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With this 2020 election year, the State of Iowa has moved up the deadline for filing nomination papers for certain county level elected positions that would appear on election ballots for this year’s June primary and/or November general elections. Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer advises that many of the filing deadlines that once were set in August for non-partisan elected positions have now been moved several months earlier to March.

by Brianne Eilers

When she volunteered to be an usher as an FFA member at the 2019 Iowa State Fair this past August, one of the last things that Waukon High School junior Diana Davison had in mind was competing for a spot in the Teen Division of the Miss United States Agriculture competition - much less how far that competition would actually take her.

While at the State Fair, Davison received a message from Holly Hatfield, the Midwest Regional Director of the Miss United States Agriculture organization, asking her if she would be interested in competing in the state of Iowa pageant that was taking place that same week at the Iowa State Fair. Davison had to think about it for a little bit and confer with her mom, Cindy Shogren of Waukon, about it.

Future of damaged buildings still being determined by appropriate agencies

Fire officials at both the local and state levels have classified the cause of the Monday, February 10 fire at Gus & Tony’s Pizza and Steakhouse in Waukon as “Undetermined,” according to information shared by Waukon Fire Chief Dave Martin. The fire destroyed the nearly four decade-strong restaurant business owned and operated by the Dave Bell family at 508 West Main Street, along with damaging two adjacent business buildings, as well as the residential living areas associated with each of the three buildings.

Spillville native will seek Senate seat being vacated by Michael Breitbach’s retirement

Spillville Mayor Mike Klimesh has announced that he will be seeking the open Iowa Senate District 28 seat currently held by retiring Senator Michael Breitbach. Breitbach, who is the Appropriation Committee chair, recently announced his retirement, effective at the end of this year, after serving two terms in the Iowa Senate.

“I am running for the Iowa Senate to implement common sense policies to lower the tax burden on Iowans, improve education, and ensure rural Iowa has a strong voice in Des Moines,” said Klimesh. “I look forward to meeting Iowans  throughout Winneshiek, Clayton, Allamakee and Fayette Counties, hearing their concerns, and representing their interests in Des Moines.”

With this 2020 election year, the State of Iowa has moved up the deadline for filing nomination papers for certain county level elected positions that would appear on election ballots for this year’s June primary and/or November general elections. Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer advises that many of the filing deadlines that once were set in August for non-partisan elected positions have now been moved several months earlier to March.

Dave’s Gus & Tony’s Pizza and Steakhouse, located at 508 West Main Street in Waukon for just shy of 40 years, was completely destroyed by a fire reported around 9:30 a.m. Monday, February 10. Heavy smoke was originally seen pouring from the top of the building, and a mother and two children awaiting the late start to the school day at home in the living area above the restaurant were rescued early on through a second story window by passers-by using a ladder from an A-OK Well Service truck traveling on West Main Street at the time. The entire complex of three business buildings was evacuated, with the adjacent Edward Jones Investments and Waukon Chiropractic buildings, along with their residential living spaces, also sustaining damage but remaining standing as of now.

With this 2020 election year, the State of Iowa has moved up the deadline for filing nomination papers for certain county level elected positions that would appear on election ballots for this year’s June primary and/or November general elections. Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer advises that many of the filing deadlines that once were set in August for non-partisan elected positions have now been moved several months earlier to March.

The Monday, February 3 Iowa caucuses brought with them their own respective challenges from both the Democrat and Republican perspectives, but local leaders of both political parties agree that the caucus efforts and overall results in Allamakee County are something to be proud of.

Any concerns of lacking interest by Republicans due to just a single front-running candidate were quickly alleviated by the “much larger showing than... anticipated” turn-out reported by local party leaders and “record-breaking” turn-out reported by state Republican leaders. Despite the overshadowing results reporting challenges faced within the Democratic caucus scenario at the state level, local leaders of that party are very pleased with not only the turn-out but also with how well the Allamakee County caucus efforts played out in their functionality and purpose.

The 11th Annual Oneota Film Festival “Beyond the Crater” is scheduled for this weekend, February 14-16 at Luther College, downtown Decorah, and for the first time in festival history, at the Town Theater in Waukon. This year’s first-ever film viewing outside of the Decorah area for the festival will take place at the Town Theater on Main Street in Waukon this Saturday, February 15 with a total of 14 different films ranging in length from just two minutes to an hour and 30 minutes.

Saturday’s film schedule in Waukon will include a session of seven Iowa short films shown from 1-2:45 p.m., along with a question and answer session. Those films (and their time length) include: The Honey War (2 minutes), Bella (19 minutes), Concourses and Megastructures (6 minutes), Knee High (14 minutes), Leslie’s Gift (11 minutes), Flava (20 minutes) and Blake (13 minutes).

Award nominations due by February 14; Princess applications due by March 1

The 2020 Allamakee County Dairy Banquet will be held Saturday, March 21 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. The meal will be served from 7-8:30 p.m. with the program starting at 8 p.m. The annual celebration recognizes the importance of the dairy industry in Allamakee County and the contributions dairy families make to the industry.

Every year, top producers from the county are recognized at the banquet. In addition, several other awards are presented that evening. The Allamakee Dairy Promotion Board and the Allamakee County Extension Office are accepting nominations through February 14 for the following awards: