The first full week of September is a short work week for a lot of us. But the rest of next week is full of activities.

First of all, a reminder that due to the Labor Day holiday, there will be no school, no home mail delivery and city hall will be closed.

On Tuesday, the Main Street Design committee is scheduled to meet at 5:15 p.m. The Belle Plaine City Council meets at 6 p.m. at city hall.

On Friday, preschool story time will be held at the Belle Plaine Public Library. Flag football is set for 3:30 p.m. Friday and the YSF football squad will open its season at home against HLV on Sunday at the high school, starting at 1 p.m.

On the school calendar for next week, the cross country team travels to Keota and the JV football team plays at BGM. On Thursday, the high school volleyball squad hosts BGM. On Friday, the Plainsman football team travels to Lisbon and on Saturday, the cross country team will be in action at Benton Community.

Have a safe and sane holiday weekend. Go Plainsmen! Go Hawks! Congratulations Cyclones!

Fontana Park will be the site for “Gospel on the Greens” on Sunday, Sept. 12. The outdoor gospel music concert is sponsored by Christ United Methodist Church. It begins at 3 p.m. In lower Franklin Park.

The event will feature local talent The Flat Bottom Boys, Mussman Productions, Pastor Pete, Harmonica Paul and Chelsea’s Ray Hines. The headliners will be The Ragamuffins and 21^st Century Vocals.

Audience members are urged to bring their law chairs and be prepared for an afternoon of family entertainment. Admission will be a free will offering, with proceeds going to the local food bank.

Starting today (Wednesday) through May 31, residents may legally burn yard waste seven days a week from 4-9 p.m.

There’s no escaping it. For the next couple of months, we will be bombarded with claims and counter-claims, filled with truth, half-truth and outright lies. Unfortunately, that’s what election time has become in this country.

If you listen to an election news report in the coming weeks for five minutes and you don’t hear something about same sex marriage, you probably have somehow tuned in a report from Mars. It seems that way too many candidates for different offices have abandoned taking the true high road and have decided to take the easy road in campaign rhetoric. You can usually spot them. They’re the ones whose mouths are wide open, faces beet-red with one or two veins popping out on the sides of their heads. In most cases, they vow to make same sex marriages illegal in this country.

I’ve written in this space before about my beliefs on the subject. I may or may not agree that two people of the same sex should marry, but I do believe that the government should not be making that decision. If two people agree that they want to make a lifetime commitment to each other, the only thing the government should do is affirm that right – not through marriage, which is best handled in a church – but by a civil union document.

The arguments for and against same sex unions seem so simple. But when you get Washington or Des Moines involved, suddenly it becomes very complicated. Unfortunately, that’s how so many of our laws are. For instance, do away with the state and federal income tax and replace it with a sales tax that can’t be tampered with through exceptions by the legislature or Congress and suddenly our state and national representatives could cut their time in Des Moines or Washington by about half.

Why is it that so many of us have to have some cause to become completely insane about? Ask someone who is campaigning against allowing same sex unions how granting this right will be harmful to them and they will say that it harms traditional marriage. With this nation’s high divorce rate, how is same sex union any worse? Ask any of these zealots if they would ever try to tell someone if they should be a Catholic or a Baptist or a Lutheran and they would say that should be left up to each individual’s conscience. So why should same sex unions be any different?

I have a theory about why there is so much talk about this subject on the campaign trail. The candidates whose main goal is to deny this right are not equipped to solve many of this country’s more pressing problems. We don’t know how to solve this nation’s economic problems, but we do know if we prohibit same sex unions, the world will be a brighter place. We might jump on the wacko bandwagon which is still questioning whether our president was born in this country, but we don’t have a clue on how we can bring an end to terrorism.

We all need a project of some kind. It’s one way to give us a purpose for getting up each morning. All I’m saying is our project should not tread on the rights of others. Maybe we don’t have an answer on how we can end our involvement in Afghanistan. But a lot of us know someone who is deployed in that region. Why not channel some of our energy to raising funds and helping to pack care packages for the soldiers? If you don’t have the resources or the time to help in this way, you certainly have a moment to pray for their safe return.

On a lighter note, if you are a conspiracy nut, why not investigate why companies, especially food companies, are decreasing the amount of product they are selling us for the same money as before. A half-gallon of ice cream is now 1.75 quarts. A pound of coffee is now just over 11 ounces and falling. There’s more water in that can of green beans or tuna than there was a few years ago. How’s that for a conspiracy?

If you still insist on participating in this crazy election game, go to rallies or town meetings of legislative or congressional candidates and if there is a question and answer session, ask the tough questions. Ask them about their plan on improving our state or national economy and putting us all back to work. Ask the Congressional candidates what is their plan for ending our war in the Middle East. Ask them if they endorse a simplified revenue system, such as the national sales tax, etc.

If they don’t have a ready answer and insist on returning to the same sex argument, get up and leave.

CITY OF BELLE PLAINE

IS ACCEPTING SEALED BIDS

FOR THE SALE

OF

1994 FORD F250 PICKUP

2WD, NEWER TIRES, BED LINER, 125K MILES

VIEW AT CITY SHED 806 3^RD AVENUE

BID DEADLINE:  MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20^TH

5:00 P.M., CITY HALL

CITY HAS THE RIGHT TO ACCEPT OR REJECT

ANY OR ALL BIDS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

PHONE 319-444-2407

August 25, 10:10 a.m. – A stray dog was reported in the 700 block of Ninth Avenue. Eric Doty, Belle Plaine, was cited for allowing his dog to run at large.

August 26, 6:50 a.m. – An attempted burglary was reported at 1005 Eighth Avenue, where a screen had been pried off a window.

August 26, 2:49 p.m. – Colleen Stanerson, Belle Plaine, was arrested at 1309 Seventh Avenue on an outstanding warrant from Iowa County for failure to appear. She was turned over to the Iowa County Sheriff’s Department.

August 29, 1:26 a.m. – No charges were filed as a result of a domestic disturbance at 902 Sixth Avenue.

August 29, 6:48 p.m. – Phone harassment was reported at 510 13^th Street.

August 29, 10:25 p.m. – Reckless driving in the parking lot was reported in the 900 block of First Street. Officers were unable to locate anyone.

August 30, 9:28 a.m. – No arrests were made as the result of a report of a domestic disturbance at 510 13^th Street.

August 30, 11:20 a.m. – Alan Dvorak reported someone had driven through his properties in the 800 block of Sixth Avenue. Anyone who may have witnessed this should contact the Belle Plaine Police Department.

August 30, 11:45 a.m.- Ambulance assist at the Belle Plaine Bowl.

A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The first full week of the school year means a return to plenty of activities this week. The JV football team travels to HLV tonight at 6 p.m. This is a change from the activity calendar.

Tuesday, the cross country teams are set to travel to IMS for a meet starting at 5 p.m.

The ninth and tenth grade volleyball teams will be in action Tuesday at BGM with Montezuma, starting at 6 p.m. This is a change from the activity calendar.

On Friday, the Plainsman football squad will host Lone Tree for a Parents’ Night contest starting at 7 p.m. Then on Saturday, the varsity volleyball squad swings into action at North Tama, starting at 9 a.m.

As a reminder, due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday, Sept. 6, the Belle Plaine City Council will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Belle Plaine will be the site of one of two Women to Leadership Conferfences in September. The conference will be held Sept. 18, with registration from 9-9:30 a.m. and the conference scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Belle Plaine Community Center. A second conference will be held at the Muscatine Hotel Ballroom on Oct. 16.

Rep. Dawn Pettengill (R-Mount Auburn) was challenged last year during debate on the gender balance bill.  “Mandates aren’t the way to go.  Skill development, mentoring and networking are the real solutions and I will do something to address the need that way.” says Pettengill.

In 2009, Pettengill and her Steering Committee hosted the first W2L Women to Leadership Conference.  The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Conference topics include leadership development, media relations, image, balance and social networking.  Numerous speakers, panels and skill presentations are on the agenda, with women leaders from all areas of the state confirmed to attend.  There will be many opportunities to network.

Participants are encouraged to bring materials for their particular business or interest to share at those times.

Sponsors of the events are the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women and multiple businesses and organizations, who are participating and donating to door prizes and gift bags.  “The events have received great support from the community and amazingly, this year, we are taking it on the road all the way to the Mississippi,” said Pettengill.  “I am committed to helping all people be engaged and successful, not only women. This is a commitment everyone can get behind.”

The conference fee is $25.00 and includes the conference materials and a gourmet lunch provided by Divine Decadents, Shellsburg.  For conference registration, you can send your name, address, phone, email, number of participants and conference fee to W2L, PO Box A, Mount Auburn, IA 52313 by September 10, 2010.  If you have questions, you can contact Dawn at 319-610-3412 or dawnpettengill@gmail.com.

Belle Plaine City Administrator Bill Daily attended “Rhythms of Revitalization”, the 24^th annual Iowa Downtown Summit held August 24 and 25 in Davenport.

During the summit, prominent downtown development experts from across the U.S. provided training sessions designed to help attendees acquire practical information and ideas, and learn strategies for historic preservation-based commercial district revitalization that is relevant to rural, mid-sized and urban communities.

Daily attended sessions on marketing and child friendly downtowns presented by national, Midwest, and local experts in downtown development.  Daily was also a guest presenter on Re-inventing Your Downtown in relation to Belle Plaine’s pending Façade Master Plan Project.

“Iowa has been at the forefront of the move to revitalize city cores as cultural and entertainment hubs and retail centers,” said IDED Director Bret Mills. “This year’s summit gave city officials, economic development professionals and others with a stake in downtown revitalization a chance to share their best ideas and success stories necessary to move Iowa forward.”

“I have been attending the Downtown Summit for five years now and I must say that it is the best conference I have found in relation to downtown revitalization.  It certainly was an honor to be invited to share with people from across the state the efforts and accomplishments that Belle Plaine has achieved over the last many years.  This Summit gives me the opportunity to continue to build a network of professional resources that can assists us with our downtown revitalization efforts.  I would encourage anyone that has a sincere interest in downtown to take advantage of this opportunity and attend the Summit, it’s open to all,” stated Daily.

The Summit was sponsored by Iowa Department of Economic Development’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center (IDRC), and the Federal Home Loan Bank, Des Moines, with additional conference contributions provided by MidAmerican Energy.

The IDRC coordinates the Main Street Iowa program, provides fee-based services to all Iowa communities, and has an extensive resource library on downtown revitalization tools and techniques.  For more information, visit www.iowalifechanging.com/community, e-mail downtown@iowa.gov, or call 515.725.3058.