Top Stories

The items below summarize the top news stories that appeared in The Standard during the first six months of 2024, January-June.

JANUARY
Veterans Memorial Hospital physicians and staff announce that the First Baby of the Year born at the hospital for 2024 is Ivan Henry Christen, son of Seth and Allison Christen of rural Decorah. Ivan was born Tuesday, January 9 at 4:08 a.m. He weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20.75 inches long. Grandparents are Bill and Linda Dotseth and Laurie and Bernie Christen, all of Decorah.

by Joe Moses

To George Brainard of Waukon, bicycling has become more than a hobby. It has become a life-changing pursuit that has yielded many health-related benefits. At 80 years of age, Brainard has become famous locally for his dedication to bicycling and for traveling long distances by bicycle that have reached 100 miles within a day, at times.

Brainard’s interest in bicycling goes back to early in his life when, as a child and teenager, he enjoyed this activity until reaching 18 years of age. In high school and shortly after, he had been working and saving for his first car in anticipation of moving forward with his career plans. Owning that first car moved him away from bicycling, an activity he did not return to until the mid-1990s when he decided to purchase a mountain bicycle which for many years was only used on a very limited basis due to his work and travel schedule which kept him away from home during the week.

The Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) recently announced that Allamakee County was one of six counties in the state of Iowa being recognized as having a top-performing jail following completion of the department’s annual jail inspections. The recognition celebrates jails that demonstrate excellence in operations and management, ensuring the safety and well-being of both prisoners and staff.

The DOC evaluates jails across three categories based on capacity for housing inmates. Allamakee County was one of two jails in the state of Iowa recognized for the top honor in the Medium Jail category, which includes facilities with 31-100 beds. Wayne County, along Iowa’s south central border with Missouri, also received the “Best of the Best” recognition for medium-sized jails. In the Small Jails category (up to 30 beds), Fremont and Ringgold Counties were recognized. The honors in the Large Jails division (101 beds or more) were bestowed upon Black Hawk and Warren Counties.

Defense Attorney Aaron Hawbaker of the State of Iowa Public Defenders Office in Waterloo has filed a Motion for a New Trial on behalf of Mindy Jones, who was found guilty by a jury in Allamakee County District Court nearly a month ago on charges of Arson in the First Degree and Animal Abuse.

Court documents indicate the motion was filed by Hawbaker Tuesday morning, December 10 and a hearing on that motion has now been scheduled for February 3, 2025, the same day Jones was scheduled to be sentenced following the guilty verdict an Allamakee County jury returned in the case stemming from a February 2022 fire in the initial eastside block of Allamakee Street in Waukon that destroyed the building housing Jones’ Tin, Rust & Harmony business, along with an adjacent business building, while also causing damage to other buildings on that same block.

As the calendar closes in on one month prior to the scheduled trial date in the First Degree Murder case of Brandon Kasemeier, the 40-year-old man from Waukon charged in the January 21 death of his estranged wife, Jami Kasemeier, the defense team for Kasemeier has filed a Motion for a Change of Venue in the case. That motion was filed late Friday, December 6 by Kasemeier’s defense team of Raya Dimitrova and Erin Carr of Carr Law Firm, P.L.C., Des Moines, citing “the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed…” guaranteed by the Constitutions of both the United States and the State of Iowa.

The annual Lighted Holiday Parade held in Waukon Saturday evening, December 7 brightened up the beginning of the holiday season in more ways than one as approximately 40 entries made their way through the city streets, starting down Allamakee Street from the Allamakee County Fairgrounds to Main Street and then traveling up West Main Street to the First Presbyterian Church. Seasonal temperatures well above the freezing mark allowed for a large crowd to line the parade route and numerous individuals to walk the route or ride comfortably on this year’s entries, as evident in the photo above taken at the stoplight intersection by Standard Assistant Editor Joe Moses. A video of the complete parade can be found on The Standard’s Facebook page at The Standard Newspaper, Waukon.
 

by Joe Moses

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig visited WW Homestead Dairy in Waukon Wednesday, December 4 for a tour of the company’s retail store and areas dedicated to cheese, ice cream and milk production in addition to discussion relating to the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant that was awarded to the business earlier this year through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Tom Weighner, a WW Homestead Dairy ownership partner, provided a tour of the facility to Secretary Naig with Executive Director Mariah Busta of the Iowa State Dairy Association (ISDA) and Member Services Manager Ryan Wagner of Allamakee Clayton Electric Cooperative (ACEC) joining the tour and discussion.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, December 9 to address a full agenda of matters including the Resolution to obligate ARPA funds for a meeting Owl, consideration of signing a letter requesting assistance from the NRCS for watershed inspections and consideration of the Resolution appointing a Second Deputy Auditor.

The meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Pro Tem Mark Reiser with Supervisor Dennis Keatley present. Board of Supervisors Chairperson Dan Byrnes was not present due to a scheduled absence.

There was no Public Comment during the time allotted for that agenda item with the meeting then moving into the plat request by Bradley Larkin. Zoning Administrator Stephanie Runkle provided an overview of the plat and an update relating to an easement with the Supervisors then approving the matter.

The Allamakee Ecumenical Choir will present its 48th Annual Candlelight Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols Service this Sunday, December 8, beginning at 7 p.m. The service will be held at St. John’s Lutheran Church, located at 8 Fifth Street SW in Waukon.

Local clergy will be reading the Christmas Story and carols will be sung by the congregation with organ accompaniment. Choral numbers will also be presented by the Men’s Choir (also known as the Heartland Barbershop and Gospel Singers) and the mass Ecumenical Choir. Music will also be provided by the St. John’s Youth and Adult Handbell Choirs, Waukon High School Saxophone Quartet, along with piano accompaniment by Kristie Roeder and organ performances by James Bieber with the assistance of Kathy Murray. This year’s event is “dedicated in loving memory to Father John Moser,” pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon who passed away in October of this year.

The Waukon High School Choir, under the direction of Sarah Bieber, will be sharing its music with area churches during its 29th Annual Christmas Church Tour this Sunday, December 8, according to the following schedule:

St. John's Lutheran   8:30-8:45 a.m.
Zion United Church of Christ   9:00-9:15 a.m.
Old West Paint Creek Lutheran   9:30-9:45 a.m.
First Presbyterian   10:00-10:15 a.m.
First Baptist   10:30-10:45 a.m.
St. Patrick Catholic   11:00-11:15 a.m.
Zalmona Presbyterian   11:30-11:45 a.m.