Andy Hallman

Thomas Lee Hansen, 72, was found guilty of murder in the second-degree Friday afternoon. Hansen was charged with murdering 54-year-old Sharon Kay Gerot, who was living with him south of Riverside at the time of her death on May 1, 2011. The 12-member Washington County jury ended its deliberations shortly before 3:30 p.m. Friday after hearing closing arguments that morning, which ended at 11:15 a.m. Second-de...

KALONA ? A boy from Kalona has won $10,000 for placing second in the National Bible Bee over the weekend. Taylor Bontrager, 10, competed in the bee from Thursday through Saturday in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.Taylor is the son of Marlin and Becky Bontrager of rural Kalona. Taylor was one of two Bontrager boys who competed at the National Bible Bee, the other being his older brother, Joshua, 15.On the first day of the ...

Rodney Lee ?Joe? Bean, 52, of Ainsworth, appealed his conviction and 17-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter a year ago this month, but a date for an appeal hearing has not yet been set.Bean was found guilty of theft and dependent adult abuse against 79-year-old Joye L. Gentzler, formerly of rural Ainsworth. Gentzler was living with Bean and his wife, Lori, at the time of her death Feb. 27, 2008.Davis ...

A group of about 15 people gathered in the Washington Public Library Wednesday night to listen to a member of Main Street Iowa talk about the city?s changing demographics and economy.Jim Thompson of Main Street Iowa spoke about the ?Consumer Profile of the Washington Trade Area.? He opened the talk by going over statistics taken from the 2010 census. The city of Washington added 219 residents from 2000 to 2010, ...

Two boys from Kalona are competing in a nationwide Bible memorization contest this weekend. Joshua and Taylor Bontrager, sons of Marlin and Becky Bontrager, are putting their knowledge of ?The Good Book? to the test in the National Bible Bee in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.Members of the family are in Tennessee today for the first day of the competition. Joshua, 15, is competing in the senior division for 15-to-18-year-old...

The Washington County Auditor?s Office conducted a canvass of the Nov. 6 election Tuesday morning. The canvass counted 54 votes that were not counted on Election Day, but those votes did not change the outcome of any of the races. Of the 54 votes, 16 were absentee ballots that were postmarked before Election Day but which arrived after Election Day. Elections Clerk Sue Meeks said that one ballot even came in ...

Washington residents Kyle and Jenny Mitchell were awoken at 5 a.m. this morning by a knock on their door. Standing in front of them was Jennifer Ehlts, their neighbor, who was there to tell them their house was on fire.The Washington Fire Department arrived and put out the fire in about 10 minutes. After the smoke had cleared, the Mitchells could see the damage to the house was significant enough that they have ...

Absentee ballot requests have skyrocketed in recent years. Sue Meeks of the Washington County Auditor?s Office said her office has sent about 4,500 absentee ballot requests as of Wednesday, which is 1,000 more than were sent out for the most recent presidential election in 2008.Meeks said it?s not hard to see why absentee ballots have become so popular.?It?s so much more convenient,? she said. ?When absentee ...

Washington was awash in unspeakable terrors Wednesday night during the trick-or-treat around the square. Not everybody dressed as a scary monster. Some of them dressed as superheroes or famous characters. The Dye family is pictured here with Landen Dye (left) dressed as a soldier, Alan (back) dressed as a scarecrow and Jesse (right) dressed as a pumpkin.

The fall harvest is just about wrapped up, and it has gone much better than farmers expected. Iowa State University field agronomist Jim Fawcett said that he expects corn yields in Iowa to be about 140 bushels per acre and for bean yields to be about 50 bushels per acre.?The corn yields are definitely down from a year ago but not as bad as some people were afraid of,? he said. ?A lot of farmers were thinking ...

If you?re feeling sleep deprived, this weekend was made for you. States across America will set their clocks back one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday to give everyone an extra hour of sleep. Daylight Saving Time will end, which means that the sunny hours of the day will be earlier than they were before. Local school principals said the extra hour of sunlight in the morning is not only good for kids? health, it?s also ...

Who would have thought that a cat and mouse could be friends? It came to pass Wednesday afternoon during the trick-or-treat around the square. Playing the part of the cat (left) was Breylinn Feller, while the part of Minnie Mouse was played by Emerson Smith.

The Washington County E911 Board hosted two special guests at its meeting Monday night. Kyle Schindler, left, and Adam Todd are Boy Scouts and they attended the meeting in order to earn a ?Citizenship in Community? badge. Schindler is the son of Dawn and Greg Schindler. Todd is the son of Teresa and Mike Todd.

Washington County HACAP has been accepting applications for LiHEAP from people 60 and over and from households with a disabled person in them since Oct. 1. Applicants for the rest of the public will be accepted starting today, Nov. 1 continue through April 30, 2013.LiHEAP is a home-energy assistance program for low-income individuals and families. Applications may be done through the mail or in person at HACAP?s ...

Lincoln fourth grade teacher Janet Conrad places an ?I voted!? sticker on Ryan Maschmann, son of Jamie Maschmann, after he voted in the school?s mock presidential election Tuesday. The students were not given any instruction in whom to vote for. They seemed to prefer four more years of the sitting president as they voted 237 to 102 (70 percent) in favor of Barack Obama over Mitt Romney.