Lake Delhi has had its fair share of troubles in the past years, but they are keeping one thing in mind-moving forward.

On November 6^th and November 8^th, two votes took place at Lake Delhi that would determine the future of the dam that collapsed in July 2010. The first vote, on November 6^th, transferred the title and ownership of the dam from the privately owned Lake Delhi Recreation Association to the public Lake Delhi Taxing District.

On November 8^th, the people of Lake Delhi also voted to authorize a bond of $6 million to be taxed to the citizens over the next 20 years, in order to build up even more funds to rebuild the lake. Both of these votes were approved by over 95% of residents of Lake Delhi.

“After these two elections, I heard nothing but, we’re on our way,” said Marcheta Cooey, a longtime resident of Lake Delhi. “I think 90 some percent of the people on the lake felt if we want a lake, we have to do this.”

But, the people of Lake Delhi have already taken initiative in bringing their dam back. Since the dam collapsed in 2010, many local citizens have hosted a variety of fundraisers, generating over $1 million total.

“What it’s done is it’s brought the community together in a way that I’m not so sure that’s ever really existed in a lot of different fronts,” said Steve Leanord, the President of the Lake Delhi Taxing District. “One is the support locally to get this dam restored but also the volunteering effort that has occurred in this area has really been extremely impressive

Now, their focus will turn to engineering plans. The people of Lake Delhi are looking into measuring water flow and will be including a spillway and additional capacity. Leonard has said they hope the rebuilding process will begin as early as next spring.

“There’s many jobs that are already lost, businesses starting to go out of business,” said Leonard. “We need to stop that and start going back into getting this economic engine rebuilt.”

Last Saturday the Five Flags Center in Dubuque hosted a Native American culture event. The free event opened to the public at 7:00pm and lasted an hour. The night included storytelling, education on true Native American traditions, and various forms of dancing and song. Brian Hamill, a two time Hoop Dancing World Champion, put on a particularly spectacular performance for the audience. “When I have a good crowd that you can feel the positive energy it’s just a feeling that can’t be beat by anything, it’s just amazing.”, Hamill said.  Hamill loves to perform but he hopes that audiences will take away a greater message from his performance. “It’s cultural diversity, unity through diversity, the more you share, the more you open up, the more people see that there are different things and you can embrace different cultures.” With the applause throughout the night, it was clear Dubuque appreciated the effort.

Charles Warren | My Duhawk

With the recession still part of our economy and people still without jobs, news of any business growth is good news. But, a report recently released by the Iowa Department of Economic Growth shows less than satisfying figures.

This report detailed two major economic industries in the state of Iowa- advanced manufacturing and informational technology. The figures show declines in both of these statewide industries in the past five years.

In Dubuque though, this report doesn’t necessarily reflect local area industries.

“I truly believe Dubuque is in a sweet spot,” said Rick Dickinson, director of the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation. “We’ve developed a model for economic development that can be replicated across the country.”

Dickinson said that in the past two years, over 3,000 jobs were created in Dubuque, especially with the arrival of IBM. He credits this success to Dubuque’s formula of business retention and expansion.

“[It’s about] really focusing on the people who understand what it’s like to do business in Dubuque. [This is also] combined with recruiting new jobs like IBM and Hormel Progressive Processing,” said Dickinson.

The state of Iowa had stated that advanced manufacturing and informational technology were the key industries the state wanted to expand on, but the figures have showed a decline over the past five years, which discourages Dickinson.

“When I read a report that the state has lagged a bit, it saddens me because I think if they did some of the things we do, they’d be better off and in turn, so would we.”

But for now, Dubuque will stick with their method that has proved successful.

“It’s not one thing; it’s not a silver bullet. It’s about a lot of people pushing the rope instead of pulling it.”

Having a place to call their own is something the Muslim community has been looking forward to for a long time.

The Tri-State Islamic Center is in the midst of building their very own mosque in the heart of Dubuque. This plan has been in the work for years, and everyone is looking forward to the final product.

“[A mosque] is a place where we eat together, this is a place where we pray together, this is a place where we have an area to meet,” said Dr. Abid Kassas, the vice-president of the Tri-State Islamic Center.

Currently, the Muslim community has been worshipping in a rented space on Century Drive. The one-room mosque isn’t sufficient enough for their needs. Along with praying together, the families teach school, and have a community area to eat meals together.

The new mosque will be located at Radford Court. The Tri-State Islamic Center is close to finalizing the deal on purchasing the land, and the next step will be building their dream mosque.

With the arrival of IBM a couple years ago, the number of Muslim families has increased from 20 families to 120 families. With this significant increase of families, the Tri-State Islamic Center hopes having a mosque prominent in the community will bring even more Muslim families.

“This [mosque] and the growing population of Muslims will definitely encourage that,” said Navaid Ahmad, the president of the Tri-State Islamic Center.

With this mosque, Dr. Kassas and Navaid hope that this will be an opportunity to educate people more about the Muslim faith.

“I feel the world needs this kind of gathering, and this kinds of mutual understanding and meeting each other,” said Dr. Kassas. “[We need to] not be scared of each other and understand that we’re all the same.”