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Elections 101 will be a weekly series of articles offering a variety of information regarding elections in Iowa and Allamakee County prior to this year’s June 4 Primary Election. The information is being provided courtesy of Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer.

The 2024 Waukon High School Prom is scheduled to be held this Saturday, April 20 at the Waukon Middle School gymnasium. Doors will open to the public at 7 p.m. for the Grand March, which is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Parents, family and community members may view the Grand March either seated in the auditorium or standing in the gym.

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 Prom dance, which is scheduled to begin at approximately 9 p.m. Students who signed up for Post Prom must be in the doors of the Waukon High School Cafeteria by 11:30 p.m. in order to participate.

The 2024 Kee High School Prom is scheduled for this Saturday, April 20. Pictured above are this year’s senior class Queen and King candidates for the annual event. Left to right - Front row: Queen candidates Evie Clemments, Ava Mahr, Riley Troendle, Anissa Stanley (inset photo); Back row: Austin St. Mary, Cadan Evanson, Jack Schweitzer, Brendan Croft.

The annual Prom banquet will be held at TJ Hunter’s Banquet Hall on Main Street in Lansing, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Prom dance will also take place in the banquet hall this year following the Grand March and coronation of this year’s Prom King and Queen that will take place in the Kee High School gymnasium.

by Joe Moses

Waukon City Manager Gary Boden, Executive Director Val Reinke of Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) and developer Dexter Quandahl of Q4 Construction met with The Standard Friday, April 12 to provide an update relating to the proposed apartment complex construction project at the southeast corner of the intersection of the new 8th Avenue SW and 2nd Street SW in Waukon within the area locally known as the Pladsen Subdivision, north of the Waukon City Park.

The month of April is observed as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the pinwheels pictured at right have been placed along the sidewalk approaching the front entrance of the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon by Helping Services for Youth and Families as a reminder of that observance and as a means to encourage everyone to play a role in making the local community a better place for children and families. In 2008, Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the Pinwheels for Prevention® campaign based on the idea that pinwheels represent childlike whimsy and lightheartedness and the organization’s vision for a world where all children grow up happy, healthy, and prepared to succeed in supportive families and communities.

by Joe Moses

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird visited WW Homestead Dairy in Waukon Thursday, April 4 for an industry tour in addition to meeting with Allamakee County and City of Waukon law enforcement agencies to discuss a variety of matters. Among the representatives of local law enforcement present, Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick and Waukon Police Chief Paul Wagner talked with and provided feedback to Attorney General Bird.

Bird updated those present about proposed legislative matters and discussions at the State level relating to the handling of illegal drug trafficking, cold cases and penalties for assaulting first responders and law enforcement, among other matters.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

It was a chilly 24 degrees under overcast skies at 7 a.m. Monday, March 18, when the first water taxi left the Lansing Marina for Big Slough Landing in Crawford County, WI.

It wasn’t an ideal morning for a boat ride; but, while the boat provides blankets for passengers, comfortable recreation isn’t the point of this service. The point, instead, is to provide free transportation for people who need to cross the river without having to drive north to La Crescent/La Crosse or south to Marquette/Prairie du Chien while the Black Hawk Bridge is being repaired and made safe again for traffic.

Paul Wagner of Waukon has announced that he is running for Allamakee County Sheriff as a Republican candidate. Wagner has been a life-long resident of Allamakee County, having grown up on a dairy and beef farm between Lansing and Harpers Ferry. He is the son of Ray and Bonnie Wagner, and is a 2003 graduate of Kee High School in Lansing.

He and his wife, Jessica, live in Waukon along with their four children, Kylie, Zach, Brias, and Vienna. They own Aztec Parlor in Waukon, which they opened in 2021.

Wagner has worked for the Waukon Police Department since 2007 after starting his law enforcement career in 2004 at the New Albin Police Department. He has nearly 20 years of full-time law enforcement experience, and he was also a part-time police officer for the Lansing Police Department and Postville Police Department during his career. Wagner graduated from Upper Iowa University in Fayette December 22, 2013, with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.

The scheduling of an arson trial for Mindy Jo Jones stemming from the February 13, 2022 fire that destroyed her Tin, Rust and Harmony business located at 9 Allamakee Street in Waukon will have to wait at least another month, following discussion at a Monday, April 1 review hearing of the case held by teleconference in Allamakee County District Court.

Monday’s review hearing had originally been scheduled to try and determine a jury trial date for Jones in that February 22 arson case. However, following the sentencing of Jones the previous Friday, March 29 in Fillmore County, MN to a 27-month incarceration after her conviction on several counts of felony theft in that state, the legal representation involved on both sides of the arson case agreed to delay any trial date decisions until details of her incarceration in Minnesota are further clarified, according to Allamakee County Anthony Gericke.

Three Allamakee County leadership positions up for election this year each have a differing degree of candidate options following the March 22 deadline to file candidacy paperwork to be on this year’s June 4 Primary Election ballot. One Allamakee County Board of Supervisors seat, along with the offices of Auditor and Sheriff, are all up for election this year, with the General Election scheduled for November 5. No candidacy paperwork has been filed by anyone from the Democrat party for any of the three positions.

Incumbent Republican Denise Beyer of Waukon is the lone candidate to file paperwork for the office of Allamakee County Auditor. She will be seeking her fourth four-year term in that office, after first being elected in 2012.