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Byrnes, Schellhammer returned to Supervisors seats by Allamakee County voters, Egan edged by Osmundson in Iowa House District 56

by Lissa Blake

Since serving in Vietnam 50 years ago, U.S. Army Veteran John Curtin has continued to honor his country and his service in the military by participating in many area events.

However, this Saturday, November 10, Curtin, himself, will be honored for his military service during one of his favorite pastimes, an Iowa Hawkeye football game.

Curtin, of rural Waukon, was nominated by his family this past summer to be a “Hawkeye Hero” for a day. During the Iowa vs. Northwestern Military Appreciation Day football game this Saturday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Curtin will be recognized during a media time-out in the first quarter of the game, where a brief piece of his military story will be told and some photos will also be shared on the stadium’s big video screen. Further details of Curtin’s honoring taking place this Saturday appear elsewhere with this story in a colored box.

by Lissa Blake

When Waukon’s Helen Stegen reflects upon the gifts she received in life, she treasures the fact she had her very own war hero in her uncle, Harris Quanrud.

“He was my hero … and still is,” said Stegen, now 81 years old.

Stegen was born Helen Forde in 1937. Her mother, Harriet Quanrud, was a sister to Harris Quanrud, who was born August 4, 1915.

“I was just three years old when Harris went into the Army, in April of 1941,” remembered Helen.

Although she was young, she said she can vividly remember her mother and aunt Barbara sitting on top of a heater, crying. “And I cried too, because they were crying. I had never seen my mom cry before,” said Helen.

Helen remembered the Quanrud family having a schedule for corresponding with Harris when he was overseas. “Each of his three sisters and his mom had a specific day of the week they would write to him. My brother, Jim, and I wrote to him as well,” she said.

The Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources recently announced that 58 Iowa communities have received a total of more than $171 million in low-interest loans through the State Revolving Fund to assist in advancing water quality projects. State Revolving Fund Construction Loans are a low-cost construction financing option available for Iowa cities and municipalities for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Planning & Design Loans are zero percent loans that assist with the first-phase of project expenses.

Tuesday, October 30 at 9:23 p.m., the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a farming accident that had occurred in a farm field in northern Allamakee County near the town of Bee, MN, located northwest of Dorchester near the Iowa-Minnesota border. Houston County, MN Sheriff’s Dispatch reported it had received a 911 call reporting that an individual had been run over by a combine when it backed up to unload corn into a wagon.
Gerald Oren Myhre, age 64, of Caledonia, MN was identified as the victim, and he was pronounced deceased at the scene as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. The incident remains under investigation by the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office. Assisting at the scene was the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, Spring Grove, MN Fire Department, Spring Grove, MN Ambulance Service, Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office, Gundersen Air Ambulance and Veterans Memorial Hospital Ambulance.

Voters are scheduled to trek to the polls Tuesday, November 6 to cast their selections for the 2018 General Election. A sample ballot of the respective races within each level of government in this year’s election was published on Page 6B in the October 24 issue of this newspaper.
A listing of polling sites for all 11 of Allamakee County’s voting precincts was also printed on Page 6B in that October 24 issue of The Standard. Election polls will be open from 7 a.m.-9 p.m. November 6.

The Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) Board of Directors announced Growing Bear Daycare and Preschool, Inc as the 2018 Cloy Kuhse Positive Impact Award winner at the ACED Annual Meeting hosted in Waukon Thursday, October 18. This annual award was created to highlight and recognize a business that is making a positive impact in Allamakee County, as well as to honor the memory of Cloy Kuhse and his vision. Growing Bear now joins the list of annual award recipients including New Albin Savings Bank, Waukon Dental, Mike Ferring Construction of Waukon, TASC of Waukon, Wuennecke’s Meat Market of New Albin, and Norplex-Micarta of Postville. Allamakee County Economic Development Executive Director Val Reinke shared with the audience in attendance, “Quality of Place is the drawing card to recruiting talent and attracting companies. Quality of Place includes housing, childcare and transportation. Quality childcare means happy kids, parents and employers.

by David M. Johnson

There are individuals who choose career paths, some not so well traveled and some paths that involve multiple journeys. Then there are individuals who venture down the road that is above and beyond what was imagined when the journey began.
Brian Dougherty was a local farm kid, raised by John and Rita Dougherty of rural Waukon, who wanted to be a farmer when he grew up. Graduating from Waukon High School in 1991, Dougherty pursued an Associate’s Degree in Farm Management from Ellsworth Community College before joining his brother, Scott, to farm the family farm.

The Village Creek public boat ramp, located just south of Lansing, has recently re-opened with new improvements. The ramp was closed for construction July 5 through the first week of October. Improvements (some of which are pictured in the surrounding photos) include grading and paving the roadway and boat ramp parking, installing a vault restroom, building sidewalks and adding ramp extensions to improve ramp access during low water conditions. The improvements were a joint project between Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fisheries and State Parks Bureaus and the Marine Fuel Tax program. The area is managed through an agreement with Allamakee County Conservation. Jim Janett, Allamakee County Conservation Director, said, “New docks will be arriving in Spring 2019, other possible improvements may include a kayak launching dock and handicapped boat access improvements.

by Lissa Blake

What’s happened at Effigy Mounds over the past 28 years might sound more like the plot of a detective novel than the everyday operations of a National Monument. But after almost 30 years, guardians of the sacred place are in the process of righting a serious wrong.

According to David Barland-Liles, special agent for the National Park Service (NPS) and lead ranger at Effigy Mounds, the skeletal remains of 41 indigenous people, which were missing for 21 years, are being returned to their respective tribes for repatriation.

THE MISSING BONES
The story of the missing bones and how they were recovered involves many individuals who have worked at Effigy Mounds over the past three decades. Barland-Liles said he was working as a special agent for the NPS in St. Louis, MO in 2011 when the matter first came to his attention.