avoidable Crime in the western suburbs is…   burglary.

That determination is based on a non-scientific, tenuously supported, sounds-pretty-much-right mental tabulation of police reports from Waukee, Clive and West Des Moines.

Every Tuesday, I flip through the previous week’s reports of drunk driving, bar fights, and other avoidable forms of mischief. But the amount of stuff that gets yoinked when folks neglect to lock the doors to their cars, homes and garages still boggles my poor mind every week.

Just last week, your neighbors unintentionally parted ways with $6,000 worth of stereo equipment, a brand new plasma TV, three laptops, a GPS system, countless credit cards, and enough iPods to start an Apple Store.

If I may make a suggestion (and hey, it’s my blog), lock your doors folks!

And what’s the Most-Common Easily Avoidable Crime in the ‘burbs? Shoplifting. Trust me, boys and girls—the loss-prevention department at Scheels is on to you.

14 bands competed at the event, held at Waukee Stadium. The senior salute was the final marching band performance for many of these kids.

Members of the public will be able to speak.

Last month the Waukee Board of Adjustment reversed an earlier decision by voting to allow Schade to sell wine at his 13-acre vineyard. Tonight’s meeting seems poised to reverse the decision and again ban wine sales before Schade ever corks his first bottle of wine.

In a letter to city employees, board member Robert Ellis asked for a chance to reconsider his “yes” vote in the Sept. 21 decision, which was 3-2.

Wondering what all the fuss is about? Here are a few photos I took of the winery earlier this month:

Park Road will be closed on Oct. 22 to prepare for overlaying. Warrior Lane will close in sections throughout the day on Oct. 23 for the overlay portion of the project.

If you have questions call Waukee Public Works at 987-4363.

Mayor Bill Peard and Councilman Isaiah McGee will speak to residents at 8 p.m. Oct. 12 at Waukee City Hall. That event grew out a conflict with a forum planed for this week.

Read more about the event in Tuesday’s Waukee Register.

The Waukee Chamber of Commerce sent a press release this morning announcing its Oct. 7 city council candidate forum. The release said a mayoral candidate forum planned for the same night would not be held due to scheduling conflicts between the candidates.

About four hours later, Mayor Bill Peard’s campaign sent a press release saying his challenger, Isaiah McGee, had refused to attend the forum.

“I want every voter in Waukee to know that I accepted the chamber’s invitation to appear with my opponent on Oct. 7,” Peard said in the statement.  “It’s sad that one candidate thinks a different set of rules should apply to him, but if that’s the case, I’d be more than willing to debate Mr. McGee at a different time and place.”

About an hour after that, McGee called me and sent along his own statement. He said he initially agreed to attend the forum, which was originally scheduled for a different night. But he said he could not attend on Oct. 7 due to a prior commitment.

Chamber Executive Director Chad Airhart confirmed that the Chamber had initially discussed another date for the forum, but changed to Oct. 7 because of a conflict with the Waukee Leadership Institute, in which two of the council candidates are enrolled.

“We regret that we couldn’t find a day that worked for both candidates,” Airhart said.

McGee said he plans to hold four public meetings, and said he’d be happy to have Peard attend.

The dates for those meetings are:

8 p.m. Oct. 12
7 p.m. Oct. 17
7 p.m. Oct. 21
7 p.m. Oct. 22

All of the town hall meetings will be held at Waukee City Hall and will last approximately one hour, McGee said.

Peard said his campaign has contacted the moderator of the Chamber forum, Drake Professor Dennis Goldford, “so Mr. McGee knows a follow-up forum will be as close to the traditional event as possible.”

Time is running out to sign up for writing classes taught by Iowa Writer’s Workshop students as part of the Big Read in Waukee.  The program has generated a lot of excitement among folks from the library, the arts council, and the school district.

Classes begin on Sept. 29 and run for three consecutive weeks and are offered at 3:15 for students, and 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. for students and adults.

They cover just about any subject you’d ever want to write about: fiction, non-fiction/memoir, and poetry. Sign up at www.waukee.k12.ia.us/communityeducation/index.html or at the Waukee public library, 950 Warrior Lane.

What would you ask?  What’s important to you in a city leader?  If I get some good questions I’ll include the candidates’ answers in one of my upcoming stories.

Post here, or e-mail me at lhulsebu@dmreg.com

“Hopefully that’ll open up a space for somebody else to get involved and raise the bar on what we’ve done so far,” he said.

Bailey’s seat is one of three that comes up for election this fall.  The other two belong to Isaiah McGee, who is running for mayor, and Mike Watts, who I hope to hear back from soon about his intentions.

So far four new candidates have filed papers to run for the three seats.  They are Andi Tisor, Ethan Hohenadel, Dan Dutcher and Shane Blanchard.

You can read more about the candidates and the race in the Waukee Register next week.

Nomination petitions are available at Waukee City Hall, 230 W. Hickman Rd., for those interested in running for one of the positions. All petitions must be received by the city clerk by 5 p.m. Sept. 17. Contact deputy city clerk Becky Schuett at 987-4522, or bschuett@waukee.org if you have any questions about the nomination process.

Also check out Register Reporter John Naughton’s story from the game here.

And since I know a lot of Waukee fans have some pretty great cameras of their own, we’d love it if you uploaded your best shots from the game. You can do that here.

Also be sure to keep us posted on the achievements of other Waukee teams. You can e-mail community@dmreg.com to submit information and photos for publication in the Waukee Register.

Has your business been affected? Or have you followed directions provided by Google or Mapquest that didn’t lead you to your destination?

Share your story with Jennifer by Tuesday to be included in her story. You can e-mail her at jripslin@dmreg.com or call her at 284-8468.

]]> http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/08/27/gmap-it-not-in-waukee/feed/ 0 http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/08/27/gmap-it-not-in-waukee/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/waukee/~3/jn-G5o1siJ0/ http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/08/25/waukee-girl-avoids-abduction/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:52:28 +0000 L. Lars Hulsebus http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/?p=12925 A 7-year-old girl avoided an apparent abduction attempt on Sunday in front of her Waukee home.

Shortly after 11 a.m., a man in his early twenties approached the girl, who was playing in the 2100 block of SE Olson Drive.
The man, who was driving a gold-colored sport-utility vehicle, said he needed help finding his lost dog and told the girl to get in with him. She then ran into the house and told her parents.

The man was described as a white male with long, light brown hair.

If you have any additional information or see a vehicle or driver matching this description, call the Waukee Police Department at 515-987-1073 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or Dallas County Dispatch after hours at 515-993-4567.

The  fifth question is below, with answers from candidates Richard Dohrmann, Dave Duncan, Mary Thomas Scheve, Chuck Van Devander, and incumbent Russ Wiesley.

Q: In the past few years, the district has made plans to share a pool with the YMCA, build tennis courts and remodel Waukee stadium. A plan to add a theatre performance space is currently being finalized, and the district recently announced the Community Education program will soon be up and running. Are there any other facilities or programs you think Waukee needs to add in order to compete academically, artistically, or athletically?

Wiesley: I think that our district needs to start teaching a foreign language in the second or third grade to our students. I would also like to see string instruments started in the fourth or fifth grades. These are programs that could also be started in our Community Education program and then transitioned to our schools at a later time.

The Board needs to keep a constant pulse on the needs of our students, professional staff, administrators and other staff in the years to come in order to stay one step ahead of future needs.

Dohrmann: I believe that given the current economic environment the district needs to be frugal with their spending. Any future plans should be thought out carefully and not just done because the district has the money.

Van Devander: Waukee needs to make sure it continues to add facilities that support technology education and advancement.  Items such as virtual world learning facilities, state-of-the-art computer training and similar technology should be a priority.  While athletics and artistic facilities are important aspects of the school system, we need to keep in mind that the main focus of our schools should be academics, so keeping our teaching facilities and programs at an advanced state should be a priority.  We should also work towards creating a better and more expansive internship and shadowing program that allows our high school students to spend more time learning about career opportunities in order to allow them to make informed decisions about their futures, such as choosing colleges, vocational schools, military entrance and employment.  The Des Moines area has always been known for incredible community involvement, so I would encourage the school board to find businesses and professionals who are willing to share experiences in order to best prepare our children for their futures.  This includes farmers and ranchers who are important to the community financially and historically.

As far as athletics and the arts, it is usually much easier to get parental involvement as well as financial support for these types of items.  Because the economy is going to play such a vital role in our decision making process, I would urge the school board to seek out every means for saving money through community involvement and commitment.

Scheve: The great thing about the Waukee school district is that the district doesn’t have to look for more ideas of programs to add as our parents and students actively show their interest and support on putting these initiatives in place.  The programs I have heard of interest would be an orchestra and more gym space for multiple uses.  Really lacking is a strong intramural program for those kids that enjoy trying multiple sports but either can’t compete at the 4A level, don’t want to compete at such a competitive level or don’t have priority with all the other priorities in their lives.  A strong intramural program that focuses on the recreational and fitness aspect of sports would be great not just for the kids but for the community as they give something for kids to do.

Duncan: We should increase our emphasis on foreign languages beginning in elementary school and continuing all the way through high school.  We cannot achieve the recently enacted mission of “optimizing individual learning and success in a global community” without improved foreign language curricula and giving our students a better “world view.”

Parents I’ve talked to think the purchase of the YMCA and sharing of the new pool is a good way to economically expand our facilities, and I think that as we continue to grow and need more and larger facilities, we should look for similar types of beneficial partnerships with the community.

]]> http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/08/25/waukee-school-board-qa/feed/ 0 http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/08/25/waukee-school-board-qa/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/waukee/~3/dbMslCYO_8s/ http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/08/19/waukee-winery-what-do-you-think/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:14:46 +0000 L. Lars Hulsebus http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/?p=12388 The city of Waukee has so far prevented Kurt Schade from opening a winery on the site of his vineyard, which is located near the intersection of Warrior Lane and University Avenue. The city has said the land, which is zoned agricultural, does not allow the production and sale of wine.

On Wednesday, Schade and his attorney, Eric Eide, argued that the city’s zoning ordinances do allow those activities. Schade already grows grapes and has equipment to ferment them, though it’s not set up yet. His land is designated on Waukee’s comprehensive plan to remain “open space.”

In a 3-0 vote, the board said that Schade could produce wine, but could not sell it on his property. It seems unlikely this will be the final word on the matter, as Schade told the board after the vote that he would wait to see how their ruling affects him before making any further comment.

The meeting got contentious at times, and you can read full details in my story, which will be in the Waukee Register next week.

What do you think about having a winery in Waukee? Have you been by Schade’s property?

Leave a comment here, or e-mail me at lhulsebu@dmreg.com if you’d be willing to lend your voice to a story about the proposed vineyard.

Ashworth Road will reopen on Tuesday, weather permitting.

Both streets are crucial to getting traffic to and from Waukee schools, Police Chief L.J. Phillips said.  And they’re opening just in time–school starts on Wednesday.

Proceeds from the sale will help send the high school band to Florida in December to march at Disney World and in the Citrus Bowl Parade.

A similar ordinance was put on hold last month by the Clive City Council. West Des Moines has already passed such an ordinance that restricts turbines to lots that are one acre or larger. Des Moines has an ordinance that allows roof-mounted turbines.

The meeting will start at 7 p.m. tonight at Waukee City Hall. The ordinance is listed on the agenda to be given a first of three readings, but if enough council members attend they could potentially wave the second two readings and pass the ordinance tonight.

Premium Business Insurance will operate jointly under the PBI and Two Rivers’ name, until January 1, when it will operate solely under the Two Rivers name.

Tim Brunkhorst, of PBI, will lead the development of the property and casualty insurance business line in its Waukee and Earlham offices.

Two Rivers Insurance Services has offices in Ankeny, Burlington, Fort Madison, Mount Pleasant and West Burlington.

Two Rivers Insurance Services is wholly owned by Two Rivers Financial Group, Inc., a bank holding company for Two Rivers Bank and Trust, which has locations in Urbandale and West Des Moines, and other banks in southeast Iowa.

Two Rivers Financial received $12 million from the government as part of the Capital Purchase Program earlier this month.

Visitors can register to win $250 in cash and other prizes during the three-day event. There will be a bone density screening from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday for $10. A ribbon cutting by Waukee Chamber of Commerce is planned for 5:30 p.m. Thursday with cookies by Sweetest Perfections in Waukee.

Friday’s activities include a kids safety event from 10 to noon and free spin art activity by the Waukee YMCA from noon to 2 p.m.  The Waukee Police Department’s Bob the Bear will be at the safety event to teach safety tips to families. Kids will receive a free ID kit and stickers.

Then on Saturday the Waukee Troop 178 will have registration for the Boy Scouts Fun Run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free hamburgers and hotdogs will be provided by Dallas County Cattlement from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The first 100 people will receive a free Medicap water bottle filled with goodies.

Call 987-8111 for more information.

Thursday, June 18

6:00 PM – 10:00PM

• NEW EVENT: HOG NIGHT – IA Pork Producers serving something special along with our first annual “Bike Night”
• Beer Garden, Food Vendors and Inflatable Rides for kids of all ages
• FREE music – Roadshow
• TUG OF WAR Contests, starting at 7:00pm
• The 12th Annual Light the Night for Sight Walk to benefit Prevent Blindness Iowa. The walk is held at dusk. Call 244-4341 or check outwww.preventblindness.org/Iowa for more information!

Friday, June 19

5:00 PM – 11:30 PM

• It’s CLIVE AFTER FIVE at the Festival with the Clive Jaycees
• FREE music – Comfort Zone, followed by Toaster
• Beer Garden, Food Vendors and Inflatable Rides for kids of all ages
• NEW EVENT – The Taste of Clive from 4-10:00pm; local food vendors ready to entice your pallet and your wallets!

Saturday, June 20
12 Noon – 11:30 PM  with a 7:30AM Bike Ride

• 7:30 AM – Mayor’s Bike Ride – FREE to those who can handle the challenge!
• Noon-5:00 Kids Corner – Join Abe Lincoln for FREE crafts & entertainment: Bull Whip Specialist, Magician Act and Balloon Animals, Apex Athletics – Cheering Team to name a few!
• Beer Garden, Food Vendors and Inflatable Rides
• Iowa Air National Guard
• TUG OF WAR special event – Police vs. Fire Department starts at 5:00PM

Saturday Evening Entertainment

• Beer Garden, Food Vendors and Inflatable Rides
• FREE music – The Jesters, followed by Tony Valdez Large Band
• 2nd Night at the Taste of Clive from 4-10:00pm
• Clive’s 7th annual fireworks display, starting at approximately 9:30pm

The specific stop signs the council is talking about possibly (emphasize possibly) removing are:

•Olson Drive and Mapleleaf Lane

•Olson Drive and Applewood Lane

•Crabapple Drive and Windfield Drive

•Marshall Drive and Whitetail Lane

•Eighth Street and Walnut Street

•Eighth Street and Cherry Street

What do you think?  Anybody in these neighborhoods have a thought on whether these signs should stay or go?  Any other intersections in the city you think should be examined?

The company’s $10.45 million bid was about 24 percent below the district’s original estimate. The goal for completion is the middle of October 2010. If that goal is met, students will move from the current building to the new one after winter break in the 2010-2011 school year.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the district offices, 560 Southeast University Avenue in Waukee.

The changes will not likely affect mail delivery, officials said.

About nine years ago, the city adopted an addressing system that divided the city into four parts using Hickman Road and Warrior Lane as boundaries. Under that system, residences, businesses and streets in three of the quadrants were assigned a prefix—NE, SE, or N.

But the system was never consistently implemented, and in some cases prefixes were used incorrectly. East Laurel Street, for instance, is the only street in the city to use “east” as a prefix. In some places it is even called by a different name—East Laurel Drive. The entire street will now be changed to Southeast Laurel Street.  

Most of the changes in the newly approved measure will occur in the quadrant to the south of Hickman and east of Warrior, where more than 650 addresses will now include the “SE” prefix. 

Several years ago, the city adopted an addressing system that divided the city into four parts using Hickman Road and Warrior Lane as boundaries.

Under that system, residents in three of the quadrants were to add a prefix—NE, SE, or N—to their addresses.

If the new measure is approved, the U.S. Postal Service will recognize the new and existing addresses for one year. After that, only the addresses with directional prefixes will be recognized.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Waukee City Hall, 230 Highway 6.

Because of the Memorial Day holiday, the story had to be finished before Aaron Burns actually ran in Saturday’s Special Olympics. But since I happened to be there covering the event, I got to see him take the podium twice. Aaron won the 400 and took second in the 200. 

His mom, Michele, told me she promised Aaron he could go to GameStop if he ran really fast. The promise of video games would have worked to motivate me at age 15, but I still wouldn’t have been able to run fast enough to beat anybody. 

Check out my story about some other very competitive Special Olympians  here.

• Development of a comprehensive job and quality of life plan for Waukee
• Securing funding for the Alice’s Road corridor
• Spearheaded the creation of the Waukee Economic Development Corporation
• Development of the Downtown Design Plan
• Connection of Waukee’s trails to other communities in central Iowa

He also wrote: “Now is not the time for a change of the leadership in Waukee.   For the last four years I’ve proven the ability to deliver for Waukee.  I believe Waukee is a better place to live, work, and raise a family than before I took office as Mayor.”

Councilman Isaiah McGee has said it is time for a change. He’ll kick off his campaign against Peard at an event from 5:30 to 7 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday May 28), at 2995 Belfry Dr. in Waukee. See McGee’s facebook page here. 

The Waukee school district will hold camps for basketball, football, cross country, soccer and volleyball this summer.

Registration forms are available here. Online registration is available for boys and girls soccer camps here. For additional information call the Waukee High School activities office at 987-2782.

Info on Specific Camps:

BOYS BASKETBALL CAMPS

Individual Instruction Camp

June 22-25 @ Waukee High School

12:00-2:00 – 9-12 grades

3:00-5:00 – 7-8 grades

Cost $75.00

June 29-July 2 @ Waukee High School

12:00-2:00 – 1st-3rd grades

3:00-5:00 – 4th-6th grades

Cost $75.00

Skills & Competition Camp

July 13 & 14 @ Waukee High School

10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. – 1st & 2nd grades

1:30-4:00 p.m. – 3rd & 4th grades

Cost $40.00

July 15 & 16 @ Waukee High School

10:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. – 5th & 6th grades

1:30-4:00 p.m. – 7th & 8th grades

Cost $40.00

GIRLS BASKETBALL CAMP

July 13-16 @ HS, PV, MG, WH

6:00-8:00 p.m. – 2-8 grades

Cost $65.00

FOOTBALL CAMP

August 3-6

8:00 – 10:15 a.m. – 7-9 grades

6:00 – 8:15 p.m. – 10-12 grades

Cost $65.00 before July 1

Cost $75.00 after July 1

 GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY CAMP

August 13 & 14

9:00 – 11:30 a.m. – 7-12 grades

Cost $50.00

GIRLS/BOYS SOCCER CAMP

July 21-24 @ Waukee Stadium

5:00-8:00 p.m. – Ages 8-14

Cost:  12 hours of instruction $95.00 –$10.00 off registration f registered by 7/10

VOLLEYBALL CAMP

The building is built to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

 Some facets that make the building green: 

• Motion-activated light switches, which will light specific areas of the data room, rather than lighting it all at once.
• Recycled crushed concrete used as bedding material for storm sewer pipes.
• Carpet made from recycled material
• Counters and desks made from crushed sunflower seeds
• Furniture frames made from recycled steel

The anticipated completion date for the building is Nov. 1.  The project was approved by the Waukee City Council in July 2008. 

So how do you get more people to come to the Downtown Triangle for fresh produce, crafts, local wine, games and other assorted cool stuff? Well, Cheryl Laird Humphrey, owner of the Pin Oak Gallery and a member of the downtown business group, plans to advertise more in local publications. On Monday, she asked the Waukee City Council for $1,400 to use toward buying ads in newspapers. The request was approved, 5-0.

The council asked if Humphrey planned to use social media like Facebook to promote the event—not yet anyway. But the city is already promoting the event on its official facebook group, which you can check out here.  (You may need to sign in to Facebook.) It’s also posted on the all-new city website, here. 

Humphrey said she’s hoping to entice people who’ve never even been to downtown Waukee to the market. That includes folks from nearby cities like Clive, she said. 

Who do you support?  What do you think about McGee’s statements that there has been a lack of leadership and long-term planning in Waukee?

Before the vote is taken, there will be a public hearing on the project. Anyone can come speak. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the district administration building, 560 Southeast University Ave. in Waukee.

The board will also likely vote to issue $50 million in bonds for school construction. Residents of the school district voted 89 percent in favor of giving the board the authority to issue the bonds in March 2008.

A story in today’s Waukee Register said the Waukee High School prom was Saturday, as in this Saturday. Prom will actually happen next Saturday, May 2. You can read the story here, and I’m on my way to correct it right now.

I’m sure everybody planning to attend the prom knows exactly when it is. Then again if I was one of them, I would have been thrown. Obviously. My apologies for the mix-up.

Future blog topics may include: How Many Weeks are in a Month, Counting to Thirty, and Delicious Recipes for Humble Pie.

One part of the story that I didn’t have room to mention in that article is that before they create fan pages, Facebook asks users to certify they are  “an official representative of this brand, organization, or person.”

What do you think: As an elected member of the City Council, is McGee an official representative of the city?  Was he right to create a page for the city?

What should the city’s next step be? Is having a presence on social media sites like Facebook important to a city’s mission?  Is it especially important to Waukee, given the city’s growth?

]]> http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/04/20/waukee-on-facebook/feed/ 0 http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/04/20/waukee-on-facebook/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/waukee/~3/Su1vp2mGjOc/ http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/04/20/safety-city-signup/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:22:56 +0000 L. Lars Hulsebus http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/?p=333 Safety City sign up in Waukee will end on May 1. There are openings in all classes that are being held both morning and afternoon the weeks of June 8-12 and June 15-19.
Safety City is a fun and educational program for pre-kindergarten children.  It teaches them about bullying, being a pedestrian, poison and drugs, 911, seatbelts, fire safety, gun safety and many other subjects. Participants meet a kindergarten teacher and take a field trip on a school bus to the Waukee Fire and Waukee Police Departments.
Classes will be held at Maple Grove Elementary School at 1455 98th Street in West Des Moines. A city is built in the gymnasium and kids learn to ride tricycles and walk through the city safely.
To obtain a sign-up sheet, contact the Waukee Police Department at 987-1073 or come to the Police Department at 1300 LA Grant Parkway from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The cost is $40 per child.