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To the Editor:

May 28, Senators Grassley and Ernst, along with other Senate Republicans, blocked the Senate from bringing up the bill to form a January 6 Commission. Why don’t the Republicans want to expose the facts concerning the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol?

Democracy is in the balance. The U.S. Congress, including Vice President Pence, evacuated the premises or were quickly ushered into safe locations, yet the Republicans pretend like the mob did not storm the Capitol, killing five people, injuring 140 police officers, and causing over $1.5 million in damage.

These were not everyday people touring the Capitol.  The videos of people shattering windows, assaulting police officers, breaking into offices, scaling the walls, spraying bear spray, shouting obscenities, and waving Trump flags have been shown multiple times on television. These were domestic terrorists, trying to stop the democratic process.

To the Editor:

I would like to express my gratitude for the great Memorial Day celebration to all who made that possible in Harpers Ferry. Legion Post 722 deserves a huge amount of credit as they were the primary organizers of the event, starting with the visit to six cemeteries in the area to honor those who served and died for this country.

Msgr. Cletus Hawes deserves much credit also as he delivered a moving tribute to all veterans who helped create this great country, going back to the time of the American Revolution and through the present. He also made a great appeal for the country to come together once again as One Nation Under God and honoring the Constitution.

Then there is the Legion Auxiliary, which was instrumental in putting together the parade. This is the first parade in Harpers in three years since the last one was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the one before that was diminished due to rain.

Madalyn Palmer (center in photo above), daughter of Eric and Stephanie Palmer of Waukon, was crowned the 2021 Allamakee County Dairy Princess at the annual Allamakee County Dairy Banquet held Saturday, June 12 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. Also honored at Saturday’s banquet as 2021 Alternate Dairy Princesses were Cheyanne Troendle (left in photo above), daughter of Darrell and Amy Troendle of Waterville, and Carly Palmer (right in photo above), daughter of Glen and Holly Palmer of Harpers Ferry. Additional photos of award winners and other recognition from the 2021 Allamakee County Dairy Banquet will appear in The Standard’s Beef & Dairy special publication scheduled to be inserted in the June 23 edition of The Standard. Photo by Paula Enyart.

An eastern Iowa woman who bought a Mega Millions® ticket while on a weekend getaway to her cabin along the Mississippi River has won a $1 million prize.

“I saw a ‘1’ with some zeroes,” Karen Kramer of Urbana said as she claimed her prize Thursday at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. “I didn’t think about how many I saw at first, then it hit me.”

Convinced that the information on the lottery’s mobile app was wrong, she checked her ticket again - and again.

“I rechecked everything because I thought, ‘Well, my phone’s wrong.’ And it came up again the same,” said Kramer, 60, who works as a para-educator in her local school district. “So I went on the website, then I went and checked on Facebook and it said that the winning ticket had been won at Barry’s. And I’m going, ‘OK, that’s me!’”

The Allamakee County Dairy Days Parade is being held this Friday, June 18 in Postville in conjunction with the community’s Hometown Celebration Parade and in honor of the 100th year of the Big Four Fair. The parade will begin at 7 p.m. and will run from Lull’s Park to the Big Four Fairgrounds. For entry and other parade information, contact Postville City Hall at 563-864-7454.

The Allamakee County Fair Board is seeking applicants for the 2021 Allamakee County Fair Queen contest, with this year’s Fair running July 21-25.

The contest will run similarly to that of the Iowa State Fair Queen Contest. Contestants will undergo a formal interview, as well as a group interview. Judging will be based on personality, attitude, appearance, awareness, charm, poise, leadership, citizenship and overall appearance.

Coronation of the 2021 Allamakee County Fair Queen will be held on the fairgrounds during the Fair. During this event, the contestants will be asked to share a favorite Fair memory. All candidates will be a part of the 2021 Fair Royalty Team which will preside and assist at different events and activities throughout the Fair and community events during the year.

The World Health Organization estimates that 120 million people are visually impaired because of uncorrected refraction errors (far or near sightedness). Refractive errors can easily be diagnosed, measured and corrected with eyeglasses. Yet, millions of people lack the access to these basic services.

While each Lions Club has its own service focus, there are five global Lions causes of particular interest around the world: Vision, Diabetes, Hunger, Environment and Childhood Cancer). Vision causes began in 1925 when Helen Keller challenged the Lions to be “knights of the blind”.

The Waukon Lions Club has recently enhanced its efforts to recycle used eyeglasses and hearing aids. New collection boxes (see accompanying photo) have been placed in area businesses. The glasses will be gathered and sent to a regional recycling center where they are cleaned and sorted by prescription strength. They are then packaged and stored for the next eyeglass-dispensing mission trip.

Each year the Waukon Middle School staff acknowledges a boy and girl from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades for the Middle School Citizenship Award. These students demonstrate positive attitude, academic excellence, exemplary character, school spirit and community involvement. This year’s recipients are pictured above according to grade level. From front to back, left to right, are sixth graders Reegan Benzing and Vaughn Stegen, seventh graders Avalea Burns and Connor Stilwelll, and eighth graders Mari Delaney and Graine Curtin. Submitted photo.
 

Over the past year, many essential workers in the northeast Iowa region have made sacrifices to serve and care for their communities. Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) has created a new “Moving Forward” Speaker Series, supported by federal CARES Act dollars, that provides local professionals with an opportunity to learn from nationally recognized experts from five presentations.

Remaining speakers include Brandon Marshall, Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach and more. Their presentations provide insights in how to rise above the long-term effects of the pandemic, overcome stress and thrive. Learn more and register for the series at https://www.nicc.edu/business-community/.

The “Moving Forward” Speaker Series remaining schedule includes the following:

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon invites teenagers in grades seventh through 12th to participate in its Summer Book Club in July and August.

July’s book selection is “Marcus Vega doesn’t speak Spanish” by Pablo Cartaya. Teenagers are invited to join Robey Memorial Library Wednesdays, July 7 and July 21 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. for snacks and discussion of that book. Those who register for July book club by June 17 will receive a free copy of the book to keep, donated by the Robey Memorial Library Foundation.

August’s book club will meet Wednesdays, August 4 and 18 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. and discuss “The inheritance games” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Those who register for August book club by July 15 will receive a free copy of the book to keep, donated by the Robey Memorial Library Foundation.