News Center newsletter

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey encourages Iowa hay and straw producers to register or update their listing on the Iowa Hay and Straw Directory.  The directory lists Iowa producers with hay and straw for sale, as well as organizations and businesses associated with promoting and marketing quality hay and straw.

“The directory has been a great tool for both buyers and sellers and we hope farmers will take the time to review and update their information so that it remains a valuable resource,” Northey said.  “This directory can serve as a critical link for those producing hay and those looking to buy, so we encourage Iowans to take advantage of this free directory.”

The listing is available to interested buyers throughout the nation, however only sellers from within Iowa can be included on the list.

JT Olson returning to native Allamakee County to share story June 29 at Old East Paint Creek

by Kelli Boylen
freelance writer

Jeff (JT) Olson knows what it is to be an orphan.

He clearly remembers the day his parents died. He was 12 year old, and his parents had been away for their 16th wedding anniversary. He was excited to be reunited with his brothers, sisters and parents.

He then learned his parents, Othello and Lora Mae Olson, had been killed in a car accident on their way back to their rural Harpers Ferry home on the Lansing-Harpers Road.

He also remembers the family members who took care of him and his four siblings, John, Jim, Julie and Jerene. A widowed aunt took care of the three oldest children so they could finish out the school year at Waukon Junior High, and then all five children moved to Brookfield, WI with their aunt and uncle, Ralph and Marie Ann Seifert.

Waukon RAGBRAI hosting Town Meeting June 28; All are encouraged to attend

The Waukon RAGBRAI Committees will be hosting a Town Meeting Wednesday, June 28 from 6-7 p.m. at Iron Ridge Church, located at 512 Ninth Street SW in Waukon. Residents and others interested from all communities in the Allamakee County area, including the pass-through and final destination towns, are invited to attend the meeting.

More specific details will be presented about RAGBRAI's overnight stay in Waukon, including information about road closures and layout of the entertainment and other venues in downtown Waukon. Additional information will address volunteer and rider hosting opportunities, as well as funding and other logistical information. Those in attendance will also have the opportunity to ask questions in regard to RAGBRAI and its July 28-29 visit to Allamakee County.

Lori Egan, a nurse from Waukon, has announced her candidacy to represent the Iowa House of Representatives 56th District, which includes all of Allamakee County and parts of Clayton County.

“I’m running for the Iowa House because Clayton and Allamakee counties are being forgotten by the politicians in Des Moines,” Egan said. “As a 30-year resident of Waukon and a nurse, I'm concerned about the future of working families and our community. I’m running because economic opportunity should not be limited to those in Des Moines. We need living wage jobs with benefits right here in Clayton and Allamakee counties. We need health care that is affordable and accessible and we need an education system that provides our kids with the skills they’ll need to land a good job."

Egan is currently the Health Programs Director at the Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC). Previously she served as a nurse with the Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, WI.

Allamakee County Farm Bureau (ACFB) recently held a food drive to help stock the Allamakee County Food Shelf. Collection bins were placed at Quillin’s and Fareway grocery stores in Waukon. At the end of the drive, 80 pounds of food was collected. ACFB also donated one dollar for every pound of food collected. Pictured above, ACFB Vice President Lars Palmer (left) delivered the food to the Allamakee County Food Shelf, where Food Shelf Co-Director Wayne Burk (right) was on hand to accept the donation. Submitted photo.
 

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, June 19 to address a variety of matters, including the Spring Avenue spring leak, Aveka noise and smell concerns and Hairball’s pyrotechnics display during the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI®).

During Public Comments, Jesse Delaney of 403 Seventh Avenue SE in Waukon addressed the Council regarding the paving of his street. Delaney commented that his home is one of the few, if not only, homes on a gravel  road within city limits. Delaney expressed interest in improving and paving his driveway and connecting it to a paved street in front of his property. The Council agreed to research and consider the matter.

by Lissa Blake

Local radio station KNEI will celebrate 50 years of entertaining local residents next week with an open house Tuesday, June 27 at the current KNEI location on Main Street in downtown Waukon.

The station was started by the late Ralph Sweeney and Dave Hogendorn in 1967. “I remember it took Dad three to four years to get licensing, he had to put up bonding and have the financial backing,” said Ralph’s son, Jack Sweeney. “I remember it (the license) was really hard to get and you had to have a licensed engineer on staff."

When asked what he thinks motivated his dad to start the station, Sweeney said, “Dad was an entrepreneur. He just thought Waukon needed a radio station.”

Sweeney started working as a DJ at the station when he was just 16 years old. His girlfriend, Bonnie Blake, who later became is his wife, worked there as well.

by B.J. Tomlinson

Last August, in the fall of 2016, while in Iowa City attending the University of Iowa, Ethan Halverson didn’t feel well. Ethan is a 2012 graduate of Kee High School in Lansing and the son of Marty and Faye Halverson of Lansing.
"Not really sick, just not like himself,” said his mother, Faye. Ethan then noticed swollen lymph glands that became lumps in his neck and upper chest.

On first examination, the doctors adopted a wait-and-see treatment plan, thinking perhaps the symptoms indicated a virus. But when the condition did not improve they ratcheted up their diagnostic options to include CT scans, ultrasounds and lab work. As a result of that further testing, in November of last year Ethan was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a malignant cancerous growth of cells in the body's lymphatic system.

by Macie Hill

The regular meeting of the Lansing City Council was held Monday, June 19. Discussion circled around MSA representatives addressing the City's radium issue in its water supply, Main Street well inspection, a new hiring for a city lawn mower position, fencing put up in front of the train tracks for RAGBRAI®, an ATV ordinance update, and a public hearing scheduled for the July 3 meeting.

MSA Professional Service representatives attended the meeting to meet all of the council members and let them know that they are interested in preparing the city's radium preliminary engineering report. The town of Farley in Iowa is one of MSA's clients which is having a similar situation that Lansing is having with radium. The project that MSA is proposing to take on would be about a three-year process with three parts, including design, bidding and construction.

The Ferryville Tourism Council is sponsoring the first of three summer bonfire programs Wednesday, June 28 at 8 p.m. at the south end of Sugar Creek Park in Ferryville, WI. Ric Zarwell will be the speaker for a program entitled, “Birdwatching in the U.S., from an Expert like John James Audubon to an Active, Maybe Obsessed Local Man.”

Zarwell was born and raised in New Albin. He has been a lifelong birder and has created, along with his wife, Betty, the River and Bluffs Birding Festival in the Lansing area. They have traveled to 44 nations and all seven continents to view birds native to those areas. Zarwell has a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology and a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources, both from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He leads birding trips and conducts monitoring of bird species in various habitats.