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Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon is seeing an increasing number of patients with the influenza virus. The Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care public health department is sharing the following information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to alert the community about what to do if they do contract the flu virus and how to prevent spreading it.

FLU SYMPTOMS
Influenza (also known as flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Flu is different from a cold. Flu usually comes on suddenly. People who are sick with flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:

Person of the Year - Karen Carlton ...

A pair of area entities serving northeast Iowa received awards for their efforts in promoting tourism at the 2019 Iowa Tourism Conference hosted by the Iowa Tourism Office and the Travel Federation of Iowa in Altoona February 6-8. Northeast Iowa Tourism Association and Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) each received awards in their respective rural divisions of promoting aspects of Iowa tourism.

Northeast Iowa Tourism Association, a seven-county regional marketing group with a mission of promoting tourism in northeast Iowa, was recognized with an award for Outstanding Social Media Execution (Rural). Northeast Iowa Tourism Association has members representing Allamakee, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek Counties.

Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) also received an award for Outstanding Niche Marketing Initiative (Rural) for its Northeast Iowa Trout Fishing Guides.

The Allamakee County Fair Board has announced that the country music group Parmalee will be its headlining act for the grandstand performances at the 2019 Allamakee County Fair this summer. Parmalee will take to the stage Friday evening, July 19 of this year’s fair, with the opening act and start time of that musical performance yet to be announced. Additional information about other grandstand attractions and events at the Allamakee County Fair will be released when available.

Formed in 2001, the band broke on to the major country music scene with its first number-one hit “Carolina” in 2013. Two more singles, “Close Your Eyes” and “Already Callin’ You Mine,” also made it into the top 10 of some Billboard charts.
 

Monday, February 18 at approximately 11:14 p.m., the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a single-vehicle accident at the intersection of Schweinfurth Road and Village Creek Road in rural Allamakee County, approximately eight miles northeast of Waukon.

According to an accident report from the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office, a car driven by Marty Roger Melcher, age 52, of rural Lansing was traveling westbound on Schweinfurth Road. The vehicle failed to stop at the intersection and traveled across Village Creek Road, entering the ditch and striking a tree. Melcher was transported to Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon where he was pronounced dead from injuries sustained in the accident.

The accident remains under investigation by the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office. Assisting at the scene was the Veterans Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service and the Waukon Fire Department.
 

The ninth-rated Waukon girls basketball team (18-3) has played its way to the Class 3A State Tournament for the first time since the 2009-2010 season, posting a 55-44 victory over 13th-rated Davenport Assumption Saturday, February 16 in a game played at Marion High School. The Indians will play their first State Tournament game Monday, February 25 as the number-five seed in a 6:45 p.m. quarterfinal match-up with fourth-seeded Crestwood (15-5) from their own Northeast Iowa Conference. The Class 3A seventh-rated Cadets are the defending Class 3A State Tournament Champions and are making their third consecutive State Tournament appearance and their fifth in the past six seasons. The two teams split in their pair of regular season match-ups earlier this season, the Indians winning at Crestwood, 42-31, in mid-December but the Cadets handing the Tribe a 56-53 home defeat in late January.

Members of the ninth-rated Waukon girls basketball team head toward their fans displaying the State Qualifier banner they were awarded after posting a 55-44 victory over 13th-rated Davenport Assumption in their Class 3A Region 4 championship game played Saturday, February 16 at Marion High School. The Lady Indians jumped to a 5-0 headstart and never looked back, leading the game from start to finish to qualify for the Class 3A State Tournament for the first time since the 2009-2010 season, when the basketball Tribe finished as the Class 3A State Tournament Runner-Up. The Lady Indians (18-3) will now begin their Class 3A State Tournament journey with a first-round game Monday, February 25 against an all too familiar foe, seventh-rated fellow Northeast Iowa Conference squad Crestwood (15-5), beginning at 6:45 p.m. inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Full coverage of Waukon’s Region 4 championship triumph appears on Pages 15A-16A inside this week’s issue of The Standard.

First public meeting of the Friends group scheduled for March 3 in Harpers Ferry

Those who use and appreciate Yellow River State Forest (YRSF) in rural Harpers Ferry now have a way to directly support this treasure in Allamakee County.

A group of approximately ten area residents started working together late last spring to form a Friends of Yellow River State Forest organization. Now, they are ready for anyone and everyone who is interested to become involved. The new Friends of YRSF organization is holding the first public meeting of the Friends group March 3 at 2 p.m. at the Ethel Robinson Meehan Community Center in Harpers Ferry.

Friend groups are made up of dedicated volunteers who raise funds, make park improvements and otherwise give support, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Across Iowa, these citizen groups work to improve, protect and preserve natural resources.

by Joe Moses

Senator Michael Breitbach of Iowa’s 28th District, Representative Anne Osmundson of Iowa House District 56 and Representative Michael Bergan of Iowa House District 55 hosted a legislative forum Saturday, February 16 at the Allamakee County Farm Bureau building in Waukon. The event was an opportunity for the general public to have discussion with State of Iowa legislators representing their communities.

The event began with a greeting from Allamakee County Farm Bureau President Rick Weymiller with brief comments from Bergan, Osmundson and Breitbach before questions and comments were heard from the public with approximately 15 members of the public in attendance.

The Waukon girls basketball team has played its way to the Class 3A State Tournament for the first time in nine seasons, earning that qualification with a 55-44 regional finals victory over 13th-rated Davenport Assumption Saturday, February 16 at Marion High School. The Indians will now play an all too familiar foe, fellow Northeast Iowa Conference squad Crestwood, to open their Class 3A State Tournament journey Monday, February 25 at 6:45 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
The Standard newspaper will be printing a Waukon girls basketball Spirit Banner to be available in the community later this week. Call 563-568-3431 to be a part of that banner cheering the Indians ON TO STATE!