The cities of Lansing and New Albin have received proposals to install automated speed enforcement cameras. These cameras are nothing but a revenue generator with minimal public safety impact, and they violate multiple aspects of a citizen’s right to due process, as protected by multiple amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Speed cameras send motorists a ticket at least a week after the violation occurred, which does nothing to stop the behavior in the moment. Proponents may argue that the most public safety impact is seen through the local drivers who become accustomed to the cameras. However, when discussing the localities of offenders cited in New Albin, the chief of police stated, “90% of the vehicles are those passing threw [sic].” If we install these cameras on the off chance that the 10% of local speeders might slow down, we are engaged in the very definition of a minimal public safety impact.
America! America’s Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, declared this: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (mankind) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Its author, America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, also wrote, “God who gave us life also gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is a just God, that his justice cannot sleep forever!”
Historical landmark rises high above the New Albin area ... The prominent rock formation pictured above rises high above the scenic landscape in the Black Hawk Point Wildlife Management Area established by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) two miles south of New Albin along State Highway 26 (Great River Road). The looming landmark has been identified as Black Hawk’s Bluff after Sauk Native American Chief Black Hawk, who is believed to have inhabited the nearby area. Submitted photo.
Editor’s Note: The following article was written and recently submitted for publication by northeast Iowa native Clyde Cremer. Cremer and his family moved to the New Albin area when he was in fourth grade, and he went on to graduate from New Albin High School in 1960, the last graduating class for that high school before it merged to form Kee High School in Lansing as part of the Eastern Allamakee Community School District. After his high school graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army before he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from Stephen F. Austin State University and then a Master of Forestry degree from the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, graduating from Yale with its Class of 1973 that also include Bill and Hillary Clinton and Dr. Ben Carson. He and his wife, Gail, first founded their American Log Homes business (now American Log Brokers) in 1977 in Missouri before moving its headquarters to Pueblo West, CO in 1984.
The Waukon Fire Department was called to a house fire at 2315 Lycurgus Road in rural Lansing Wednesday afternoon, February 22, around 1:45 p.m., battling not only the roaring blaze pictured above but also the ice, wind and snow (evident in the photo as well) of the winter storm that gripped the area that day, creating very slippery road conditions.
Homeowner Michelle Welsh was home at the time of the blaze and was able to get herself and her pets safely out of the burning structure.
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, February 27 to address a full agenda of matters including the review of the County’s insurance policy and renewal, discussion of the Maximum Levy hearing date for the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) County Budget, and consideration of the Resolution to add a Secondary Road Project to the Construction Program. The meeting was called to order by Board Chairperson Dan Byrnes with Supervisors Mark Reiser and Dennis Keatley present.
During Public Comment, Carolyn Clark, a member of the Allamakee County Historical Society Board of Directors, noted that work has begun relating to the genealogy research area in the basement of the County Veterans Museum, the former Vet’s Club location.
The Allamakee County Veterans Museum will be hosting a special presentation Thursday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the new museum in the former Vet’s Club on Allamakee Street in Waukon. The program was rescheduled from February 23 due to a winter storm.
Area native Craig Timmerman will be giving a public presentation titled “Harley Davidson Goes to War” where he will detail his efforts to locate and restore an authentic World War II Harley Davidson U.S. Army motorcycle, model WLA (pictured in the submitted photo above).
Timmerman is an experienced WWII collector who will explain the training, experiences and contributions of this modern “cavalry” to the war effort. He will also introduce a documentary from the U.S. Army Quartermaster School where motorcycle troops trained. His restored Harley Davidson WLA with maintenance tools and manuals will be on display.
“Find your Voice” is the theme of Robey Memorial Library’s 2023 Adult Reading Challenge, which is now underway and runs through December 31. Robey Memorial Library challenges everyone to read something new or different this year.
Participants can receive a prize drawing entry for reading from one of each of 12 categories: Author’s First Book; Author/Genre Never Read; Autobiography/Memoir; Community Themed; Epistolary (Letter or Journal); Featuring a creative activity; Featuring social change; History; Magazine; Poetry; Recommended; and Religious, Spiritual or Inspirational.
The Allamakee County Veterans Museum in Waukon will be offering one final encore video presentation to the public in the meeting room of its new museum in the former Vet’s Club building at 105 Allamakee Street, Waukon. The video presentation will take place Saturday, March 4 at 10 a.m. and feature Carl Johnson, U.S. Army Veteran who served in Vietnam.
There is no admission charge for these video presentations, and the museum is wheelchair accessible. Museum winter hours include tours provided each Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon, and the museum is available by appointment for groups.
The Waukon Police Department will be hosting an Open House for the general public to tour its remodeled police station located at 104 1st Street NW in Waukon Thursday, March 2 from 4-7 p.m. The open house will give potential police officer applicants and the general public an opportunity to tour the facility and view patrol vehicles, with officers also in attendance to answer questions and provide demonstrations of equipment.
Featured during the open house will be the police station remodeling completed in 2021 that provided employee safety upgrades, increased individual officer workspace and created a conference/training room. Also on display will be the new Taser 7 and Axon 3 body cameras acquired in 2022, as well as a new drone acquired by the department just this year.
Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC) is updating the Passenger Transportation Plan (PTP) for the region consisting of Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek Counties in northeast Iowa. The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that this region’s PTP be updated every five years. The current plan was adopted by the Upper Explorerland Transportation Policy Board in Spring of 2018.
