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Saturday, September 19 at approximately 4:29 p.m. the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department in Wisconsin was notified of a motorcycle accident with injuries on State Hwy. 35 at its intersection with Old Hwy. 35 (South Mill Park Drive) in Freeman Township, about a quarter-mile south of De Soto, WI.

According to a report issued by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department, Richard A. Baumgartner, age 62, of Waukon was traveling southbound on Old Hwy. 35 operating a 2011 Harley Davidson Trike motorcycle and was approaching the intersection with State Hwy. 35. The Baumgartner cycle failed to get stopped at the stop sign, struck the curb/left shoulder of the highway, rolled twice and ejected Baumgartner from the cycle onto the southbound lane of State Hwy. 35. The motorcycle came to rest on the westside shoulder of State Hwy. 35.

Students at Waukon High School have selected their Homecoming Court representatives for 2020, with the coronation of this year's Homecoming Queen and King set to take place at the "Burning of the 'W'" pep rally scheduled for this Thursday evening, September 17, beginning at 7 p.m. This year’s event will be held outside at the Waukon High School track/football stadium, with masks and social distancing encouraged. Following the outdoor pep rally, all attending are asked to remain in the stadium stands while the newly crowned King and Queen light the “W” at its traditional location just south of the football field. In the event of inclement weather, the “Burning of the ‘W’” pep rally will not be held.

A project that got its start five years ago was brought to full reality as the Allamakee County Freedom Rock was unveiled in a public ceremony held at its new home in Waukon City Park on a seemingly fitting day, Friday, September 11 - Patriot Day as it has been designated since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The recently completed creation of Iowa artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen of Greenfield is his 92nd Freedom Rock masterpiece intended to honor and thank America’s Veterans and to promote Iowa tourism, becoming yet another part of Sorensen’s vision of a 99-piece puzzle that serves as one statewide Iowa Veterans Memorial, an idea that really gained momentum for Sorensen after that fateful September day in American history nearly 20 years ago.

For the second consecutive week, Allamakee County recorded new confirmed positive COVID-19 case numbers that have not been seen since the spring of this year. The case count of 31 new cases from the past week’s timeframe of Tuesday, September 8 through Monday, September 14 is the second most since the county’s highest total of 32 cases was recorded during the week’s timeframe of April 21-27, with that timeframe also being the last time confirmed positive cases were reported each of those seven consecutive days, such as happened this past week with no fewer than two cases being reported any of this past week’s seven days.

This past week’s numbers included two confirmed positive cases announced from within the Allamakee Community School District staff, one as of Tuesday, September 8 and the other as of Sunday, September 13. Details of those announcements and how the school is addressing the matter are provided later in this article.

Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour reports early Monday morning that Allamakee County road crews will be repairing a small bridge on Balsam Road over Pine Creek in the northwest part of the county, southwest of Dorchester, as shown on the accompanying map.
County officials are planning to fully close this road at Noon Monday, September 14 and then reopen, hopefully, this Thursday evening, September 17.
There will not be any signed detour, according to Ridenour.

by Kelli Boylen

With the idea of making rope rescue in the county safer and more efficient, Bernie Gruman has led an effort to establish the Allamakee Technical Rescue (ATR) team.

Gruman, a Harpers Ferry volunteer firefighter, participated in a rope rescue class in Waukon several years ago. He enjoyed the training enough that he took a refresher course at the Kirkwood Community College annual fire school last fall.

He saw the benefits of a coordinated, county-wide rope rescue team. “With the steep drop-offs on the bluffs in our county and the number of grain operations, there definitely is a need for this type of knowledge here,” he says.

The Freedom Rock Committee has chosen this Friday, September 11 (9/11) at 11 a.m. as the day and time to unveil Allamakee County’s Freedom Rock in the Waukon City Park. U.S. Navy Veteran Chuck Bloxham of Waukon will be the Master of Ceremony for the brief program. All are invited to attend.

Iowa artist Bubba Sorensen was in Waukon from August 19-29 to paint his vision for his 92nd Freedom Rock, which is now another piece of his 99-piece puzzle for his State of Iowa Freedom Rock Tour Memorial giving tribute and thanks to all Veterans while creating tourism for the state of Iowa and each of its 99 counties. Fundraising efforts continue in order to help Allamakee County reach these goals as well. Contact 563-568-2624 for more information.
 

The past week saw an impact of COVID-19 not seen in Allamakee County since early May of this year, as confirmed case numbers soared to their highest level since that spring timeframe and the first death attributed to the virus was recorded since the first week in May as well. A total of 18 new cases have been reported for Allamakee County by the State of Iowa from within the past week’s timeframe of Tuesday, September 1 through Monday, September 7, the highest number during a similar week-long timeframe since April 28 through May 4, when 27 cases were reported during that seven-day stretch.

The Allamakee County death being attributed to COVID-19 this past week was reported by the State of Iowa Tuesday, September 1, but took place prior to that reported date. Allamakee County Public Health officials report that the death involved a female in the 61-80 years of age range but could not release any further details.

The Allamakee County Fair Board has announced the dates for the 2021 Allamakee County Fair scheduled for next summer. Those dates have been set for Wednesday through Sunday, July 21-25 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon. Further event details will be published as they become available.

Deadline is this Thursday at 12 Noon

Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) is seeking nominations for the 2020 Cloy Kuhse Positive Impact Award.

To be eligible, the recipient must be a business located in Allamakee County.  ACED will accept nominations until Thursday, September 10 of this year at noon. The award winner announcement will be at the ACED Annual Meeting in October. The Award Recipient will receive a plaque and will be added to the Award Plaque that is displayed at the ACED office. WW Homestead Dairy in Waukon was the 2019 Cloy Kuhse Positive Impact Award winner, and ACED looks forward to announcing another business that is making a positive impact.