Andy Hallman

Indian Hills Executive Dean Tom Rubel has filed candidacy papers for the Iowa Senate in District 41, which includes Fairfield and much of Jefferson County.Rubel, a Democrat, previously served as Superintendent of the Ottumwa Community School District, as well as superintendent, principal, teacher, and coach in other school districts in Iowa. He serves on the board of directors for the Ottumwa Area Economic ...

MAHARISHI VEDIC CITY ? The administration at the pandit campus near Maharishi Vedic City believes disciplinary action will result from its review of the riot outside the campus Tuesday morning in which a group 70-80 pandits surrounded Jefferson County Sheriff Gregg Morton in his vehicle, broke a window and rocked the vehicle back and forth.Morton said the pandits broke out a taillight on his pickup and tried to ...

The Fairfield City Council approved its 2014-2015 budget Monday night, which includes a tax increase of more than 9 percent from the previous year.The city property tax rate is $15.98 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The tax rate included in the budget the council just passed is $17.49 per $1,000, an increase of $1.51. The tax increase is 10 times higher than the tax increase in last year?s budget, when taxes ...

Officers of the Fairfield Police Department are investigating general threats at the Fairfield High School that were believed to be made over the weekend.According to a press release from the Fairfield Police Department, staff at the Fairfield High School contacted police at about 8:30 a.m. Monday about the possible threats. Officers responded immediately to begin the investigation and secure the area. The ...

Motorists in Fairfield should be mindful of wastewater department workers who will begin fixing city sewer mains today and will continue their work for the next two weeks.Wastewater superintendent Shawn Worley said today the crews won?t block off streets entirely although they will probably block one lane of traffic while they work. They will be fixing leaky mains using a fairly new technology that allows them ...

The results are in for the housing needs assessment, and the conclusion is that Fairfield is short of housing.In the fall, employers in Fairfield were asked to complete a survey about the housing needs of their employees. The survey revealed that more than 30 percent of Fairfield single-family households live in a poor or dilapidated residence.Furthermore, the survey indicated 55 percent of people who work in ...

Jefferson County Environmental Health director Dan Miller received the results of the radon test kits he distributed in January.The results indicate that about half of the homes in the county that were tested have a high level of radon to the point where the Environmental Protection Agency recommends those homeowners take steps to mitigate the radon in their house.In January, Miller gave away 50 radon test ...

Members of the Fairfield City Council?s ways and means committee voted 3-0 to recommend passage of the 2014-2015 budget they pored over Thursday night.The proposed budget includes increasing the city property tax by about $1.36 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The current city property tax rate is $15.98 per $1,000 valuation, and under the proposed budget it would rise to $17.34 per $1,000.The proposed ...

The Fairfield City Council got a sneak peek at the most recent plans for the Nady property at its meeting Monday.The Nady property refers to 48 acres of land north of Waterworks Park and west of Pleasant Lake that was formerly owned by the Nady family of Fairfield for more than 160 years.Private landscape architect and conservation planner Steve Brower gave a PowerPoint presentation to the council concerning ...

The Fairfield City Council has promised to include racquetball courts in the $10 million project to build a new indoor gymnasium.The council voted 6-0 in favor of a motion stating the existing racquetball courts would either be left alone or rebuilt elsewhere as part of the indoor gym project. The councilors who voted in favor were Michael Halley, Jessica Ledger-Kalen, Daryn Hamilton, Martha Rasmussen, John ...

The Fairfield Park and Recreation Department Board of Directors reviewed the most recent concept drawing of the proposed improvements around the Roosevelt Community Recreation Center at its monthly meeting Monday.The concept drawing refers to the long-term plans for the Roosevelt Community Recreation Center, not just the proposed improvements planned to the indoor gymnasium, the large building colored green in ...

In the past few years, Fairfield has been in the national spotlight as numerous television programs and magazines have publicized what makes this town such a great place to live.This year appears to be no different. That?s because Fairfield will be featured on a television show called ?Moving America Forward,? hosted by William Shatner. The show will focus on the town?s entrepreneurial spirit and how this ...

The public had a chance to look at two proposed locations Monday night for a new lagoon at the Fairfield wastewater treatment facility.McClure Engineering prepared a few drawings which it put on display at the water and sewer utilities committee meeting. The proposals were of particular interest to the families who live near the plant who may be forced to sell their homes.Terry and Edith Meyers own two parcels ...

Accounting students at Maharishi University of Management are getting a leg up on the competition.Those students have the opportunity to become certified in a worldwide accounting standard. According to M.U.M. accounting professor Andrew Bargerstock, the university is the first in the world to offer this certification as part of its curriculum.The standard is called Extensible Business Reporting Language, often ...

Members of the Fairfield Wallyball Club pleaded with the city council Monday to ensure the proposed gym would include a room for their hobby.The wallyball club members were afraid there would not be room for a wallyball court based on the recent proposal of the pool and gym committee to scrap racquetball courts from the plan.Wallyball is similar to volleyball except it is played on a racquetball court and ...