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As part of Allamakee County’s ongoing strategy of improving readiness, Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker wants to remind residents that there will be several emergency response training exercises taking place this Saturday, May 11 throughout the county. Those training exercises were originally planned for April 27, but had to be rescheduled due to winter weather that hit the area that day. These emergency response training locations include:

• the town of New Albin, where a hazardous material spill exercise will take place;
• a decontamination exercise of patients arriving at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon;
• and also a shelter-in-place exercise at each of the long-term care facilities within the county due to a hazardous material spill.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, May 6 to address a full agenda of items including discussion relating to marijuana dispensary zoning, review of manure management plan updates and consideration of a letter to the USDA requesting Federal assistance for Emergency Watershed Protection funding for flood damage for Secondary Roads.

The Allamakee County Historical Society hosted an All-County Rural School Reunion Sunday, April 28 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon with a good crowd in attendance (evidenced by the photo far below). Event co-organizer Marcia Rush said more than 150 individuals who actually attended a rural school in Allamakee County signed in at the event’s guest book, with many of them bringing at least one or more family members or friends leading to an estimate around 300 people in attendance. That guest book included attendees from as far away as Iowa City, Wyoming and Marshalltown in Iowa, Eau Claire, WI and Rochester and Fountain in Minnesota, as well as two dozen other closer communities in the tri-state area. Others also took advantage of the opportunity to tour the Little Red School House at the Fairgrounds during the reunion, but opted not to attend the reunion itself.

The Crawford County, WI Sheriff's Office announced around 4 p.m. Friday, May 3 that Wisconsin State Highway 82 linking Iowa to Wisconsin via the Black Bridge at Lansing is now open to traffic once again. However, the highway is restricted to one lane near the site of the testing conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) throughout this past week. That single lane will be governed by a stop light system at the Winneshiek Slough bridge, and there is also a restriction of no oversized loads allowed on that stretch of Highway 82 until further notice.

by Lissa Blake

After years of discussion, work began last week on the $12.3 million upgrade of Waukon’s wastewater treatment plant. The plant, which originally was built in 1965, has not seen any renovations since 1986.

A typical upgrade can usually keep a city in compliance with Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for about 20 years. It’s been almost 33 since anything has changed in Waukon.

“That’s far beyond its expected lifespan,” explained Waukon City Manager Dean Hilgerson.

In 2015, following a review by the Environmental Protection Agency, the City of Waukon was issued a compliance order from the EPA, indicating it needed to bring its water treatment capabilities up to Agency standards, “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.”

Waukon High School seniors Miles Hansmeier and Aubree Cota (left to right) were selected as the 2019 Waukon High School Prom King and Queen at the annual event held Saturday, April 27. Cota was selected from a Queen court that also involved fellow seniors Lauryn Behrend, Lauren Griffith, Ally Goltz and Mary Vander Velden. Hansmeier was chosen from a King court that also included fellow seniors Peyton Bieber, Carson Jones, Brady Sullivan and Micah Treptau. Photo courtesy of the Waukon High School Publications Class.
 

The 22nd annual “Family Wellness Fair” will be held Wednesday, May 8 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Health testing, exhibits and activities will all be providing a complete evening of entertainment and education for families and individuals of all ages. Everyone in the area communities is welcome to attend this free event.

ENTERTAINMENT
Entertainment for the evening will include special appearances by “Klyde Thinger” the Clown. In addition, a Waukon Fire Department fire truck and Veterans Memorial Hospital ambulance will be parked at the front entrance to the hospital for children to view. Face painting will again be offered this year, and many youth games such as a bean bag toss, a hula hoop contest and a youth fitness challenge will also be offered. Child Car seat checks will also be offered by certified professionals who will be located at the shipping/receiving entrance to the hospital.

Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker has advised that the emergency response training exercises that were scheduled to take place Saturday, April 27 in several locations throughout the county were postponed due to the winter weather that gripped the area that day.

Snitker says the training exercises scheduled to take place in New Albin, at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon and at each of the long-term care facilities within the county are now scheduled to take place May 11.
 

The 2019 Waukon High School Prom is scheduled for this Saturday, April 27 at the Waukon Middle School gym. Doors will open at 7:15 p.m. to the public for the 8 p.m. Grand March, with seating available in the school auditorium to view events on stage. Following the Grand March will be the coronation of this year’s Prom King and Queen. Visitors are asked to exit the building after the coronation in order for students to start the dance. Students will need to either attend the dance or participate in alternative activities in the Middle School cafeteria in order to attend the Post Prom event in the Waukon High School gym. The Post Prom doors will open at 10:45 p.m., with activities, including games and the hypnotist, taking place from 11:30 p.m.-3:30 a.m. Pictured above are the senior class Queen and King candidates for the 2019 Waukon High School Prom.

Local event this Saturday supports that cause

by Lissa Blake

Although 12-year-old Ashlyn Henkes is doing well now, the past three years have been a roller coaster ride of testing and treatments to keep her free of pain.

That’s because Henkes has polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a genetic disease that affects 300,000 children in the United States.

Ashlyn is the daughter of Dustin Henkes of Monona and Esley Henkes of Lansing. She attends New Albin Elementary School and has one brother, Owen, age 16, and one sister, Isla, age nine.

Her problems started about three years ago, when her neck started to hurt. “I was to the point where I couldn’t move it to look around. Even looking up and down hurt. My fingers hurt to write,” said Ashlyn.