Top Stories

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, August 26 to address a full agenda of items including a personnel matter in the County Auditor’s Office, consideration of bids for a County Sheriff’s Department patrol vehicle and the semi-annual insurance update with claims review.

During Public Comment, Executive Director Val Reinke with Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) discussed that the recent drive-in movie night at WW Homestead Dairy was well attended with approximately 70 cars and that the grand opening for the Portside Bar and Supper Club over the weekend in Harpers Ferry went well. Reinke reported that the Driftless Super Slough kayak trek that took place on the Mississippi River and the Back to School 5K Run/Walk held in New Albin both took place Saturday, August 24 with the 5K Run/Walk having approximately 45 participants.

City and school elections will be conducted simultaneously this year, scheduled for Tuesday, November 5. A law passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2017 ended the longstanding tradition of holding school board elections in September, and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate hopes the combined elections will increase voter participation.

“Turnout for city and school elections is usually not very high and I hope that changes this year,” Secretary Pate said. “A lot of voters might not realize that these local elections tend to have a much greater impact on their daily lives than the races for president and the U.S. Senate.”

Area citizens interested in the history and archaeology connected to the Black Hawk Bridge project are invited to attend another meeting with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Lansing History Working Group Thursday, August 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library in Lansing. This discussion will focus on the archaeology uncovered last fall as part of the planning for the bridge project.

Iowa DOT staffer Brennan Dolan will share information about the materials that were found and the analyses that were completed on the artifact assemblages. A select assemblage of materials will be available for viewing.

Anyone who is interested is encouraged to come and bring questions to ask. Goals are to share information, ask questions and understand how these issues affect project planning.
 

The annual Waukon Corn Days event was held Friday through Sunday, August 16-18 in Waukon, with a large crowd attending the sweet corn meal event pictured at right Friday evening. There were no entries for any of the Corn Days royalty crownings, but more photos from this year's event can be found on Page 2A of the August 21 print edition and e-edition, as well as in the Photo Gallery on this website. Standard photo by Joe Moses.

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by Brianne Eilers

There will be an open house for the newly created Allamakee Regional Welding Lab from 5 to 7 p.m. this Thursday, August 22 at the Waukon Middle School. Visitors are asked to enter through the auditorium entrance on the east side of the building, and parking can be found in the lot between the Middle School and West Elementary.

The Regional Welding Lab is a partnership between the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD), Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) and Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC). ACSD Superintendent Jay Mathis said, “We are so appreciative of the partnership we have with NICC and their role in making this opportunity available to our students, especially the work of Erica Nosbisch. I would also like to give credit to Mr. Dave Herold, Mr. Caleb Ferring and our school board for their vision, hard work and support of this endeavor.”

by Brianne Eilers

Work continues on the renovations at the East Elementary school building in Waukon. The building is now sporting new windows, doors, flooring, LED lighting, new ceilings and also has a new VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) heating and cooling system.

Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Superintendent Jay Mathis explained that when considering this project the district had to focus on the overall scope and what could realistically be completed during the summer break from the school year. East and West Elementary Schools Principal Joe Griffith noted that “we are where we thought we would be in this process,” as far as the timing.

The East Elementary library has been completed and the majority of the school’s windows have been installed. Several of the classrooms are also finished and staff has been moving things back into the completed rooms to get ready for the first day of school this Friday, August 23.

by David M. Johnson

When individuals are attending school in their early youth, they generally do not give much thought, much attention, to what lays ahead after their education is completed. Many may take it for granted that things will fall into place and they will land that “dream” job or became a member of that occupation that the older generation of their family was involved in.

Today, there is more of an emphasis and concentration on early development, as early as grade school and progressing into middle school and then high school. Many students do not just choose classes to “get by” but classes and subjects that prepare them for their employment later in life.

Faith Palmer (right in photo at right), 17-year-old daughter of John and Meghan Palmer of Waukon, was crowned the Alternate Iowa Dairy Princess during an evening ceremony at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines Tuesday, August 7. Palmer represented Allamakee County and will be a senior at Waukon High School this fall.

Julie Hammerand (left in photo at right), an 18-year-old from Sherrill, was crowned the 66th Iowa Dairy Princess. Hammerand is the daughter of Jerry and Lois Hammerand, and she will spend the year serving as a goodwill ambassador for Iowa’s dairy farmers. Throughout their year-long reign, Hammerand and Palmer will make public appearances to connect with consumers and help them understand the dedication of dairy farm families to their cows, their land and the milk they produce. Hammerand represented Dubuque County and will be a student at the University of Northern Iowa this fall, where she is will major in Art Education.

The Heffern Memorial Award was established by the Heffern family in memory of Bernie Heffern, who passed away in 2008. Bernie was very passionate about all areas of 4-H and its importance in the lives of youth and their families. She and her husband, Bob, were inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame in 2007 for their lifelong dedication to 4-H. Each year during fair week, the Allamakee County Fair Board observes families and selects a family who emulates the Heffern family attitude of helping others, working well with each other, and going above and beyond for the fair.

The Hefferns hope that creating this award and honoring a family each year will help to develop the kind of passion and dedication Bob and Bernie showed for the 4-H program. They also hope that it will instill the kind of family involvement that was important to Bernie.

The annual celebration of Lansing Fish Days took place this past weekend, August 9-11, in Lansing. A wide range of activities and events, such as pictured above, once again made this year’s Lansing Fish Days celebration a success. Additional photos of this year’s Lansing Fish Days fun can be found on Page 12A in the print edition and e-edition of The Standard.

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