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A variety of Memorial Day activities are being planned for the upcoming holiday weekend, including all the traditional Memorial Day observances this year scheduled for Monday, May 27 in all of the area communities within Allamakee County. Those traditions of parades, full cemetery programs and wreath laying are being planned in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in serving their country, with details of some of those celebrations being outlined below on this page in their respective highlighted boxes.

Elections 101 is a weekly series of articles offering a variety of information regarding elections in Iowa and Allamakee County prior to this year’s June 4 Primary Election. The information is being provided courtesy of Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer.

Election security and the integrity of elections has been scrutinized more in recent years. In article #5 in a series of six related to the election process, Auditor Denise Beyer explains some of the measures 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. The final article next week will explain the process for reporting to the Iowa Secretary of State on Election Night and the required Post-Election Audit.

Tuesday, June 4 will be the Primary Election to determine which candidates will be representing their respective political parties in the 2024 General Election in November. An election notice listing the respective races in each of the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties will be published in an upcoming edition of this newspaper, listing races at the Federal, State and County levels of government for voters to make their selections in, along with additional ballot and election information.

In-person absentee voting for this year’s Primary Election begins May 15 and lasts through June 3 in the Auditor’s Office at the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday each week. The Auditor’s Office will also be open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, June 1 for in-person absentee voting.

Elections 101 is a weekly series of articles offering a variety of information regarding elections in Iowa and Allamakee County prior to this year’s June 4 Primary Election. The information is being provided courtesy of Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer.

Any voter who has ever voted absentee may have wondered “what do they do with my absentee ballot?” or “when will my ballot be counted?”
In article #4 in this “Election 101” series of six articles related to the election process, Allamakee County Auditor Denise Beyer explains returning absentee ballots, how absentee ballots are stored and secured, and the opening and counting process followed by the Absentee and Special Voter Precinct Board on Election Day.

The annual “Family Wellness Fair” will be held this Wednesday, May 8 from 3:30-6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) and Clinic in Waukon. The “Family Wellness Fair” is a community-wide event offering families and individuals of all ages a night of entertainment and education about local resources available to them, plus many free health testing opportunities. This family event is free and open to all members of the community of any age.

This year all visitors are welcome to enter the fair through the Veterans Memorial Hospital main entrance, the hospital clinic entrance or the Gundersen Clinic entrance, allowing for more parking options.

Elections 101 is a weekly series of articles offering a variety of information regarding elections in Iowa and Allamakee County prior to this year’s June 4 Primary Election. The information is being provided courtesy of Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer.

In this third of six articles leading up to the Primary election, you will learn about the absentee voting process. With the Primary Election in less than one month, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, voters may be considering whether they will vote at the polls, or take advantage of the opportunity to vote prior to Election Day, either in person at the auditor’s office, or by requesting a ballot by mail.

In Iowa, both of these methods of voting prior to Election Day are called Absentee Voting. Many other states have different terminology for voting prior to Election Day, but if you live in Iowa and hear the term “absentee”, it refers to voting prior to Election Day, regardless of the method.

For a second consecutive month, a review hearing for the purpose of scheduling a jury trial has been granted a continuance and has been rescheduled in the arson case against Mindy Jo Jones stemming from the February 13, 2022 fire that destroyed two businesses on the initial block of Allamakee Street in Waukon. A July 1 date has now been set for a third attempt at setting the jury trial date following a motion filed by Jones’ public defender, Aaron Hawbaker of Waterloo, Friday, May 4 in Allamakee County District Court.

Allamakee Prevention Advisory and Helping Services for Youth & Families will be hosting a presentation on “Understanding Addiction & Recovery: Information for Family, Friends, and Caregivers” Tuesday, May 14 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Community Room of Robey Memorial Library in Waukon.

The training is supported by the State Opioid Response Grant (SOR3) grant administered by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the end of this training participants should be able to:
• Define what addiction is and how the thinking has evolved, based on science;
• Visualize the recovery process (Readiness, Entry, During, and Long term);
• Clarify the roles that family/friends/caregivers play in support as well as self-care, and available resources.

Main Street Iowa hosted the annual Main Street Iowa Development Awards celebration Friday evening, April 19 in Des Moines. The program honors the efforts of local leaders who work to revitalize Iowa’s downtowns and Main Street districts.

The City of Lansing and Main Street Lansing received the Comprehensive Placemaking Effort Award at that April 19 celebration for its Bridges to Renewal - Lansing Iowa Vision Plan. In addition, Steve Murray was honored as Main Street Lansing’s Volunteer of the Year for 2023 and was presented his award certificate, which was accepted on his behalf by Main Street Lansing Executive Director Andrew Boddicker in Murray’s absence.

Clark Mellick has announced his candidacy for re-election as Allamakee County Sheriff in the Republican Primary Election scheduled for June 4 of this year.

Mellick was born and raised in Allamakee County, the son of Tom and Mary Mellick. He grew up on the family farm raising livestock and crops which he says has provided him with an exemplary work ethic and conservative beliefs. He is a graduate of Waukon High School and has earned an Associate of Applied Arts degree in Police Sciences (Hawkeye Institute of Technology) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration (Upper Iowa University). He is also a 2004 graduate of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Mellick and his wife Sheila have three children, Dillon, Abie and Andrew, and four grandchildren. He says together they have a deep value of family and faith and have dedicated themselves to these principles.