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A review hearing scheduled for Monday, July 1 in Allamakee County District Court for a third attempt at setting a third trial date in the arson case against Mindy Jo Jones ended up not being formally needed, as legal counsel on each side of the case agreed to a trial date through phone conversations prior to Monday’s scheduled hearing time. That trial date has now been scheduled for Wednesday, February 26, 2025 with a pretrial conference having also been set for Monday, February 10, 2025, according to court documents.

Saturday evening, June 22 at 6:03 p.m., the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Dispatch Center received a report of a mud slide at 2204 State Highway 26, just north of Lansing. A large amount of rocks, mud and tree debris (pictured in the photo above) had come down the hillside due to heavy rain in the area reported at approximately four inches in less than an hour. In the path of the land slide, a large liquid propane (LP) tank was overturned.

June is PTSD Awareness Month

The Allamakee County Veterans Affairs Office and the Allamakee County Veterans Museum are sponsoring a PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Awareness Walk this Saturday, June 29 beginning at 9 a.m. from the Freedom Rock in the Waukon City Park to the Allamakee County Courthouse front lawn. There will be an optional extra loop around the park prior to the main walk for those who want to walk longer.

Following the walk, informative presentations will be provided by Veterans Administration PTSD Specialists and others at a tent on the Allamakee Courthouse lawn,  Videos on PTSD symptoms and treatment will be available at the Veterans Museum, located at 105 Allamakee Street, across the street from the courthouse. Beverages, refreshments, and restrooms will also be available in the Veterans Museum. This event is part of the Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD program celebrating June as PTSD Awareness Month.

Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC) is conducting an update to the Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) for the five-county region consisting of Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Howard, and Winneshiek Counties in northeast Iowa. The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that the region’s LRTP be updated every five years. The current plan was adopted by the Upper Explorerland Transportation Policy Board in September of 2019.

The LRTP has a 20-year planning horizon and is intended to guide transportation investments in the five-county region in support of a transportation system that is safe for all transportation system users, and that facilitates the efficient movement of people and goods. The plan includes a description of the region’s existing conditions; identifies current transportation challenges; anticipates potential future needs; and explores various strategies for addressing those challenges and needs.

Due to high water levels on the Mississippi River, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is postponing the intermittent short-term closures planned for the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing until water levels are safe to resume work on construction of the new bridge. Currently, the DOT does not have an estimation of when work will resume but will continue to provide updates when the river returns to a level that will allow the construction of a new pier and driving the pier foundation for the new bridge that will replace the current bridge.

The severe thunderstorm that rolled through Allamakee County Wednesday afternoon, June 12 left a path of destruction with its high winds, the worst impact of which was felt throughout the southern one-third of the county, just north of Postville and just south of State Highway 76, according to reports. A vast majority of those reports indicate the damage suffered was mainly to trees and, as a result, some power lines that fell victim to those trees, in what local officials describe as a “unique event.”

Those who drive on the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing will need to be aware that the upcoming construction work that was scheduled to affect their travels starting the week of Monday, June 17 has now been delayed a week due to high water and wet weather, and is now scheduled to begin next week, Monday, June 24. The photo at right, provided courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation, shows the extent of the high water impact on the construction project and the reason for the delay.

An update provided last week by the Iowa Department of Transportation in regard to the project delay stated the following: ”Sometimes Mother Nature wins! Flooding at the Mississippi River Bridge at Lansing construction site is delaying the scheduled short-term bridge closures. The contractor has pulled off the project and the closures will not start next week (June 17) as planned. We are hoping they will start June 24 but will have to see what the river does.”

The June 4 Primary Election offered Allamakee County voters contested races between declared candidates in just two ballot items, both on the Republican ballot. Within those contested races, voters overwhelmingly declared they don’t see a need for change within the office of the county’s top law enforcement agency at this point in time, while they also followed the overall trend in selecting a new district representative to be their voice within the state level of government.

by Sharon Drahn, Contributing Writer

Brandon Kasemeier, the 40-year-old man from Waukon charged in the January 21 death of his estranged wife, Jami Kasemeier, appeared in Allamakee County District Court Monday morning, June 10 for a dual purpose hearing in the case.

Those interested in serving on the VMH Board of Trustees must file by August 28

Allamakee County voters will have a unique opportunity in the coming November 5, 2024 General Election.

After voter approval in November 2022, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) was transferred from City of Waukon ownership to ownership by Allamakee County. Per Iowa Code 347, a new board of trustees is required to be voted in and all trustee seats are up for election. The VMH Board of Trustees consists of seven members. Membership is open to any eligible resident of Allamakee County.