As of October 1st the State of Iowa has removed 128 of the 139 fixed cameras. The cameras in Strawberry Point, Postville, Oelwein and Hazelton are no longer in service.

To put it in perspective for the City of Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids took in $7.2 million from the traffic cameras and the company that monitors the cameras took in $1.8 million in 2023. This was strictly a cash cow for Cedar Rapids.

As far as commercial airlines flying out of Eau Claire there are only 2 or 3 flights per week and all of these flights go to (wait for it)……Minneapolis. Might be a couple of junket flights to Florida and Vegas.

I haven’t been to The Cities since the George Floyd episode except to use the airport.

I have tinnitus for over 30 years and was fitted and have worn hearing aids for the past 5 years. When I was young I didn’t take care of my hearing and as my Dr. said, “Shot guns and rock and roll will do that to you.

I would highly recommend getting an appointment with an audiologist as hearing aids are a life changer. It is simply amazing how much of a difference the hearing aids make. Quite expensive and insurance doesn’t cover much if anything for the actual hearing aids. I think I paid $5 grand. Today’s technology is great with blue tooth so your phone and tv goes straight to your hearing aids.

Very well worded response. Thanks

A little off topic, but it does pertain to Lake City. I am now 65 years old and I previously lived in Lake City for 2 years. I will admit the fishing was great, but what I really remember are 2 things.

1) I saw more speeding tickets issued in Lake City in 2 years than I saw in my other 63 years of life. The police department definitely had a quota to meet. I would walk from the fishing cleaning station on the south end of town to the condos on the north end of town and back to my house. Wasn’t uncommon to see 2 or 3 people picked up for speeding in that short period of time.

2) Lake City catered to the sail boat people instead of taking care of the people in town. The sail boat people didn’t spend much money in town as they brought their provisions for the weekend from home.

3)As with any small town the locals weren’t very outgoing to people not from the local area, but that is any small town.

My take on Lake City. Beautiful place to visit, but locals don’t want you around.

Wow, can’t believe more people don’t see this for what it is. A money grab by local government as they can’t obtain more tax dollars from their constituents. So everyone who says you violated the law so pay the fine must have never violated any law.

I am a data driven person and there is no data to support the idea that the cameras reduce accidents. All the cameras do is take money from people who don’t live in the area and put it into the local government coffers.

Larger money grab than I thought. No data to support that the cameras reduce accidents. Can’t raise taxes in these areas so they get the additional revenue streams from out of state people. Sad and gives the whole State of Iowa a bad name

I think what finally brought this to a head is with holding people’s tax refunds to pay for the tickets and the exorbitant fees that were added to the tickets. Another hot button was property or sales tax didn’t decrease with the extra million dollars of income generated by the cameras.

I am originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa and it is definitely a money grab and a hot button for me. Cedar Rapids literally gets millions of dollars a year from the tickets. First of all the tickets won’t be reported to your insurance company to increase your rates as they have no proof who was driving the vehicle.

Secondly I never paid the ticket and had no problem renewing my plates in Iowa and now Wisconsin.

Google class action lawsuit against Cedar Rapids traffic cameras. Cedar Rapids was forced to return over a million dollars in tickets.

Smoked a lot of weed in college and even smoked with the professors on numerous occasions. Now that I am retired and living in Wisconsin I go to Illinois several times a year to get some weed. Very interesting to go to a legalized weed shop and talk to a weedologist about the different strains of weed. I usually purchase some weed and also some cartridges for my vaping pen.

My only issue with legalizing weed in Minnesota is the state government will waste the proceeds from the weed sales just as they do your state income tax, your property taxes and any other taxes they collect.

James, I think you have found a great market niche with the price point of $65ish. I wouldn’t spend over $100 for an ice fishing rod. In fact I just pulled up the 13fishing.com website to look at their ice fishing rods. Are the Tickle Stick rods on their website the new and improved rods that you gave input on? Looking at the Ultra Light or Super Ultra Light for panfish. Also what reel would you put on the rods?

Thanks in advance. My son and I still talk about the time you were our guide for the Fall night time crank bait bite on Mille Lacs. Had to be 20+ years ago…..

Mossy Dan was my father’s right hand man when repairing my father’s rental houses. To us he was referred to as Drywall Dan. He passed away from cancer several years ago. Dan was a colorful character who marched to a different drummer and I mean that in a good way. Google Daniel Bramow obituary to see a picture of young Dan and the colorful life he led. RIP Dan and I know there will never be another one like you.

This winter has dragged on forever. Love early ice, but once the permanent shacks and Ice Castles hit the ice my season is over. Attempting to move from Eau Claire to Prairie Du Chien. This is 3 hours further south and will make a little difference. If I had it my way I would head to Florida or Texas on December 1st and return the middle of April.

Looking at selling my house this Spring and the housing market in my area of Wisconsin is extremely hot. I was going to advertise my house on Zillow.com, but the realtor lobbyists in Wisconsin have passed a law so only houses being sold by realtors can be listed on websites such as Zillow. I confirmed this with Zillow and since noticed that individuals in Iowa can still list their homes on the Zillow type websites. Nothing but greed the Zillow representative told me. To counter this I have a neighborhood FB group that I mentioned that I am selling my house and have 4 people interested. If this doesn’t work I will probably go to FB Marketplace and put an ad in the local newspaper. There are a number of ways to advertise your house to avoid the $18K – $20K that a realtor would charge. If all else fails put a sign in your yard.

Heading to Arizona Monday for a week’s vacation. Had tickets to 5 different Spring training games. That is out the window obviously. Have lost a lot of interest in baseball in recent years. I am a Cubs fan and back in the day I could see every Cubs game on the same station, WGN. Now living in Northern Wisconsin it is more difficult than solving a Rubik’s cube to watch a Cub’s game.

1st question Are the Brewer’s playing a game on tv? If so the Cubs will be blacked out as I am in the Brewer’s territory.
2nd question If the Cubs are on and not blacked out which channel? ESPN, Fox, FS1, TBS, MLB Network, MLB Network Strike Zone, MLB Extra Innings. (A number of these channels are special packages and expensive.)Don’t forget you buy the MLB package and the Brewer’s are on tv all other MLB games are blacked out.

Just easier to go fishing…..

The old divorce mediation. Been there, done that. Never want to go through that again. Lost a lot of money, but it was the best money I ever spent.

Super cat just reminded me. The Ace Hardware on Clairemont also has live bait.

Following, the bait shop on Birch Street closed this fall after almost 40 years. Love Bill’s in Chippewa as it is an old fashion bait shop. I think Scheels has bait as well as the local Kwik Trips. Fleet Farm bait can be pretty iffy and needs to be opened before you purchase. Following to find a “real” bait shop in Eau Claire.

Decrease the panfish limits on Pool 9 & 10 on the Mississippi River to match the pools further north. 15 bluegills, 15 crappie and 15 perch.

Hope everyone is feeling better. Look forward to the Sunday morning fishing shows.

Whoops, photo is upside down, but you can get the drift.

My nose after melanoma removal. Fortunately the plastic surgeon was great. 63 years old and when we were kids we never heard of sun screen, it was get a good sun burn and then after your skin peels it would tan up. (Shout our to the nurse for taking the photo so I could share it in situations like this)

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X2 on stay away from silver leaf maples as they are a pain in the ass. Three different clean ups on an annual basis. The pollen and the associated mess, the actual helicopters and then the leaves. As mentioned above the root system is extremely shallow and a royal pain. Have 2 in my yard and will be getting quotes to have them removed this Spring.

Go for it. I am retired and currently live in a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house. Divorced and don’t see a relationship in my future. Thinking of selling the house and seriously downsize. Looked at several houses under 900 square feet and actually have thought of living in a tiny home or camper. Go for it and if you get tired of living in your Ice Castle, rent a small house or apartment for a while.

Live in Eau Claire and I avoid Wissota in the summer due to the amount of pleasure craft that use the lake. Crappies and walleye can be found, but weekends are almost unfishable.

Moved to Eau Claire from LaCrosse 5 years ago for work. Now that I retired I am moving to Prairie Du Chien which is the area I grew up in. Can’t get river out of my blood. Eau Claire is a nice town, and you will enjoy it.

Purchased a roomba a couple of months ago. Absolutely love it. Does it get stuck once in a while? Sure. Does it make noise? Sure. But it cleans under the bed and furniture and makes my life easier. As my son says, “The hardest item in our house.”

How about driving to the mountains from Wisconsin with out towing a trailer for hunting. Usually about 1,000 miles and 14 hours one way. You would need to recharge the battery 3 or 4 times which would add at least 5 -7 or more hours to your trip. Don’t think the technology is there yet.

I have the Yeti Roadie and love it for my applications. Usually just ice and beer for the weekend so it works great for me. If there is a downfall when loaded with beer and ice it is very heavy. We usually place in shade and leave for the day. Now the Yeti Tumbler is a must have in my book. Keeps your drink cold for the entire day….