Top Stories

Veterans Memorial Hospital physicians and staff announce that the First Baby of the Year born at the hospital for 2026 is Kolter Joel Lubben, son of Karson and Nevaeh Lubben of Waukon. Kolter was born January 1, 2026, at 4:40 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20-1/2 inches long at the time of his birth. Dr. Dave Schwartz was the provider assisting with the delivery.

Grandparents are Judd and Shelly Lubben, Danny Bushau, Chasity Bushau, and Addie and Donnie Copeland. Great-grandparents are Rose Schaffer, Francis Lubben, Ray and Cathy Peterson, Randy and Karen Bushau, and Dave and Christine Enyart. Gordon and Karen Anderson are great-great-grandparents.

The items below summarize the top news stories that appeared in The Standard during the first six months of 2025, January-June.

JANUARY
A decorated high school and college athlete, a successful Division I college softball coach, an author and a mentor, Waukon native Holly Hesse has blazed a trail of achievement since her days of living within the hills and valleys of Waukon and Allamakee County, with that trail leading to a storied career of more than three decades as head coach of the Missouri State University softball program. With a laser-like focus on goals and career targets that lofted her to new heights both playing and coaching, Hesse has now retired this past year knowing she will leave at the top of her game - a game that she’s loved for so long and shared with so many others.

Freezing temperatures delay final connections a bit but implosion of Black Hawk Bridge goes as planned

The physical and iconic connection between Iowa and Wisconsin that had spanned the Mississippi River at Lansing for the last 94 years was dropped into those very same waters in a matter of seconds Friday morning, December 19, as the demolition of the Black Hawk Bridge that was deemed necessary to safely complete construction of its replacement took place on a bright, sunny day that was contrary in appearance to what most who watched were feeling internally as they watched the historic structure first be surrounded by black plumes of smoke before descending into the river below, as depicted in the photos surrounding this article.

as “told to” Shirley Darling, Lansing

The Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation (DOT) have moved the planned implosion for the Mississippi River Bridge at Lansing project to this Friday, December 19, one day later than the originally scheduled date announced more than a week ago. The implosion and removal of the main middle section of the existing bridge has been deemed necessary to allow construction of the new bridge to proceed safely, with a planned opening of the new bridge in 2027.

Iowa DOT District Engineer Clayton Burke, who is the project manager for the Mississippi River bridge project, said the one-day delay had to be implemented due to schedule coordination conflicts between all stakeholders involved. Other than the one-day delay, he said all other aspects of the implosion demolition are scheduled to take place as they were originally planned.

The Allamakee County Fair Board has announced this year’s grandstand musical entertainment for the 2026 Allamakee County Fair scheduled for July 15-19. Multi-Platinum country music recording artist Tracy Byrd will headline this year’s musical event scheduled for Friday, July 17, with Iowa-based Tyler Richton and the High Bank Boys performing as the opening act to kick off that night of entertainment.

Tracy Byrd became a household name on the country music scene in 1993 when his third single, called “Holdin’ Heaven”, off of his self-titled debut album, hit #1 on the Billboard Country Charts. That debut album went on to be certified Gold, an award signifying sales in excess of 500,000 copies.

The Iowa and Wisconsin Departments of Transportation (DOT) will take the next step in the Mississippi River bridge project at Lansing with a planned implosion and removal of the main section of the existing Black Hawk Bridge Thursday, December 18. The demolition was deemed necessary to allow construction of the new crossing to proceed safely after engineers detected movement in the Black Hawk Bridge structure beyond safety allowances while completing work on the adjacent new bridge. The new bridge has a planned opening date in 2027.

The Allamakee Ecumenical Choir will present its 49th Annual Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols this Sunday, December 14 at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon. This long-standing community tradition - uniting churches, clergy, musicians, and families across northeast Iowa - continues to be one of the region’s most cherished Christmas events.

This year’s service is directed by James H. Bieber, with assistance from his daughter, Sarah J. Sweeney, and will once again feature a blend of scripture, candlelight, and sacred choral and handbell music. As attendees gather in the warm glow of the church sanctuary, they will experience the timeless telling of the Christmas story through readings offered by clergy from multiple denominations, interwoven with congregational carols accompanied by organ.

The annual Lighted Holiday Parade held in Waukon Saturday evening, December 6 brightened up the beginning of the holiday season in more ways than one as approximately 30 entries made their way through the city streets, starting down Allamakee Street from the Allamakee County Fairgrounds to Main Street and then traveling up West Main Street to the First Presbyterian Church. Temperatures hovering in the low 20s and the threat of a Winter Weather Advisory snowstorm didn’t influence the large crowd into “ducking out” on flocking to the parade route or prevent numerous individuals from walking the route or riding comfortably on this year’s entries, as evident in the photo above taken at the stoplight intersection by Standard Assistant Editor Joe Moses. A video of the complete parade can be found on The Standard’s Facebook page at The Standard Newspaper, Waukon.
 

New ownership business model, end of long-term lease factor into transition decision

For the first time since the first newspaper was established in Waukon nearly 170 years ago, there will not be an actual physical newspaper office location for the community publication as of January 1, 2026. As of that New Year date, employees of The Standard newspaper will be transitioned to working remotely from home and the long-standing newspaper office location at 15 First Street NW in Waukon will no longer be open for newspaper business operations.