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Becker discusses son’s mental illness that led to shooting of family friend

by Lissa Blake

Don’t be afraid of someone who has an illness in their brain.

That was just one of the many lessons speaker Joan Becker has shared since the fateful day when her son, Mark, took the life of beloved family friend and Parkersburg town hero, Ed Thomas.

Becker, author of the book “Sentenced to Life,” spoke to a crowd of more than 200 people at the Waukon High School Auditorium Friday night, April 6 as part of a program sponsored by Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and the VMH Nursing Council.

Becker discussed the years of struggle her family endured trying to get her son help before he walked into his high school’s weight room the morning of June 24, 2009 and shot  legendary Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas.

Larry Schellhammer of rural Lansing is announcing his candidacy for the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors. Schellhammer is seeking re-election to the Board of Supervisors, on which he has served since 2010.

He and his wife, Cindy, have two adult children, John of rural Lansing and Leah of Cedar Falls. Schellhammer has been a dairy farmer in Allamakee County since 1977 and is currently in a farming partnership with his son, John. He is a member of Iron Ridge Church in Waukon, where he is part of the Worship and Leadership Teams.

At a Tuesday morning, April 10 special session, the Allamakee Community School District Board of Directors approved a bid submitted by the City of Waterville for the purchase of the Waterville Elementary School building and land. The board held a public hearing regarding the sale of the property and later opened three bids for its purchase before going into closed session to discuss the bids. Upon return to open session, the City of Waterville bid in the amount of $15,000 was approved. Additional information about the public hearing, bid openings and other business addressed at the 7 a.m. Tuesday morning session can be found on Page 8A inside the April 11 edition of The Standard.

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Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) is conducting a Housing Needs Assessment with assistance from Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission. The housing needs assessment includes data, projections and recommendations for action. The public is invited and encouraged to attend public open houses to view the findings from the assessment, and to share their comments and ideas.

Those Public Meetings are scheduled to be held according to the following schedule:

The Driftless Area Scenic Byway Advisory Board and Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) are working closely with the Waukon Art Advisory Committee to complete a public art installation in downtown Waukon.

The Advisory Committee selected artist Cara Briggs Farmer of Marion to develop a public art project to be placed in the downtown plaza area at the stoplight intersection of Main Street and Spring Avenue/Rossville Road in Waukon. The installment was designed to reflect the vibrancy and uniqueness of Waukon and will complement the downtown area surrounding it. It is part of a larger statewide project supported by the National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town Grant Program” to install a total of 16 public art pieces in scenic byway communities throughout Iowa.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon and the Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Nursing Council are welcoming Joan C. Becker for a public presentation at the Waukon High School auditorium this Friday, April 6. Becker is the author of the book “Sentenced to Life: Mental Illness, Tragedy, and Transformation.”

It was Becker’s son, Mark, who was responsible for the June 2009 tragedy in Parkersburg, when legendary Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas was shot and killed. Her presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:45 p.m. The presentation is open to the entire community, free of charge.

by Lissa Blake

If someone is going to come up with a proposal to purchase the soon-to-be-vacated Waterville Elementary School, they’ll have to do it quickly.

“The deadline doesn’t give anyone much time to put something together,” said Waterville Mayor Dave Monserud of the Monday, April 9 deadline set by the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors for submitting sealed bids to purchase the property.

The ACSD Board has scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday, April 10 at 7 a.m. to open the bids. The action came following a unanimous ACSD Board of Directors vote this past December to close the school at the end of the current 2017-2018 school year.

CONCERNS
Monserud said although the school district has laid out a short timeframe for proposals, there are a number of conversations happening in the community about how to put a viable program together to purchase the school property.

This year, Allamakee County is celebrating 100 years of organized county extension work. This long-established partnership with Iowa State University (ISU) provides local citizens with access to education and university research, building partnerships for a strong Iowa and a strong Allamakee County. ISU Extension and Outreach Allamakee County will be receiving its 100-year certificate during the Allamakee County Fair.

A hundred years ago, the people of Allamakee County joined the extension movement and hired their first local extension agent. Today, ISU Extension and Outreach serves as a 99-county campus, connecting the needs of Iowans with Iowa State University research and resources.

The Allamakee County Emergency Management Agency, along with local emergency response authorities, want residents of Waukon to be aware that emergency warning sirens in Waukon will be tested the first Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. This Thursday, April 5 will be the next of those scheduled test days, and Waukon residents can expect to hear the local emergency warning sirens activated at approximately 10 a.m.

Dan Byrnes of rural Waukon is announcing his candidacy for Allamakee County Supervisor and will seek another four-year term during this year’s election. He was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2014 and is nearing completion of that initial term in office.

“As a supervisor, I’ve gained valuable knowledge, experience and an understanding of county government which will help me serve the people of Allamakee well during the next four years,” said Byrnes. He underscored his commitment to listening to all viewpoints by saying, “the people of Allamakee County deserve to have their voices heard and respected.”