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The Northeast Iowa Drug Task Force, in cooperation with Helping Services of Northeast Iowa, is participating in National Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day. This year's event is being held Saturday, September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. nationwide for the purpose of disposing of expired and/or unused medications and keeping them out of the hands of people who may misuse or abuse them, especially youth.
Three communities in Allamakee County will be hosting drop-off locations for local residents to dispose of prescription drugs during that event timeframe. The Waukon Police Department will host a drop-off location at the new Waukon Fire Station, which is now located at 565 11th Avenue SW (just east of Shopko, Fareway and Dollar General) in Waukon. The fire station in Lansing will also be a host site at 51 North Front Street. The Postville Police Department will host a drop-off site at its City Hall location at 147 North Lawler Street, but only from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

Skyline Construction Company of Decorah, working with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), is about a quarter of the way finished with a project just north of Lansing on Highway 26. The goal of the project is to cut away the rock outcroppings and brush that are too close to the west edge of the highway. John Shimek, Highway Technician Senior of  the DOT District 2 office in New Hampton, said the workers use ammonium nitrate with blasting caps (not dynamite) to "loosen" the rock so it can be hauled away. Vibrations from the blasting are being monitored at the ice house and root cellar on North Front Street in Lansing (both are eligible to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places) to prevent undue underground disturbances. The mounds of sand pictured through the middle of the photo at right are used to cover the cement barricades along the edge of the road so that the heavy equipment can navigate from one place to another.

The Allamakee County Auditor's Office reported just over a three percent voter turn-out for the Tuesday, September 8 School Board Election. Both the Allamakee Community School District and the Eastern Allamakee Community School District each had three seats up for re-election on this year's ballot, with each of those three incumbent candidates in each district running without declared opposition.
In the Allamakee Community School District, the Director representing District 4, Tim Waters, received 88 votes. Directors for District 2, Tom Baxter, and District 3, Patty Nordheim, each received 87 votes.
Within the Eastern Allamakee Community School District, the Director representing District 1, Bobbie Goetzinger, received 47 votes. At-Large Director Kelli Mudderman received 46 votes and District 2 Director Bruce Palmborg received 42 votes.
 

Residents advised of what to be aware of in their homes

Adam Sandoval (right) visited Waukon Harley-Davidson Friday, September 4 as part of his tour of all 696 Harley-Davidson dealerships in the contiguous 48 United States during his “Scootin’ America” effort to raise money for a scholarship fund for children who have lost parents on active military duty. Sandoval said that he has raised approximately $110,000 so far, after visiting 438 dealerships within the last 10 months, with 100 percent of those donations going to the scholarship fund; his gas, food and other expenses are self-funded with the help of a couple of sponsors. The ride has already broken two world records: most miles in one country in a single trip and the longest charity ride. Pictured with Sandoval is his dog and riding companion, Scooter, and Waukon Harley-Davidson General Manager Randy Hover (left) presenting Sandoval with a donation from Waukon Harley-Davidson toward his cause.

The Nation of Patriots, a volunteer organization with a mission to provide financial support to families of wounded military veterans who have made sacrifices in service to their country, brought its 2015 Patriot Tour through Waukon last week on its way to completion of its annual three-month summer tour across the country. Tour participants display a United States flag, which is transferred between riders at each designated stop along the tour. The tour began over the Memorial Day weekend, May 23 from Madison, WI, making its way through every one of the contiguous 48 United States before finally ending up back in Madison, WI, where it arrived this past Saturday, September 5.

It was a busy Labor Day weekend for the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Department, as officers responded to several serious incidents, including an accidental shooting Saturday night, September 5, a motor vehicle accident Sunday, September 6 that led to two arrests, and a report of shots fired and an arrest Monday, September 7.

The Sheriff’s Department received a report at around 10 p.m. Saturday night, September 5 that a 15-year-old boy accidentally discharged a small caliber revolver at a residence on Hickory Creek Road in rural southern Allamakee County, hitting himself in the hand and leg. The child was transported to Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released.

The Allamakee County Dispatch Center received a report Monday morning, September 7 right around midnight of a fire at a hog confinement located at 970 Jefferson Road, just off of Highway 76 south of Waukon. Local authorities say the fire was confined to the ceiling of the building and quickly contained and that the more than 1,200 hogs inside the building were not harmed.
The metal ceiling of the structure did give way in some areas, but the confinement crates within the structure prevented the ceiling from falling on the hogs, which were later transported out of the structure. Local authorities say the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but that frequent lightning strikes that accompanied thunderstorms in the area may have sparked the blaze.
 

Sunday morning, September 6, the Decorah Police Department and the Winneshiek Medical Center Ambulance were dispatched to the bridge on Fifth Street in Decorah, just off of Ice Cave Road, for an unresponsive adult male located on the ground below the bridge. The male was found to be deceased and was identified as Jason Neuman of Dorchester, age 35.
The Decorah Police Department is asking for the public's help in gaining more information about Neuman's activities on the night of September 5 and the early morning hours of September 6. Anyone with information is asked to call the Decorah Police Department at 563-382-3667.
 

by Kelli Boylen