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A video program about rattlesnakes produced by the Allamakee County Historical Society will be presented to the public June 14 and again later this summer. The program includes a presentation by Ross Gerdes, Allamakee County Conservation Commission Director about local rattlesnakes, including their range, life cycle, poisonous nature, and cautions for humans interacting with them, and featuring a video appearance by Tim the Timber Rattler.

The video program continues with an interview with Mary Egan of Harpers Ferry, who was bitten by a rattler in 2023 and was hospitalized for 13 days. The video concludes with interviews by county residents Paul Howes, Kathy Howes, and Kathy Renk, all of whom will recount their interactions with the snakes in years past.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, June 1 to address a full agenda of matters including discussion relating to electric bicycles and electric scooters, the review of two variance requests and the consideration of purchasing two thermal imaging monoculars for police vehicles. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arvid Hatlan with council members present including Cassie Handke, Steve Wiedner, Nic Engrav, John Lydon and Tim Smedsrud.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met twice within a week following the Monday, May 25 closure of the Allamakee County Courthouse in recognition of the Memorial Day holiday with regular session meetings taking place Tuesday, May 26 and Monday, June 1. Coverage of both meetings appears below.

TUESDAY, MAY 26
The Tuesday, May 26 holiday-delayed meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Tom Clark with Supervisors Dan Byrnes and Dennis Keatley present. There was no Public Comment during the time allotted for that agenda item.

The Waukon baseball team played through an initially busy week of four nights that got a little less busy when the first of those, a Tuesday, May 26 home game with Clayton Ridge, was suspended by lightning in the third inning with the Indians holding a 4-0 lead. Preliminary plans are to finish that game Tuesday, June 9 at 6 p.m.

The remainder of the week saw the Indians put two of their remaining games in the win column, as the baseball Tribe suffered its lone loss of the week, 7-6, at home to Decorah Wednesday, May 27. Waukon’s diamond dwellers wrapped up the week with two final road games they put in the win column, including a 10-2 victory at North Fayette Valley Thursday, May 28 and a 12-2 triumph at Sumner-Fredericksburg Friday, May 29.

The Waukon softball team got its 2026 season underway with three games played this past week, putting one of those three contests in the win column. The Lady Indians opened their season splitting a home doubleheader with Clayton Ridge Wednesday, May 27, falling by a 23-6 final result in five innings in game one but bouncing back to win the nightcap by an 11-10 result in eight innings. The diamond Tribe wrapped up the week with a 16-3 loss at home to Oelwein in five innings Friday, May 29.

The softball Indians were next scheduled to play an Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) varsity doubleheader at South Winneshiek Monday, June 1 and play the same at West Central Wednesday, June 3 before playing two games in the North Fayette Valley Tournament Saturday, June 6 against Boyer Valley and Waverly-Shell Rock. The Waukon girls will then play another UIC varsity doubleheader at MFL/MarMac Monday, June 8 before hosting Postville for the same Wednesday, June 10.

The Kee baseball team played a total of seven games from Saturday to Saturday of this past week, winning three of those seven games. Prior to the Memorial Day holiday, the Hawks played two games at the Don Bosco Tournament Saturday, May 23, falling to Waterloo Columbus by a final score of 6-4 and also surrendering an 8-3 loss to the host Dons. Kee secured its first win of the season in splitting a home doubleheader with Decorah Monday, May 25, winning game one by an 11-9 result before falling in the nightcap, 6-0. The Hawks recorded a 7-0 win at Crestwood Tuesday, May 26 before wrapping up the week splitting two games at their own Shooky Fink Tournament Saturday, May 30, falling to Class 1A fourth-rated Wapsie Valley, 12-4, but bouncing back with a 7-5 win over Starmont.

Susan Stanton O’Connor, 83, of Bellevue, WA, formerly of Waukon, passed away peacefully in her sleep February 8, 2023, after battling lymphoma and dementia. A graveside service will be held for family and friends Saturday, June 13 at 2 p.m. at Oakland Cemetery in Waukon.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Old Friends Club (welcome@oldfriendsclub.org), a dementia support group. Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon is handling arrangements.

Susan Stanton O’Connor was born June 14, 1939, in Chicago, IL, to Erma Beryl Jones and James J. Stanton. The family moved to Waukon, where Susan attended school through grade 11 and then moved to California, graduating from Tustin High School in 1957. Susan went on to graduate from Bellevue College as a Registered Nurse, and also spent 20 years working for Sno-Isle Libraries as a library assistant at Mukilteo, WA.

Deadlines/Dates
May 14 - August 2: Primary Nesting Season
June 19: Office closed in observance of Juneteenth 
July 3: Office closed in observance of Independence Day
July 13-19: Allamakee County Fair
July 15: Deadline to Report Acres
August 12: Deadline to submit an SDRP application

FSA Ready for Your 2026 Acreage Report
As this planting season draws to a close, we wanted to send out another quick reminder. If you have completed your planting, please reach out to the FSA office and report your acreage as soon as possible. Timely reporting helps us keep everything on track. Thank you for your cooperation and all your hard work during the season!

Livestock manure is a rich source of fertility, and Iowa has abundant supplies from about 8,200 livestock farms. About 20% of cropped acres across the state are estimated to receive manure. 

“Farmers respect manure and want to get the most value from it, but that’s not easy. Manure management is complicated,” said Dan Andersen, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University andknown by many as “Dr. Manure.” 

As a result, manure is often underutilized as a resource to boost crop yields and soil health, according to Andersen. And when it is not managed well, manure can contribute to the state’s water quality problems.  

Studying multiverse of factors influencing management 
“We have to develop modern strategies for smarter use to encourage farmers to recycle this resource. A main goal of mine is to help make sure producers have good data to inform their decisions,” he said. 

To the Editor:

Senator Grassley’s recent editorial supports the Rural Health Transformation Plan (RHTP) and the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). My five attempts to him questioning this have received “canned” responses failing to address the concerns Iowans face with their health care.

Multiple letters sent to Iowa’s other five congressional office holders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have been totally ignored. “Please explain why you support the RHTP that will provide Iowa with $209 million over the next five years but voted for the OBBB that cuts $2.7 billion from Iowa’s rural health care needs over the next decade?”