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Former Indian and Hawkeye stand-out shares his thoughts on early uncertainties with continuation of his football career, making all the transitions and helping his team prepare through a deep play-off run

The past year has been quite a rollercoaster for 2014 Waukon High School graduate Parker Hesse in regard to continuing to play the game that he loves, a game that has provided him with opportunities that have been dreams for many but never before realized by others who have put on a Waukon football uniform.

This past year those opportunities reached a near pinnacle of Hesse’s childhood dream of playing in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Tennessee Titans in May of this past year and spent this 2019 NFL season as a member of the Titans’ 10-player practice squad.

Completion of the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) road improvement project for Iowa Highways 9 and 76 through Waukon with the installation this past week of new traffic signals at the only stoplight intersection in Allamakee County has brought some final changes to traffic control at that intersection more locally known as Main Street and Allamakee Street/Spring Avenue (Rossville Road). According to Iowa DOT officials, changes in lane usage and in the controlling of traffic by additional traffic lights were made in an effort to improve the flow of traffic at the intersection.

“The traffic movements through the intersection were changed to help traffic flow,” explained Iowa DOT District 2 Field Services Coordinator Pete Hjelmstad. “Before the project, when east and west traffic had a green light, left-turning traffic waiting for a gap (to make that left turn) would hold up traffic behind them wanting to go straight.

A winner of season 25 of the television reality series “Survivor” who has ties to the Waukon area will be returning to the strategy and strength series on television screens across the nation this month for a chance to win two million dollars as part of the latest installment of the show, “Survivor 40: Winners at War.” In honor of the show’s 20th anniversary, the newest season will feature 20 winners from previous “Survivor” seasons, and it was filmed in May-June 2019 in Fiji but will begin airing next Wednesday, February 12 on CBS television channels.

Denise (McCormick) Stapley, age 48, of Marion is one of the past million dollar season winners who has been invited back to compete for an even bigger prize in the 40th season of the show. She won the “Survivor: Philippines” season in 2012.

The former Shopko location at the intersection of Ninth Street SW and Eleventh Avenue SW in Waukon is one of six former Shopko locations in Iowa that Hy-Vee, Inc. has recently reached purchase agreements on to re-open under the Hy-Vee subsidiary Dollar Fresh brand later this year, according to a release issued by Hy-Vee, Inc. Monday, January 27. In the upcoming weeks, the former Waukon Shopko location will join similar locations in Cresco, Oelwein, Hampton, Dyersville and Vinton in undergoing renovations to open as Dollar Fresh stores by late summer.

Monday, February 3 at 7 p.m.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and participants must be registered or in line by 7 p.m. in order to participate

For more information call Allamakee County Democratic Co-Chairs Karen Pratte (563-535-7254) or Lori Egan (563-568-1290)

Precinct #1 - Hanover, Waterloo Townships
Wings Supper Club, 606 Waterloo Creek Drive, Dorchester
 
Precinct #2 - French Creek, Jefferson, Ludlow, Makee, Union Prairie Townships
Waukon Middle School Cafeteria, 1059 Third Avenue NW, Waukon
 
Precinct #3 - Franklin, Post Townships AND Precinct #4 - City of Postville
Postville Community School District Fine Art Center, 314 West Post Street, Postville
 
Precinct #5 - City of Waterville and Linton, Paint Creek Townships
Waterville Community Center Cafeteria, 115 Main Street, Waterville

Voter registration opportunity available at all caucus sites that evening

Registered Republican and Democrat voters across the state have the opportunity to participate in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses Monday, February 3, providing local residents a critical voice in the nomination process for this country's next president by casting their vote for their preferred candidate.

Those who choose to participate in the caucuses will not only choose presidential candidates for this year's election, but will make their voices heard as both political parties formulate their campaign platforms. Nomination petitions for other state and national elected offices will also be considered by caucus goers.

To attend a caucus, voters must be registered as either Democrat or Republican, but registration will be allowed at each of the caucus sites. Caucus locations for both political parties for the February 3 event are featured below in the bordered boxes.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s partnership with VoteShield sets a model for other states to monitor and protect their voter data. VoteShield is a secure web application that tracks changes to Iowa’s voter rolls and detects and flags anomalies. Iowa was the first state in the country to utilize the system.

Every state considers itself a target for foreign adversaries and bad actors whose possible goal is manipulating voter data. VoteShield is one of the numerous protections in place for Iowa’s voter registration system.

“VoteShield is an important component to help us ensure the integrity of Iowa’s voter data and elections,” Secretary Pate said. “The system is available for all 99 county auditors to use. Auditors know their counties best, so if an anomaly is detected, they are able to investigate it themselves.”

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met twice within a week’s time Tuesday, January 21 following the closure of the Allamakee County Courthouse in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday Monday, January 20. The board met Tuesday, January 21 and met again Monday, January 27, with coverage of both meetings appearing below:

ABC News was in the communities of Waukon and Postville for more than two days in mid-January filming for a piece that is expected to air the evening of the Iowa caucus, Monday, February 3, on ABC News Live, the network’s 24/7 breaking news and live events network. Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer and a team of producers interviewed several residents, business owners and local politicians on various ends of the political spectrum from both towns as part of that coverage.

ABC News Live is a streaming news channel that can be found online at ABCNews.com, or on the ABC News, ABC mobile or other streaming apps. According to contacts affiliated with ABC News, it is not known at this point at what time specifically the local interviews will air or whether any of the local interviews will be used beyond the ABC News Live network coverage, such as in the regular evening television news on any ABC television channels.