Community News

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, November 30 to address a full agenda of items including consideration of the 2020 Allamakee County Comprehensive Plan, the appointment of an interim Planning and Zoning Administrator and discussion of the cropland portion of the County Farm lease for years 2021 to 2023.

A project involving the installation of a new main waterline (as depicted in the two surrounding photos) began just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday and, depending upon the weather, is expected to be completed by the end of this current first week of December, according to Waukon City Manager Gary Boden. The project is taking place between Second Avenue NW and First Avenue NW and will service the newly renovated Waukon Police Station (the front of which is pictured at far left in the photo below) as well as a future building project that will take place in the now vacant lot owned by the City of Waukon at 105 First Street NW (just to the south of the shed pictured at far right in the photo below). The project is being funded by the City of Waukon through tax increment financing (TIF). Standard photos by Joe Moses.
 

Editor’s Note: Surrounding photos were also taken the night of the October 25 Awards Program but a technical matter prevented them from being fully uploaded and included with other Award Program photos submitted and previously published in the November 11 edition of The Standard.
 

Although the new confirmed COVID-19 case weekly count for the past week decreased for the first time in a month, that new case count for the past week’s timeframe of Tuesday, November 17 through Monday, November 23 still remained at 95 cases, by far the second highest weekly total and ranking only below last week’s total of 108 cases. Similar to last week’s highest-ever single-week case count, six of the past seven days reported were in the double-digit area for number of new cases.

The Heartland Barbershop and Gospel Singers, the Waukon area’s newest vocal ensemble, has been heard singing sacred choral selections regularly Sunday mornings on KNEI Radio 103.5 FM at 8:30 a.m. opening the worship services at St. John’s Lutheran Church with their four-part harmony singing “Turn Your Radio On.” The St. John’s Sunday Services can now also be seen and heard on Facebook searching St. John’s Lutheran Church, Waukon, Iowa. The men have been singing at various functions since last spring and have accumulated an extensive vocal repertoire of music from the “Star Spangled Banner” to “The Lord’s Prayer.” Their music has been heard on the radio as far away as the Virgin Islands. They will be the featured performing vocal ensemble for the Allamakee Ecumenical Choir Concert scheduled for Sunday, December 13 at 7 p.m. Further details concerning the concert will be made available soon in a future publication.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

The world has perhaps never needed entrepreneurs more than it does right now.

With the entire planet struggling to understand and work through the effects of a global pandemic, it may well be entrepreneurs among us - the innovators and risk-takers who Jonathan Ortmans, founder and president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), calls “a force for good” - who will inspire us to keep going, keep trying, and keep alive what Ortmans believes is our common “curiosity and enthusiasm about making the world a better place” (genglobal.org).

Allamakee County continued to follow the nationwide trend of ever-increasing cases of COVID-19 this past week. For the fourth consecutive week, a new record high number of cases were reported for the county with 108 total cases from Tuesday, November 10 through Monday, November 16, reports the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Nearly half of this past week’s total case count was reported in two separate days, where a new single-day high number of 25 cases were reported both Tuesday, November 10 and again Saturday, November 14. Out of the now 35 weeks that COVID-19 cases have been reported since mid-March of this year, 27 of those weeks have not even reached a 25-case total for an entire week, much less in a single day.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, November 16 to address an agenda of items including a Public Hearing relating to the CDBG Housing Grant, discussion of group health insurance options for City employees and updates from various City departments.

With no Public Comment, the council moved into Department Reports with Park, Recreation and Wellness Director Jeremy Strub providing an update relating to the Waukon Wellness Center. Strub advised that the Center’s heating system is operating well following recent maintenance and that membership at the Wellness Center has increased as people are getting back into fall and winter routines. Strub also discussed the recent COVID-19 related proclamation by Governor Kim Reynolds which has temporarily banned group exercise until December 10, and will also impact Adult Volleyball and Youth Basketball which are now also postponed until December 10.

The ratification of the 19th Amendment was a landmark moment in American history that dramatically changed the electorate when it granted women in the United States the right to vote in elections. The “Rightfully Hers” display (pictured at left) at Robey Memorial Library in Waukon is available for public viewing throughout the month of November. This display is part of a grant from the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission and the American Library Association. The grant also included books added to the library’s collection. The National Archives, in partnership with the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC), provided an additional 2,500 “Rightfully Hers” pop-up displays (such as the one pictured at left) to cultural institutions nationwide in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which acknowledged women’s right to vote in the United States. Submitted photo.
 

R.W. Pladsen, Inc. in Waukon recently completed its Fill-A-Truck promotion held throughout the month of October to benefit the Allamakee County Relief Office in its efforts to help those less fortunate. Individuals could donate a non-perishable food item to help “fill a truck” and also have their name entered into a weekly Friday drawing during the month of October for prizes that included gift certificates, t-shirts and other items donated through the generosity of Allamakee County businesses much appreciated by R.W. Pladsen, Inc. and all those benefiting from the promotion. Pictured above at the presentation of the donated food items to the Allamakee County Relief Office are, left to right, R.W. Pladsen, Inc. staff members Greg Halverson, Karina Opperman, Carli Quandahl, Bob Kubitz and Steve Pladsen standing with Allamakee County Relief Office Director Rebecca Hawes.