Top Stories

General public invited to "fireside chat" with Dr. Jay Alberts this Friday on Parkinson's Disease

by Julie Berg-Raymond

According to RAGBRAI®’s official website (ragbrai.com), more than 326,650 people have participated in at least some part of the 44 rides since the event began, in 1973.

Since 2003, about 50 of those people have participated each year as part of a group led by Sanborn native Dr. Jay Alberts, a researcher at the Cleveland Clinic - ranked as one of the top hospitals in America by U.S. News & World Report (2015), located in Cleveland, OH.
According to Dr. Alberts, “One unique aspect of our group is that we typically have seven to 12 Parkinson’s disease patients riding their own bike or on tandem throughout the week (of RAGBRAI).”

Wednesday evening, July 19, a storm producing high winds and heavy rain blew through the tri-state area, leaving a path of damage in its wake. According to the National Weather Service, the storm ultimately produced a confirmed F-1 tornado that caused severe damage in the Clayton County town of McGregor and ultimately produced wind gusts well in excess of 70 mph throughout the region, including in Allamakee County, that resulted in damage such as that pictured below.

Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker reports that sirens were blown in Waukon due to the high wind gusts, and he says the southern half of the county experienced the worst wind damage, noting that the Rossville area appeared to be the hardest hit. The storm ultimately resulted in Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds making a disaster declaration for the four northeast Iowa counties of Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette and Winneshiek.

With the ever present potential for bad weather or some other emergency happening; and given that as I am writing this we are just recovering from a very bad windstorm and currently waiting for some more potential bad weather, it seemed fitting to end my three-part series on RAGBRAI safety with some information on the emergency shelter plan that has been developed. This plan is especially important given that we are expecting, at a minimum, some 10,000 riders, plus thousands of support staff and unknown numbers of spectators and party-goers; and they basically have nowhere to go in the event of an emergency.

The annual Allamakee County Fair Queen Pageant was held Tuesday, July 18 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon, kicking off the 164th Allamakee County Fair. The four area young ladies pictured in the accompanying photo were all vying for this year's Fair Queen crown, which was bestowed upon Danielle Stock (second from right in photo), daughter of Mark and Stacy Stock of Waukon. Carley Sweeney (far right), daughter of Jeff and Penny Sweeney of Waukon, was named the Allamakee County Fair Princess. All four young ladies will serve as the Allamakee County Fair Royalty Team throughout this year's fair. Pictured, left to right, are MaKayla Manning, Kasinda McKee, Danielle Stock and Carley Sweeney. Stock will now advance on to represent Allamakee County in the 2017 Iowa State Fair Queen competition to be held in August in Des Moines. Photo courtesy of Krystal Johnson.

Downloadable pdf version of the Waukon RAGBRAI Map and road closure article is available below:

Rising country music star Easton Corbin to headline Friday's grandstand with Decorah native's Cory Farley Band opening

This week, July 19-23,  the 164th Allamakee County Fair will be held for all to enjoy at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon. A wide variety of entertainment is in place to headline this year’s fair at the grandstand, along with a great deal of other activities for everyone to enjoy each and every day throughout the five-day event.

Grandstand To Feature Star Power And Horse Power

Kicking off this year’s grandstand entertainment line-up Wednesday, July 19 at 7 p.m. will be a Truck and Tractor Pull featuring local trucks and tractors as well as some powered-up regional competitors in a variety of high-revving classes.

Area therapists incorporate anticipation of annual bike ride arriving in late July into motivation for local health and wellness programs

by Julie Berg-Raymond

RAGBRAI® won’t be rolling through Allamakee County until late July; but for residents at three area nursing homes and assisted living facilities, the ride has been going on since early June.

The brainchild of physical therapy assistant Jessica Wilkins, “Residents Ride RAGBRAI” is a therapy program that mimics the official RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) route and the accumulation of miles toward completion of the ride. Physical therapists at Good Samaritan Society and Northgate Care Center in Waukon, and at Thornton Manor in Lansing, are working with residents at all three facilities on this program.

As one could appreciate, with 10,000-plus bike riders moving across the state during RAGBRAI® XLV, there is a large support system that also moves along with this group in the form of motor vehicles. These support vehicles follow the bike ride across the state and that supporting crew is made up of approximately 1,500 vehicles of all types who are transporting the riders' tents, personal items and other articles. These vehicles are normally registered with Des Moines RAGBRAI and issued vehicle passes and move from overnight town to overnight town during the ride.

These support vehicles are provided an official route separate of the bike riders and are directed to remain off the bicycle route and not to go into any pass-through towns.  In addition, these roads are marked to assist the drivers as they travel.

The Kee softball team (35-2) has earned the top seed in this year’s Class 1A State Tournament field and will begin defense of its Class 1A State Tournament championship won last year Monday, July 17 against eighth-seeded Montezuma (19-12) on Buena Vista University Diamond at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge, beginning at 11 a.m. The winner of that match-up will move on to a Thursday, July 20 semifinals match-up at 7 p.m. against the winner of fourth-seeded Westwood (29-10) and fifth-seeded Colfax-Mingo (25-11). The losing teams in those two first-round match-ups will move to a consolation semifinal Tuesday, July 18 at 9 a.m.

Coronation event kicks off 164th Allamakee County Fair Tuesday, July 18

Four Allamakee County young ladies are vying for the title of 2017 Allamakee County Fair Queen. Those four candidates for this year's crown include MaKayla Manning, Kasinda McKee, Danielle Stock and Carley Sweeney.

The crown of Allamakee County Fair Queen and all the honors and responsibilities that accompany it will be bestowed upon one of those four candidates Tuesday evening, July 18 during the Allamakee County Fair Queen Coronation being held at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon to help kick off the 164th Allamakee County Fair.