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by Joe Moses

Waukon native Ben Garrett with Tailwind Capital Partners, LLC, Waukon City Manager Gary Boden and Executive Director Val Reinke of Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) recently provided an update to The Standard relating to the planned twin home/duplex project at what is locally known as the former “Bresnahan Property” in northwest Waukon.

The Tuesday, November 5 General Election is less than a week away, and voters in Allamakee County will have a full ballot of decisions to make, from the highest public office in the nation to local volunteers seeking to guide their respective entities and offices at the county level of governance. All 10 Allamakee County polling locations for the November 5 General Election Day will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. that Tuesday, with in-person absentee voting for this year’s General Election continuing each weekday  from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. through Monday, November 4 in the Auditor’s Office at the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon. The Auditor’s Office will also be open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. this Saturday, November 2 for in-person absentee voting.

Election Essentials is a weekly series of articles offering a variety of information regarding elections in Iowa and Allamakee County prior to this year’s November 5 General Election. The information is being provided courtesy of Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

It has been more than eight years in the making; and it involved a team effort by city officials, designers, engineers, construction groups, and the developers of a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment technology which is being implemented for the first time in a municipality in the state of Iowa.

Paul Kesterton is a director at OneWater Group, Ltd., the Hong Kong-based company that developed the wastewater treatment technology called Algaewheel®; he flew in from London for the grand opening of that new innovative New Albin wastewater treatment facility celebrated Thursday, October 17.

With this new facility, Kesterton said, “(New Albin) is on the vanguard.”

According to people who saw this project come to fruition, it would not have been possible without the efforts - and sheer perseverance - of New Albin City Council member George Blair, widely considered the “guiding force” behind the project.

Election Essentials is a weekly series of articles offering a variety of information regarding elections in Iowa and Allamakee County prior to this year’s November 5 General Election. The information is being provided courtesy of Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer.

Last week’s article explained steps taken by all counties in the state of Iowa during both pre-election preparation and testing and the Election Day process to ensure an accurate, safe and secure election. This week’s article will explain the process after the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Night, how results are verified when the Auditor reports to the Iowa Secretary of State and the required Post-Election Audit.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE POLLS CLOSE AT 8:00 P.M.?
If there is a line at 8:00 p.m. at any polling place, any voter in line is allowed to check in and vote. Anyone arriving after 8:00 p.m. cannot be allowed to vote.

With the November 5 General Election just over a couple weeks away and absentee voting getting underway Wednesday, October 16 for that election, The Standard newspaper issued questionnaires to candidates in the contested races on this year’s General Election ballot where there are more candidates than seats being pursued, in an effort to further inform voters before they cast their ballot. The questions asked, and the replies from each candidate, are printed throughout this week’s edition of The Standard, beginning on this week’s Front Page and also initially featured on Pages 15 and 16.

The jury trial date for the arson case involving Mindy Jo Jones was recently changed for a third and fourth time since the original trial date in the case was first set for just over one year ago. According to court documents filed in Allamakee County District Court by both legal representative sides of the case, those third and fourth changes came within just the past several weeks, first moving that trial date up but then pushing the date back a bit further - ultimately settling on a Tuesday, November 12 date for this year.

Waukon High School 1971 graduate Dr. Michael Osterholm, one of the world’s leading infectious disease epidemiologists, with expertise in pandemic preparedness, disease outbreak investigations and public health practice, will have an endowed chair in his name at the University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Public Health (SPH), where he has served on the faculty for the past 48 years. The Michael T. Osterholm Endowed Chair in Infectious Disease Research and Policy was made possible with generous funding from philanthropist Christy Walton and the Alumbra Innovations Foundation, as well as more than 1,000 individual donors who have supported the chair’s endowment.

Election Essentials is a weekly series of articles offering a variety of information regarding elections in Iowa and Allamakee County prior to this year’s November 5 General Election. The information is being provided courtesy of Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer.

With the General Election in less than one month, Tuesday, November 5, 2024, voters may be considering whether they will vote at the polls, or vote absentee, prior to Election Day. There are two options for voting absentee in Iowa: In person at the auditor’s office, or by mail. In Iowa the term “absentee” refers to voting prior to Election Day, regardless of the method.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

On a recent afternoon in late September, Sarah and Steve Murray, of Lansing, sat down and talked about Sarah’s recent experience with spinal cord injury (SCI), and about her ongoing recovery and rehabilitation - being undertaken with the help of professionals in the field, and with the loving support of family, friends and the wider community.

The conversation took place at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon, where Sarah would soon bring to completion more than six weeks of treatment for pressure wounds - a fairly common complication among persons with SCI (it is variously estimated that between 50 and 80 percent of persons with SCI develop a pressure wound at least once in their lives). The conversation took place outside; it was a beautiful day, and Sarah and Steve wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine.