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The New Albin Improvement League (NAIL) will be hosting an informational presentation Thursday, May 7 on Drug and Alcohol Trends in Allamakee County, with information presented by the Allamakee County Sheriff's Office and the Allamakee Substance Abuse Prevention Council. The presentation will take place at the New Albin Community Center, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Information regarding the growing problem of substance abuse in Allamakee County, statistics, warning signs and a question and answer session will all be part of the presentation. Everyone throughout the county is welcome to attend to learn more about this growing problem.
 

Allamakee County voters will be asked to approve a $5.1 million bond referendum Tuesday, May 5 to fund the construction of a new jail and public safety center (see floor plan below). An election to fill a vacancy on the County Agricultural Extension Council will also appear on that May 5 ballot. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. that Tuesday, with polling sites and a sample ballot having been published in last week's issue of The Standard.
The proposed facility, which will house a jail as well as offices for Emergency Management, E911 and the Sheriff's Department, has an estimated price tag of $5.6 million, which includes the demolition of the Makee Manor building to make room for the new facility at that location north of Waukon along State Highway 9. The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors has pledged $500,000 to the project from the County's cash reserves.

by Bob Beach

The 2015 Waukon High School Prom is scheduled for this Saturday, April 25 at the current Waukon Junior High School gymnasium. Doors will open at 7:15 p.m. to the public for the 8 p.m. Grand March, with seating available in the Waukon High School Auditorium. Following the Grand March, coronation of this year's Prom King and Queen is scheduled for 8:30 p.m., after which community members will be dismissed. The ensuing Prom dance will come to an end at 11:45 p.m., and the annual Post Prom event will be held from midnight to 4 a.m. at the Waukon High School gymnasium - a change in location from previous years. Pictured are the senior class Queen and King candidates for the 2015 Waukon High School Prom. Left to right - Front row: Queen candidates Samantha Swartz, Katelyn Kolsrud, Allie Schwartz and Jacqueline Welch. Back row: King candidates Landon Sivesind, Adam Benzing and Jacob Ronan. Not pictured: Brock Waters. Standard photo by Bob Beach.
 

The 2015 Kee High School Prom is scheduled for this Saturday, April 25. The annual banquet will be held at TJ Hunter’s Reception Hall, beginning at 5:30 p.m., with the Prom dance taking place from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. in the reception hall as well. The public is invited to attend the Grand March, which is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., with a free-will donation being taken at the door. Following the Grand March, this year’s Prom King and Queen will be crowned. Kee’s Post Prom festivities will follow the dance until 4 a.m. at the Lansing Middle School. Pictured above are the senior class King and Queen candidates for the 2015 Kee High School Prom. Left to right - Front row: Queen candidates Winter Manning, Morgan Davis, Megan Vinson and Malerie Mathis. Back row: King candidates Keegan Ahouse, Michael Harris, Sam Hisel and Tom Brennan. Photo courtesy of Kee High School Yearbook.
 

The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence has sponsored April as National Alcohol Awareness Month since 1987. This year's theme focuses on early education about alcohol and addiction. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug in the United States and despite laws against underage drinking, 12- to 20-year-olds drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States.

by Kelli Boylen
freelance writer

by Bob Beach

The Allamakee County Public Safety Center Committee will be conducting a series of town hall meeting sessions throughout this next week, April 20-24, in various communities throughout the county. Information regarding the proposed Public Safety Center Project and the May 5 bond referendum vote supporting the project will be presented to the public, and time will also be allotted for members of the general public to ask questions about the project.
All Allamakee County residents are encouraged to attend one of the five scheduled meetings listed below to learn more about the project and to ask any questions they may have about it:
• Monday, April 20 at 7 p.m. - Northeast Iowa YMCA Community Room, 313 West Post Street in Postville;
• Tuesday, April 21 at 7 p.m. - Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank Community Room, 201 West Main Street in Waukon;
• Wednesday, April 22 at 7 p.m. - Kee High School, 569 Center Street in Lansing;

Following the collection of more than 100 deer as part of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) surveillance effort looking for chronic wasting disease (CWD) near Harpers Ferry in late February and early March, the DNR has now scheduled a public meeting to discuss the results of that harvest and testing effort, as well as to solicit input and begin planning for continued surveillance this summer and fall. The DNR has scheduled that public meeting for Thursday, April 16 in Harpers Ferry's Ethel Robinson Meehan Community Center, located at 238 North Fourth Street, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Tissue samples from 85 of the adult deer collected during that intensified late winter harvest were sent to the National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames for testing and all 85 samples came back as not detected. All collectors have been notified of those results.