Andy Hallman

Washington City Councilor Bob Shellmyer gave a presentation about the city?s budget at the council?s meeting Wednesday. Shellmyer focused on the city?s departments that were over budget and stressed the need to reign in spending. City Administrator Brent Hinson said the numbers Shellmyer used in his presentation did not accurately reflect the city?s finances because they did not include the budget amendments ...

The Washington County E911 Board met Monday night and discussed updating the tornado sirens in the county. The Washington County Communications Center must upgrade all the sirens in the county so they comply with the narrow-banding requirement from the federal government. The federal government is requiring narrow banding because it will allow more radio frequencies on the radio spectrum. Local law enforcement ...

A missionary couple who live in Guatemala were in Washington this past week visiting churches and sharing stories about their work. Chris and Donna Mooney have lived in Guatemala for 14 years and help those in their village with mobility problems by providing them with wheelchairs, crutches and canes.The Mooneys live in a city called Chimaltenango, which has about 44,000 people and is 35 miles west of the ...

The new director at the Washington Community Y had her first day on the job today. Becky Harkema is an Iowa native but she is moving back to the area all the way from Kennebunk, Maine, where she was the director of a YMCA. Harkema is no stranger to southeast Iowa, having grown up and graduated high school in New Sharon. She went to college at Iowa State University where she majored in physical education with an ...

Each week over the summer, hundreds of people gather in Washington?s Central Park to sell home-grown vegetables and homemade crafts during the farmers market. The vendors come to know the shoppers so well they?ll have an order waiting for them before the shoppers arrive. The market is a great place to meet people, especially for those who are new to town. Jane and Alfred Kruse moved to Washington three years ago ...

This Saturday will be the 13th annual SIDS walk in Iowa. The walks will be taking place across the state, including in Washington. The event raises awareness of the phenomenon known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The SIDS walk is in its sixth year at Washington and will be held at Sunset Park. The day begins with a 5K run at 7:30 a.m. Registration is at 7 a.m. The walk is at 9:30 a.m. and registration ...

A report issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) this week indicated that 4 percent of the corn crop has already been harvested in Iowa. That is higher than the average for this time of which, when typically only 1 percent of the crop has been harvested. Some farmers who were hit hard by the summer drought have chopped their corn for silage.Iowa State University crop specialist Jim Fawcett ...

RIVERSIDE ? The Riverside City Council met Monday and zipped through its agenda in under an hour and a half. Monday marked the first meeting attended by the city?s administrator, Rusty Rogerson. The agenda item that generated the most discussion was the expenditures. The expenditures are normally approved without incident but councilor Bob Schneider took exception to a bill from the firm of Hart-Frederick ...

A volunteer in every Stewart Elementary classroom is the goal Kelsey Sievers, behavior interventionist and newly created volunteer coordinator, has set for the year Sievers intends the volunteers helping the students by reading to them or by helping them with their math flashcards. In a survey of teachers, the response was people who have a background working with children, but that they would welcome anyone who ...

A couple of local farmers spent two weeks in Africa earlier this month to investigate the use of soybeans on the continent. Larry Marek of Riverside represented the United Soybean Board and John Heisdorffer, who farms near Keota, represented the American Soybean Board.The United Soybean Board paid for the trip, the purpose of which was to promote soybeans and to see how humanitarian efforts are going that supply ...

The Iowa Food Bank Association has learned it will be without $500,000 after Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad used a line-item veto to strike half a million dollars that the Legislature included in Senate File 2336 in June. Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) in Hiawatha has a food reservoir which supplies food to local HACAP chapters, such as the one in Washington County. HACAP relies on the Iowa Food Bank for ...

RIVERSIDE ? The Riverside Community Building Committee is planning a meeting Thursday night to discuss a survey. The committee has talked at previous meetings about sending out a survey in town to see what the residents want in a new community building. The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at the Riverside Community Building. The committee has collected information about wellness centers/community buildings in neighboring ...

A group from Main Street Washington will attend a summit on revitalizing Iowa?s downtowns next week. The Iowa Downtown Summit is in Keokuk Aug. 21-22. Attendees will participate in and listen to workshops on social media marketing, state historic tax credits and other subjects. Main Street Washington executive director Amy Vetter said Main Street communities are required to attend certain workshops, and this is ...

RIVERSIDE ? The Riverside City Council interviewed four applicants for its city administrator/clerk position during a closed session Thursday. After coming out of closed session, the council voted to authorize Mayor Bill Poch and Pat Callahan of Snyder and Associates to negotiate a contract with one of the applicants.Callahan said in an interview today that he has been in communication with Poch and the applicant...

RIVERSIDE ? The Riverside City Council came one step closer to filling its city administrator/clerk position at its council Monday night. The council heard from Pat Callahan of Snyder and Associates. The council hired Snyder and Associates to whittle down a list of city administrator/clerk applicants to four people. Callahan told the council his company has done that and that the four applicants are ready to be ...