David J. Kupka, 80, of Waukon passed away Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at Northgate Care Center in Waukon. Visitation will be held from 3-6:30 p.m. Friday, March 15 at Martin - Grau Funeral Home in Waukon. A scripture service will follow at 6:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon is handling arrangements.
A full obituary will appear in the March 20 edition of The Standard. You can subscribe to The Standard's print edition or e-edition by clicking here.
The 2024 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Waukon will be held the actual day of the celebrated holiday, this Sunday, March 17, beginning at 1 p.m. All are invited to participate in this year’s parade with an Irish-themed entry at no cost.
Any businesses, organizations, families or individuals wishing to have an entry are asked to be lined up by 12 noon Sunday, with float entries lining up in the parking lot of WW Homestead Dairy and the former Northern Engraving plant, tractors unloading and lining up at the Sweeney Auction Service parking lot and horse units gathering at the Croell Redi-Mix plant on the southeast edge of Waukon.
Repair work is underway on the existing Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s (DOT) District 2 Office. The bridge was closed February 25 after it was discovered that two of the east-end bridge piers shifted, along with a portion of the bridge deck, making the bridge unsafe for traffic.
During the repair process, portions of the bridge deck will be removed while the repair work is being done, leaving large gaps in the bridge surface that will render the bridge impassable for any type of traffic until repair work is completed. DOT officials warn that the bridge is not safe even for pedestrian use and will be closed to all traffic during repairs. An announcement made by City of Lansing officials last week warns that anyone caught walking or riding any type of vehicle over the bridge while it is closed will be issued a citation for trespassing by law enforcement.
The Northeast Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund (NEIRHTF) program is designed to provide financial assistance to income-qualifying individuals, families, and senior citizens who live in Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek Counties. This program aims to help them with necessary home repairs so that they can continue living in a safe and affordable environment. Additionally, this fund offers support to first-time home buyers to help them with their down payment.
The Iowa Democratic Party has released its results from its 2024 Democratic Caucus held January 15 and utilizing a month-long Presidential Preference Cards process as a candidate selection tool this year. Those overall results for the state of Iowa were closely mirrored by Allamakee County selection for Democratic front-runner Joe Biden, both of those results hovering around 90% of selections made.
In the state of Iowa, Biden received 11,083 of the 12,207 preference card choices, a 90.79% selection out of state of Iowa Democrats casting a preference card. Among the 55 preference cards cast in Allamakee County, Biden was selected on 49 of them for an 89.09% selection result.
Voters in Allamakee County overwhelmingly approved the extension of the Local Option Sales and Service Tax (LOSST) in a Tuesday, March 5 special election. The one-percent LOSST had first been established in Allamakee County communities in the mid- to late 1990s and has been renewed on several occasions by voters throughout the county, with the last widespread extension vote coming in 2014 and that latest renewal having been scheduled to expire in several areas of the county at the end of this current year prior to the March 5 extension by voter approval.
Last fiscal year, cities and unincorporated areas in the state of Iowa received more than $600 million in proceeds collected through the one-percent sales tax measure. These funds are typically used to help relieve the burden on county and city general funds and are used for items such as roads, streets, water and sewer systems and public safety vehicle and equipment acquisitions.
An arraignment hearing and bond review for Brandon Kasemeier, the 39-year-old man from Waukon charged in the January 21 death of his estranged wife, Jami Kasemeier, was held virtually Monday afternoon, March 11 in Allamakee County District Court. Kasemeier’s legal counsel, Waterloo public defender Aaron Hawbaker, had filed a written arraignment on his behalf that Monday morning, waiving Kasemeier’s right to appear in open court and allowing his appearance by Zoom video conferencing software from the Allamakee County Jail.
Map of Lansing from 1854 donated to library collection ... Left to right in the above photo, Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library Director Derva Burke, Lansing resident Ellen Modersohn and Lansing history buff Bill Burke display an 1854 lithographic print map of Lansing that will join the library’s local history collection. Burke knew of the map through some of his other historical research and Modersohn had discovered it available for sale online, also during her research of Lansing history. Bill Burke then purchased the map and recently donated it to the library. Photo by Bob Modersohn.
An 1854 plat map of Lansing, which played a pivotal role in the early development of the city, has been donated to the Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library by Lansing resident Bill Burke.
While Ellen Modersohn, also of Lansing, was talking with Burke one day last fall he mentioned that he knew of the map’s existence but did not know where it was. Modersohn later realized she had found the map listed for sale online while researching Lansing history. The tab for the site with the map was still open on her computer, so she passed the information along to Bill and Derva Burke.
“My interest in the map was spurred when I came across the will of Charles Clifton Aird when looking for another document in the Allamakee County Recorder’s Office several years ago,” Burke said.
Area residents of Waukon will have the chance to see one of Iowa’s premier performing arts organizations when OPERA Iowa, Des Moines Metro Opera’s educational touring troupe, arrives Monday, April 1 to present Gretry/Borths’ Beauty and the Beast (sung in English), at the Waukon Middle School Auditorium at 7 p.m.
The performance is sponsored by the Allamakee Music Boosters and PSST (Parents Supporting Students and Teachers - the parent organization that helps support the elementary schools in Allamakee Community Schools). Tickets will be available at the door the evening of the performance.
The Allamakee Community School District Board of Directors held a special board meeting Friday morning, March 8 to discuss a handful of personnel matters and a change authorization request. Among those personnel items, the board approved Carley Sweeney as a volunteer coach for the Waukon golf program.
The board also accepted the following resignations: Bob Wasson from his ninth grade boys basketball coaching position (pending finding a suitable replacement), Melissa Ward from her middle school math position, Jason LaPage from his positions of middle school math and middle school play director, Jeff Haas from his custodian position, and Ashley Beach from her position of Strategist II Special Education Teacher. The board also approved a Change Authorization Request for $20,856 to the Waukon Middle School HVAC Upgrade project that includes the replacement of four doors at the middle school facility.