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Wed
12
Nov

Despite narrow defeat of bond referendum, Allamakee County Sheriff "encouraged" by 'yes' votes

Committee welcomes public to meet November 18

 

The $4.9 million bond referendum to construct a new Allamakee County Jail and Public Safety Center earned the support of the majority of Allamakee County voters Tuesday, November 4, but fell just short of the 60% super majority required for passage. The ballot measure earned the approval of 2,777 voters, while 1,923 opposed the measure and 642 voters made no selection either way.

Wed
05
Nov

Byrnes, Schellhammer elected as Supervisors, jail/public safety center narrowly denied

A slight change in local leadership but no change in local facilities is the message Allamakee County voters sent when they went to the polls for the Tuesday, November 4 General Election. Area voters newly elected Dan Byrnes to the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors Tuesday and re-elected Larry Schellhammer to the Board, but came up just shy of approving the proposed bond referendum for a new jail and public safety center in the county. That measure failed to meet the required 60% super majority vote by receiving just under 59.1% approval from area voters.
Further details on the failed referendum and full election coverage will appear in the November 12 issue of The Standard newspaper.

Wed
05
Nov

Family of Waterville native Cletus Unterberger shares his WWII POW experience


Cletus Unterberger

by Lissa Blake

Like many prisoners of war, Private First Class Medic Cletus Unterberger, never talked much about his time in captivity during World War II.
The son of John and Elizabeth Unterberger of Waterville, “Clete” served in the 168th infantry 34th (Red Bull) Division, which had the distinction of being the first U.S. division deployed to Europe during the war.
He was captured by the Germans February 17, 1943 during the Invasion of North Africa, just nine days after arriving on the front. He spent more than two years as a German prisoner of war, during which time he kept a secret diary of his life.

Wed
29
Oct

Candidates representing local area express views on issues as November 4 election approaches

Voters will be heading to the polls Tuesday, November 4 for the 2014 General Election, with a wide variety of races being contested across the country at all levels of government. Polling information for Allamakee County is published to the right of this article on this same front page.

Wed
29
Oct

TASC, Inc. honored with Kuhse Positive Impact Award at ACED Annual Meeting


TASC, Inc. of Waukon was awarded the Cloy Kuhse Positive Impact Award at the Allamakee County Economic Development Annual Banquet held October 9 in Postville. Pictured above at the award presentation are, left to right, Bethany Hovden and Sheila Schulte of TASC, Inc., Ardie Kuhse and Laura Olson of Allamakee County Economic Development, and Mary Ament and Sheila Snitker of TASC, Inc. Submitted photo.

Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) held its annual Membership Meeting Thursday, October 9 at Turner Memorial Hall in Postville. The business meeting was conducted by Executive Director Laura Olson and ACED Board President Mike Kruckenberg.
Announcement was made of the results of the Board of Directors election, and both Val Reinke and Sharon Kubitz retained their seats for another three-year term. After a brief summary of the year’s activities, Olson introduced guest speaker Mary Neubauer, Vice-President of the Iowa Lottery. Neubauer talked about the use of lottery funds, how they benefit Iowa, rural Iowa and Allamakee County. She also provided a short history of the lottery, revealing that Julius Caesar, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson all had lotteries.
Neubauer then presented four attending members a packet of lottery tickets. She also presented ACED with an official lottery check awarding ACED “Priceless” status.

Wed
22
Oct

Allamakee County Courthouse employees undergo ALICE Training in defense of "single-killer" event


Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick (left in above photo) supervises a volunteer "gunman" in a simulated attack on the Allamakee County Courthouse during a training session to prepare courthouse employees for the possibility of a "single-killer situation." The ALICE training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) conducted at the courthouse emphasizes taking action in such situations rather than just waiting for law enforcement to arrive at the scene. Standard photo and report by Bob Beach.

by Bob Beach

Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick recently led employees at the Allamakee County Courthouse in an afternoon of training and instruction on how to handle what Mellick called a "single-killer situation." Mellick said that such situations had previously been referred to as "single-shooter situations," but recent attacks with knives changed that. He told the group that until recently, the standard response to a mass shooting situation had been to lock everyone down, hiding under desks, until law enforcement could arrive.
Mellick said that the training given to courthouse employees takes into account the motives of mass killers, the natural instincts of bystanders and the reality of law enforcement response time. The result is a response system (as opposed to response plan) to reduce casualties. The training program has been named ALICE, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.

Wed
22
Oct

Dorchester area native Tara Nichols discovers passion for mountain climbing, ascends to a lifelong dream, and beyond


Dorchester area native Tara Nichols, now a middle school math teacher in Loveland, CO, shares her view from Capitol Peak of the Elk Mountains near Aspen, CO, described by some as the most dangerous mountain in Colorado. Nichols' move to Colorado three years ago has helped her live out a newly-discovered passion for mountain climbing, having climbed more than 20 mountains this year alone. Submitted photo.

Tara Nichols, a 2008 Waukon High School graduate and the daughter of Rod and Diane Nichols of Dorchester, lived out a dream come true this past summer when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the highest point on the continent of Africa. Following graduation from high school, Nichols completed a teaching degree at Wartburg College in Waverly in early 2011 and two months later began her career as a middle school math teacher in Loveland, CO. " It was the best decision I’ve ever made for my life," Nichols said of her move to Colorado.
Nichols was no stranger to Colorado, as she had done her student teaching there prior to graduating from Wartburg. It was during that student teaching stint that she also took her first steps, literally, toward an ever-since developing passion for mountain climbing, summiting one of the highest mountains in the United States just two weeks after first arriving in Denver.

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