Top Stories

by B.J. Tomlinson

by Bob Beach

Firefighters from the Waukon Area Fire Protection District were called to battle a house fire Thursday, January 15 at 370 Countryside Drive, rural Waukon, the home of the John Opfer family. The call was received at 11:05 a.m., with reports of the house being fully engulfed from basement to roof a short time later. Tanker support from the Postville Fire Department was also called upon to ensure a consistent water supply to battle the blaze. Firefighters were on scene for approximately three hours. No injuries were reported, but the contents of the home were badly damaged and the home suffered considerable smoke and fire damage. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, although early indications point to the origin of the fire being electrical in nature.

The Waukon High School cheerleading squad hosted a Youth Cheerleading Day Friday, January 2. Area elementary students took part in a day-long cheerleading camp and then performed that same evening during halftime of the Waukon girls and boys basketball games against Clayton Ridge, performing group cheers, stunts and some dynamic flips, some of which are pictured above. View and find out how to purchase these photos and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link.

by Bob Beach

The Allamakee County Conservation Board (ACCB) will host an informational meeting about the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center planned for the Columbus Bridge property Thursday, January 15 from 5:30-7:30  p.m. at the Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank Community Center in Lansing, located at 391 Main Street.
Staff from Fehr Graham Engineering will be present to discuss site planning, Martin Gardner Architecture will present on the building design, and Split Rock Studios will discuss interpretive displays proposals. The public is encouraged to attend.

by Kelli Boylen
freelance writer

This uniformly-round ice formation was found floating in Bear Creek in Allamakee County Monday, January 5 by Kenneth Larson of Dorchester. The floating ice mass was estimated at approximately 20 feet in diameter and was rotating slowly in place as the current of the creek flowed by. Online research indicates that ice circles, such as the one pictured above, are formed when surface ice gathers in the center of a body of water rather than the edges. A slow moving stream current can create a slow turning eddy, or swirling current, which rotates the ice mass and grinds down its edges against the surrounding ice to form the uniformly-round ice circle. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Larson.
 

Veterans Memorial Hospital physicians and staff announce that the First Baby of the Year Contest for 2015 was won by twins, Allie Marie and Jaxson Thomas Roger, born Friday, January 2. They are the children of Michelle Scott and Mitchel Rogers. Michelle is originally from Postville, but she and Mitchel currently reside in Cascade. Michelle chose to still deliver her twins at Veterans Memorial Hospital with Dr. Benjamin Nesseim, just as she did with her youngest child, Kayden.
Allie Marie was born at 7:59 p.m. and weighed three pounds, four ounces and measured 16 inches long, and Jaxson Thomas was born at 8:00 p.m. weighing three pounds, 14 ounces and measured 17.5 inches long. Twins Allie and Jaxson join their big sister, Cheyanne, and their big brother, Kayden, at home. Grandparents of the newborn twins are Tonya and Ricky Delatorre of Postville and John and Annette Rogers of Cascade.

The items below summarize the top news stories that appeared in The Standard during the last six months of 2014.

July
During its regular meeting Tuesday, July 1, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick, who introduced McKenzie Sebastian of Postville and asked for the Board's approval to appoint her as a Deputy Sheriff. The Board unanimously approved the appointment and Mellick noted that Sebastian is the first female Deputy Sheriff in Allamakee County.