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Traditionally beginning and ending in Wisconsin, the Patriot Tour consists of one American Flag being carried through 48 continental states, escorted by tens of thousands of motorcycle riders for 110 days straight, all in honor of America’s Armed Forces members.

The annual Tour typically travels through Waukon in September near the end of the Tour, but starting with last year reversed its course in making Waukon one of its first visits on the Tour, which will take place this weekend.

This year, the Tour will initiate in Beaver Dam, WI and will overnight in Fennimore, WI before heading to Waukon this Sunday, May 20. The Tour is scheduled to cross the bridge between Prairie du Chien, WI and Marquette at approximately 11:45 a.m. Sunday, heading west on Hwy.18/52 to Postville and then traveling north and east to Waukon.

Thursday, May 31, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will host an open house meeting to present preliminary floodplain maps to Allamakee County citizens. The meeting will be held in the Supervisors Board Room at the Allamakee County Courthouse, located at 110 Allamakee Street in Waukon, that Thursday from 6-8 p.m. This meeting is open to the public.

The open house will provide property owners, both rural and urban, an opportunity to view the preliminary maps and learn how their flood risk may have changed. Representatives from FEMA and the Iowa DNR will be on hand to answer questions and address residents’ concerns about the preliminary flood maps.

by Sharon Drahn, Editor
Postville Herald

Iowa’s junior senator, Joni Ernst, stopped at the Allamakee-Clayton Rural Electric Cooperative (ACREC) north of Postville Friday morning, May 4 as part of her annual 99 county tour through the state. While at the facility,  she visited with a group of dairy farmers from Allamakee County and surrounding areas.

During her opening remarks, Ernst noted that she had toured the Dairy Center at Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) in Calmar prior to arriving in Postville. She said, “I was very impressed with the center and its operation. I grew up on a livestock farm, but I am aware of the challenges that face dairy farmers as well as all in the dairy industry. As I am sure most of you know, I, along with Senator (Chuck) Grassley, serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee and, as a member, I try to look at ways to help with rural development ideas and trade issues in the dairy industry.”

The Second Degree Murder case against 32-year-old John Michael Quanrude of Waukon has taken a more definitive path this past week, as Quanrude has entered a written plea of not guilty to all charges filed against him in relation to the April 16 fatal shooting of 60-year-old Dean Russell of Waukon. The case was scheduled for an arraignment hearing Monday, May 14 in District Court in Allamakee County, but Friday morning, May 4, Quanrude filed a written arraignment entering his not guilty plea and waiving his right to a speedy trial, according to court documents.

Additional court documents also filed Friday, May 4 by Quanrude’s attorney, Scott Nelson of the State of Iowa Public Defender’s Office, Dubuque location, included a Notice of Defenses for Quanrude. That document listed Quanrude’s defenses in the case as Diminished responsibility and Self-defense.

The Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office is reporting a pair of accidents of unusual nature that took place Sunday, May 6, each claiming the life of a man from Allamakee County. Those accidents included an early morning fall from a local bridge in the Hanover area and an early afternoon tree cutting accident in the Forest Mills area.

FALL FROM BRIDGE
The first of those incidents was reported at 1:33 a.m. Sunday and involved an individual falling from a bridge on Orchid Drive near its intersection with State Highway 76 located approximately two miles north of St. Mary’s Hanover Church in the rural Dorchester area. An adult male, 38-year-old Ryan Robert Schulte of Waukon, had fallen from the bridge and died as a result of the injuries he sustained in the incident. A full obituary for Ryan Schulte appears on Page 3A of this week’s issue of The Standard.

Step one in being “Voter Ready” in 2018 is Register to Vote. This includes making sure the address on your voter registration is up-to-date.

The new Election Integrity/Voter ID law does not affect Iowa’s voter registration process. There are still multiple ways to register to vote, including at the polls Election Day, and online. Voters registering on Election Day still need to bring a picture ID and proof of residency in the precinct, such as a utility bill. This has not changed from previous elections.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) will hold another public information meeting Tuesday, May 15 to discuss the proposed Iowa 9 (Black Hawk) bridge project in Lansing over the Mississippi River. The May 15 meeting is scheduled to take place from 5-7 p.m. at Kee High School, located at 569 Center Street in Lansing, and will be the first public meeting held in regard to the proposed project since an initial public open house forum that took place August 8 of last year and allowed citizens to learn more and comment on locations and designs of a proposed new bridge, along with study-based reasoning behind the proposed project.

All interested persons are invited to attend this meeting between 5 and 7 p.m. The meeting will be conducted utilizing an open forum format. Iowa DOT staff and consultants will be present to informally discuss the project.

With the end of this current school year in the Allamakee Community School District also marking the end of an era with the Waterville School as part of this area’s formal education system, The Standard will be dedicating pages in an upcoming issue to historical reflections on the Waterville School. Whether alumni of Waterville High School or the more recent Waterville Elementary School, a former staff member or just an interested history buff, members of the general public are asked to contribute photos, reflections or simply their favorite or most vivid memory of their experience with the Waterville School to be published in an anticipated May 23 edition of The Standard.

The Allamakee County Democrats will host a candidate forum for Iowa House of Representatives District 56 this Thursday, May 10 at Robey Memorial Library (lower level), located at 401 First Avenue NW in Waukon. The forum will begin at 7 p.m. This forum is open to the public and candidates will answer questions from the audience.

The candidates participating in this forum are Lori Egan of rural Waukon and Andrew Kelleher of New Albin. Egan and Kelleher are each running in the June 5 Democratic Primary Election. The winner of that election will be the Democratic Party’s candidate for Iowa House District 56 in the 2018 General Election scheduled for November.

Iowa House District 56 includes all of Allamakee County and 19 townships in Clayton County. Marion, Highland and Boardman Townships are not in House District 56. For more information contact Karen Pratte at 563-535-7254.
 

by Joe Moses

Waukon High School and Allamakee Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP), in collaboration with Allamakee County’s area emergency services, conducted a mock accident Wednesday, April 25 near the Waukon High School parking lot. The event was an effort to emphasize the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol or other substances, showing a simulated automobile accident scene resulting from an impaired driver with the response of law enforcement and emergency personnel in assisting accident victims.

The event was originally scheduled for a week earlier, prior to the Waukon High School Prom weekend as a stark reminder of the possible results of making poor choices. However, the spring snowstorm that closed area schools Wednesday, April 18 forced postponement of the event to a  week later.