Top Stories

Allamakee County Treasurer Lori Hesse would like to remind property owners the second installment of property taxes is due by the end of this month (March 2019). With the end of March falling on the weekend (Sunday, March 31), property owners will have until Monday, April 1 to pay their taxes without penalty.

Payments may be made in person at the Allamakee County Treasurer’s Office in the Allamakee County Courthouse at 110 Allamakee Street in Waukon between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Property owners should bring their tax stubs with their payment to ensure proper credit. To avoid penalty on the second installment, payment must be received in the Treasurer’s Office by Monday, April 1. Penalty begins Tuesday, April 2.

A community-based discussion addressing a shortage of child care in Allamakee County is scheduled to be held this Friday, March 15 from 8 a.m.-12 noon in Room 113 of the NICC Waukon Center, located at 1220 Third Avenue NW in Waukon. A continental breakfast will be served.

Discussion facilitators will share information, gather ideas and input from those in attendance to address how the shortage of child care impacts this area’s economic growth and success. The meeting is being hosted by Early Childhood Partners and will be facilitated by the Iowa Women’s Foundation.

According to statistics provided by those groups, 82% of households in Allamakee County have both parents working outside the home, and there has also been a 50% decrease in child care programs in the last five years in Allamakee County.

by Lissa Blake

With 880 miles of road to maintain, Allamakee County road crews have been putting forth their best effort to combat the snow, ice and wind conditions this winter. Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour recently explained what it takes to keep the roads clear and County employees and residents safe during a winter such has been experienced this year.

“We have 10 motor graders, 12 plow trucks, five loaders and 27 dedicated, dependable operators,” said Ridenour of his Allamakee County Secondary Roads Department. He said the County’s normal budget for winter maintenance is $500,000, and he says his department has already used up about 90 percent of that this winter.

“Hopefully, March will be good to us,” said Ridenour. In addition to labor, that money helps pay for around 1,200 tons of salt and 30,000 tons of sand used on County roadways.

Allamakee County Treasurer Lori Hesse would like to remind property owners the second installment of property taxes is due by the end of this month (March 2019). With the end of March falling on the weekend (Sunday, March 31), property owners will have until Monday, April 1 to pay their taxes without penalty.

Payments may be made in person at the Allamakee County Treasurer’s Office in the Allamakee County Courthouse at 110 Allamakee Street in Waukon between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Property owners should bring their tax stubs with their payment to ensure proper credit. To avoid penalty on the second installment, payment must be received in the Treasurer’s Office by Monday, April 1. Penalty begins Tuesday, April 2.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon is seeing an increasing number of patients with the influenza virus. The Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care public health department is sharing the following information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to alert the community about what to do if they do contract the flu virus and how to prevent spreading it.

FLU SYMPTOMS
Influenza (also known as flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by flu viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Flu is different from a cold. Flu usually comes on suddenly. People who are sick with flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:

Person of the Year - Karen Carlton ...

A pair of area entities serving northeast Iowa received awards for their efforts in promoting tourism at the 2019 Iowa Tourism Conference hosted by the Iowa Tourism Office and the Travel Federation of Iowa in Altoona February 6-8. Northeast Iowa Tourism Association and Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) each received awards in their respective rural divisions of promoting aspects of Iowa tourism.

Northeast Iowa Tourism Association, a seven-county regional marketing group with a mission of promoting tourism in northeast Iowa, was recognized with an award for Outstanding Social Media Execution (Rural). Northeast Iowa Tourism Association has members representing Allamakee, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek Counties.

Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) also received an award for Outstanding Niche Marketing Initiative (Rural) for its Northeast Iowa Trout Fishing Guides.

The Allamakee County Fair Board has announced that the country music group Parmalee will be its headlining act for the grandstand performances at the 2019 Allamakee County Fair this summer. Parmalee will take to the stage Friday evening, July 19 of this year’s fair, with the opening act and start time of that musical performance yet to be announced. Additional information about other grandstand attractions and events at the Allamakee County Fair will be released when available.

Formed in 2001, the band broke on to the major country music scene with its first number-one hit “Carolina” in 2013. Two more singles, “Close Your Eyes” and “Already Callin’ You Mine,” also made it into the top 10 of some Billboard charts.
 

Monday, February 18 at approximately 11:14 p.m., the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a single-vehicle accident at the intersection of Schweinfurth Road and Village Creek Road in rural Allamakee County, approximately eight miles northeast of Waukon.

According to an accident report from the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office, a car driven by Marty Roger Melcher, age 52, of rural Lansing was traveling westbound on Schweinfurth Road. The vehicle failed to stop at the intersection and traveled across Village Creek Road, entering the ditch and striking a tree. Melcher was transported to Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon where he was pronounced dead from injuries sustained in the accident.

The accident remains under investigation by the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office. Assisting at the scene was the Veterans Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service and the Waukon Fire Department.
 

The ninth-rated Waukon girls basketball team (18-3) has played its way to the Class 3A State Tournament for the first time since the 2009-2010 season, posting a 55-44 victory over 13th-rated Davenport Assumption Saturday, February 16 in a game played at Marion High School. The Indians will play their first State Tournament game Monday, February 25 as the number-five seed in a 6:45 p.m. quarterfinal match-up with fourth-seeded Crestwood (15-5) from their own Northeast Iowa Conference. The Class 3A seventh-rated Cadets are the defending Class 3A State Tournament Champions and are making their third consecutive State Tournament appearance and their fifth in the past six seasons. The two teams split in their pair of regular season match-ups earlier this season, the Indians winning at Crestwood, 42-31, in mid-December but the Cadets handing the Tribe a 56-53 home defeat in late January.