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Residents and visitors of Allamakee County will have two opportunities to see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train again this year, as the holiday spectacle on rails will make its way to northern Iowa Sunday, December 8 to make a pair of stops within the Allamakee County borders. The Holiday Train will be stopping in Lansing that December 8 evening, at approximately 4:50 p.m., and again in New Albin a little over an hour later, at approximately 6:15 p.m. Both stops are scheduled to include musical performances by Meghan Patrick, Tanika Charles and Kelly Prescott.

Josh Dreps of New Albin was named one of the 2019 Rising Stars under 40 by the 7 Rivers Alliance and River Valley Media Group. Twenty-four such winners from across the region were recognized at a reception held in La Crescent, MN October 16.

This is the fourth year for the awards, which are given to outstanding men and women in the 7 Rivers Region who are doing outstanding work in their profession and community. The recipients are nominated from the community and the finalists are selected by a committee.

“The success of our region and our communities relies on the efforts of these fine leaders,” said Chris Hardie, CEO of the 7 Rivers Alliance. “It’s truly a privilege to meet them and to be inspired by their work.”

The month of October brings with it a change in temperature that results in a switch from cooling to heating in all local homes.

October also holds the annual observance of National Fire Prevention Week, but the combination of that change in seasons and honoring firefighters should also serve as a reminder of another alarm local fire crews often respond to, that being the sounding of carbon monoxide detectors.

One such call responded to just over a month ago by the Waukon Fire Department served as a staunch reminder of the stealthy impact of the colorless, odorless carbon monoxide gas that claims the lives of more than 400 people in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That early September call resulted in some lessons learned by all involved, as well as some diligence and lifesaving action that prevented a Waukon woman from being added to those annual CDC statistics.

Former Dorchester resident Tommy Skarlis and Captain Ted Peck of New Albin to be enshrined

Ten individuals have recently been announced as members of the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame Class of 2020. Three of this year’s 10 inductees are from Iowa, with two of those having direct ties to Allamakee County.

The Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) Board of Directors announced WW Homestead Dairy as the 2019 Cloy Kuhse Positive Impact Award winner at the ACED Annual Meeting hosted in Harpers Ferry Thursday, October 10. 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. WW Homestead Dairy now joins the list of annual award recipients including Growing Bear Daycare & PreSchool of Waukon, New Albin Savings Bank, Waukon Dental, Mike Ferring Construction of Waukon, TASC, Inc. of Waukon, Wuennecke’s Meat Market of New Albin and Norplex-Micarta of Postville.

Motorists and pedestrians in Waukon need to be aware of some additional traffic changes being implemented now that the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) repaving project for State Highways 9 and 76 through Waukon is nearing completion. Those changes center around new pedestrian crosswalk signage and markings in several locations in the downtown, Main Street and Allamakee Street areas of the newly paved roadways.

New signs (pictured in the accompanying photos below) that have been placed in the middle of those newly paved streets in six different locations in the interest of pedestrian and student safety should serve as reminders to all motorists to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalks at these - and all - crosswalk locations, a change from previous signage placed in some of those same locations three years ago.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials advise that some trails and campground areas at Yellow River State Forest near Harpers Ferry have begun to open again following flash flooding in early September.

Little Paint and Big Paint campgrounds are now open, as well as the overnight backpack campsites, hiking trails and the picnic areas. Frontier equestrian campground, equestrian trails and equestrian day-use were opened again as of Friday, October 11. Creekside equestrian campground and a segment of the Firetower road will remain closed until further notice.

Visitors are urged to exercise caution while using the trail system and obey all closed areas throughout the forest due to saturation of grounds. For the latest updates and a list of closures, visit https://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Alerts-and-Closures.
 

by Lissa Blake

Politics should be about doing good work, as often as possible.

That’s just one of the ideas that is motivating Decorah native and recently elected State of Iowa Auditor Rob Sand to travel to all of Iowa’s 99 counties to meet with taxpayers.

“It’s good for me to be able to hear what people are talking about, and it’s good for people to be able to poke their elected officials with a stick,” quipped Sand during a Monday, September 30 stop in Waukon.

Sand is the son of Dr. Kevin and Leslie Sand and a 2001 graduate of Decorah High School. He graduated from Brown University in 2005 and the University of Iowa School of Law in 2010. He was then hired in the office of the Iowa Attorney General, where he worked as an assistant attorney general until his election as State of Iowa Auditor last November.

Waukon High School seniors Brock Hatlan (left) and Hailey Regan (right) were crowned Waukon High School's 2019 Homecoming King and Queen at the traditional "Burning of the 'W'" pep rally Thursday, October 3 at the Waukon High School gym. Additional photos of Waukon High School's Homecoming events are featured on Page 14A inside this week's issue, as well as coverage of the Waukon football team's Homecoming victory over Oelwein featured on Page 13A this week.
 

The Postville Police Department and the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Department are seeking the public’s assistance in regard to an apparent armed robbery that took place Thursday, October 3 around 10 a.m. within the town of Postville in the 100 block of South Reynolds Street. An initial report indicates that the vehicle involved in the incident was a gray or silver Dodge Neon or Stratus, and the victim of the incident stated it was a two-door vehicle that had boxes in the back seat and other items filling up the back window.

The driver of the vehicle was described as a black male estimated to be in his early 30s and standing approximately 5’4” to 5’6”. Anyone who may have information regarding this incident or who has seen a vehicle fitting this description is asked to contact the Postville Police Department at 563-864-3234 or the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Department at 563-568-4521.