Top Stories

Thursday evening, July 16, leaders from the Waukon community and Allamakee County were invited by Hy-Vee and Dollar Fresh officials to a “sneak-peek” ribbon cutting event at the new Dollar Fresh store that held its grand opening for the public the very next morning, Friday, July 17 in the former Shopko store location in southwest Waukon. Pictured above at that ribbon cutting are a number of those community and county leaders standing with Dollar Fresh Waukon store manager Matt Kundert as he cuts the ribbon, along with Hy-Vee District Director Jeremy Low and members of the Waukon store’s management team.

As part of the Allamakee County Fair each year, area “royalty” is recognized along with the announcement of the Allamakee County Fair Royalty Team that serves in various capacities throughout the fair and throughout the next year. During the Thursday evening, July 9 performance of The Caminos at this year’s modified Allamakee County Fair due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local young ladies pictured at right were recognized for the service they’ve provided to their various organizations as their 2020 royal representatives. Pictured above, left to right, are Allamakee County Beef Queen Soraya Reyes, Miss Iowa Angus Allie Bieber, Iowa Miss Teen United States Agriculture Diana Davison, Allamakee County Alternate Dairy Princess Kaylee Gibbs, event emcee Laurie Wild of WQPC Q94 Radio, Allamakee County Dairy Princess Faith Palmer, and 2020 Allamakee County Fair Royalty Team members Madelyn Moser and Shara Cota.

Allamakee County continued to follow the recent nationwide trend of increasing confirmed COVID-19 cases as summer activity has increased and restrictions that had been in place over the past several months have been lessened. After the Allamakee County Department of Public Health reported a total of eight new confirmed cases during the first week in July, Allamakee County’s new case numbers remained right within that same range this past week with seven new confirmed cases from Tuesday, July 7 through Monday, July 13.

by Kelli Boylen

Most people who live in northeast Iowa have overlooked the Mississippi River valley from the top of a bluff and looked up at the bluff tops from the river valley.

Few have rappelled down the cliffs, and it’s safe to say the number of people who have rappelled down the bluff sides to fetch baby peregrine falcons while the parent birds are dive bombing their efforts is very few. Members of the Raptor Resource Project (RRP) spend several days each spring doing just that.

Peregrine falcons are the fastest bird in the world, reaching speeds up to 200 miles per hour during hunting dives, and they are once again calling northeast Iowa home thanks to the Raptor Resource Project and the legacy of Bob Anderson.

Call first to determine qualification for testing

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon continues to follow Iowa Department of Public Health recommendations for testing of COVID-19. To qualify for a test, patients must meet one of the following criteria:

Shara Cota and Madelyn Moser to be introduced as Fair Royalty Team at Thursday night performance of The Caminos

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing significant adjustments to most all events planned for this summer, the 167th Allamakee County Fair has certainly been no exception. Although many county fairs have been canceled altogether or dwindled to a much smaller version of what they traditionally have been, the Allamakee County Fair Board has been striving to provide the best possible variety of events and entertainment within the limiting guidelines put in place as a result of the ongoing pandemic virus.

Village Creek Bible Camp, Expresso report case exposures; Public Health reminds people to follow mitigation measures

As summer activity has increased, it was expected that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 would also increase. Recent news stories through basically every media source confirm that expectation to a great degree across most of the nation, but that trend has now trickled down to a more local level as well this past week.

Eight new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in Allamakee County within the past week’s time by the Allamakee County Public Health Department. Even more attention-grabbing is the fact that some of those cases have resulted in the temporary closure of a pair of local entities after case exposure was announced by each of them this past week.

Pair of public reading events scheduled to be held July 11 in Lansing and July 14 on Allamakee County Courthouse lawn

The 2020 Allamakee Bible Reading Marathon is continuing to be held now through Tuesday, July 14 as part of the Iowa 99 County Bible Reading Marathon. Residents of Allamakee County can participate by requesting one or more 30-minute segment(s) of Scripture by using one of the following means:

1. The SignUp Genius website: Go to https://tinyurl.com/2020AllamakeeBibleMarathon

or

2. Text or call 563-217-9814. This phone number is operational from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday through July 14.

Participants can start reading their chosen segment(s) immediately, completing them at their convenience, wherever and with whomever they wish. As of Monday morning, July 6, 92 of the 156 segments of Scripture have been selected by readers.

The Allamakee County Fair Board is finalizing plans for the 2020 Allamakee County Fair, an event that has been modified this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation guidelines put in place as a result of that virus. Still being planned for its original timeframe of next week, many of the same fair events are still being held as planned but with modifications to either schedules or format, beginning next Tuesday, July 7 with the first 4-H animal show and lasting through Sunday, July 12. A full schedule of this year’s Allamakee County Fair events can also be found on Page 24 in the July 1, 2020 edition of The Standard.

Despite many larger Fourth of July events being canceled this year due to COVID-19, many area communities will still be offering their fireworks displays. Those attending are reminded to maintain social distancing and keep other mitigation guidelines in mind. The following most local fireworks shows are all planned for this Saturday, July 4:
• Harpers Ferry at dusk
• Lansing at 10 p.m.
• Marquette at 9 p.m.
• Monona at dusk
• Eitzen, MN at dusk