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by Lissa Blake

A Waukon man could spend the next 35 to 50 years behind bars for an April 16 fatal shooting.

Monday, October 1, District Judge John Bauercamper sentenced John Michael Quanrude, age 32, to 50 years in prison for the Second Degree Murder of his stepfather and roommate, 60-year-old Dean Russell of Waukon. Last month, Quanrude was found guilty in that fatal shooting incident by a 12-person jury in a case heard in the Allamakee County Courthouse. The crime took place April 16 of this year in the home the two shared at 49 Jean Road in the Parkview Trailer Court in Waukon.

CONSIDERATIONS
Before hearing from the attorneys Monday, Bauercamper acknowledged a letter he had received from Quanrude’s aunt, Dianne (Quanrude) Estes, asking for leniency in sentencing. Bauercamper noted Quanrude’s sentence was mandatory and he had no authority to change that.

by Kelli Boylen

For many, the thought of the Allamakee Community School District closing the doors at Waterville Elementary School at the end of the school year earlier this spring meant the building would be left to its memories up on top of the hill and possibly fall into an undesirable existence. However, thanks to the generosity of people in the area, the school building will continue to serve “the town on the hill” as a community center.

Waterville city government has already moved its operations to the new Waterville Community Center and the Waterville Public Library has moved its more than 5,000 volumes and shelving to the new location. Work is also currently underway on a museum featuring the school and community.

The honor of a State Championship is something every school strives for but only a handful get to experience, so to have two schools within about a 20-minute drive of one another in the same county each achieve a State Championship on the same day is, indeed, a rarity.

That’s exactly what transpired for the FFA chapters at both Waukon and Kee High Schools Saturday, September 8, as they each had teams emerge as the best in the state of Iowa in their respective Career Development Events (CDE) held in conjunction with the 2018 Youth Dairy Classic at Manchester. The Little Switzerland FFA Chapter of Waukon High School was crowned the Iowa Champion FFA Dairy Cattle Evaluation Team and the Lansing FFA Chapter of Kee High School in Lansing was named the Iowa Champion FFA Milk Quality & Products Team.

Wednesday, September 19, the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an individual attempting to solicit nude photographs of young females in the area through the social media app “Snapchat”. The suspect reportedly initiates contact through the messaging feature on the “Snapchat” app and gives a false name that the potential victim may know through social media, such as Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat, and requests the potential victim to send nude photographs of themselves through the “Snapchat” app. This suspect has attempted contact with numerous potential victims in the area. The “Snapchat” account being used is dylan3404dj and the suspect is using the names Chris or Dylan. This activity is being directed toward high school-aged persons. This incident is under investigation by the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office and Waukon Police Department.

by Lissa Blake

Guilty as charged.
That was the verdict handed down Thursday, September 13 in the Second Degree Murder case of the State of Iowa versus John Michael Quanrude of Waukon. Quanrude, age 32, was convicted of shooting his stepfather and roommate, 60-year-old Dean Russell of Waukon, the afternoon of April 16 of this year in the home the two shared at 49 Jean Road in the Parkview Trailer Court in Waukon.

Prosecuting the case were Allamakee County Attorney Jill Kistler and Susan Krisko, assistant attorney general for the State of Iowa. Quanrude was defended by Scott J. Nelson of the Iowa State Defender’s Office located in Dubuque. The case was tried by District Judge John Bauercamper in the large courtroom of the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon.

The Auxiliary of Veterans Memorial Hospital together with Elliott Jewelers of Waukon will be hosting the 14th annual Women’s Health Day wellness event and luncheon Tuesday, September 25 at the Waukon Banquet Center. All ages are invited to attend this educational event, beginning at 11 a.m. with a wellness fair offering a variety of health tests and information, and a salad luncheon and program held from Noon to 1 p.m.

Tickets are available at Veterans Memorial Hospital and Elliott Jewelers in Waukon. Tickets will also be available at the door, until the event is sold out. The proceeds from this event will be used to renovate the outpatient treatment room at the hospital.

Allamakee County voters well in line with overall approval percentage

Despite just four percent turn-out, voters in the Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) district gave their approval for the continuation of a $39 million bond levy in a special election held Tuesday, September 11. With vote totals considered unofficial until results are canvassed, the measure was approved with 84.16 percent of the votes cast. Following the official canvas, the results will be certified by the county boards of supervisors.

 Bruce Ferguson of San Diego, CA created this “Star Trail” photo and submitted it to The Standard for publication consideration. Ferguson and his two brothers and their families, all from the San Diego, CA area, were visiting their parents who live in La Crosse, WI and the entire family rented a houseboat from S&S Houseboat Rentals in Lansing to “cruise the Mississippi for a few days” in late August. Ferguson explained that the images used to create this photo were taken while the boat was anchored at the sand bar in the main channel of the Mississippi River where the family spent its final night on the houseboat, just to the north of the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing seen in the photo’s bottom right corner. Ferguson said he used a Canon 70D digital camera and a timer set up on a tripod to take photos every 15 seconds for a couple of hours around midnight. He then used Photoshop to merge the photos together to create the time lapse effect of the “Star Trail” image above.

A 12-person jury has found John Quanrude of Waukon guilty of Second Degree Murder in the April 2018 shooting death of Dean Russell of Waukon. In a trial that started Monday, September 10 in the Allamakee County Courthouse, the jury deliberated for just one hour before returning that guilty verdict Thursday, September 13. Quanrude is now scheduled to be sentenced October 1. Further details about the trial and guilty verdict will be published in the September 19 edition of The Standard.

Once teammates in nearly every football game they’ve ever played, the 2014 Waukon High School graduate pair of Parker Hesse and Marcus Weymiller will be taking the field on opposing teams this Saturday for the first time since they were in elementary school.

“I believe the last time we actually faced off on the football field was in a YSF (Youth Sports Foundation) scrimmage in fifth grade,” Hesse shared. “Other than that, the only other time we played against one another was fourth grade flag football, and on the playground.”