Andy Hallman

The day after Thanksgiving has been referred to as ?Black Friday? for several years and has become associated with shopping owing to the discounts that many businesses offer on the day. Several businesses in Washington opened their doors early and even had extra staff on hand to accommodate the wave of shoppers that they expected to pour through their doors.Stacey Chenoweth is a sales representative at Archer ...

Virginia McCurdy (left) was out on the town Friday night listening to her husband, Gary, play the tuba around Washington?s square for Main Street Washington?s Shop and Stroll. McCurdy also visited the Cub Scouts? booth that evening, which was manned by, from left, Joey Labelle, Brayden Harvey and Aaron Harvey. Labelle is the son of Tammy Labelle. The Harveys are sons of Brandi and Joe Harvey.

Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum made a stop in Washington Friday afternoon, where he spoke to a crowd of about 30 people in Café Dodici. Santorum spoke about a wide range of issues such as Iran, the budget, education, public employee unions and the courts.Santorum said that not only will he attempt to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, he will seek to ...

After spending the whole summer without a city administrator, the Washington City Council hired Brent Hinson of Garner in August to fill the position. Hinson officially began his duties with the city Oct. 17.Hinson hails from Mediapolis and graduated from high school there. He attended the University of Northern Iowa where he obtained a bachelor?s degree in political science in 2000. He followed that with a ...

Staff from the Washington School District met with Latino parents at the Washington Free Public Library Tuesday to discuss their children?s education and answer any questions the parents had. All the principals in the district were in attendance as well as several other members of the administration.Heather Lujano, the district?s bilingual outreach coordinator, translated what the staff said into Spanish, and ...

Two non-profit organizations in the county were recently awarded grants to refurbish low-income housing. Washington County HACAP received a grant of approximately $80,000 to renovate space in Old Main into apartments. Riverside Senior Village received a grant of $190,000 to refurbish 30 apartments. The grants were awarded earlier this month by the East Central Iowa Housing Trust Fund.Ed Raber is on the board ...

Veterans and their friends and family congregated at Blair House in Washington Friday morning to commemorate Veterans Day. At promptly 11 a.m., members of the American Legion fired a 21-gun salute and then stood in silence while Mike Orris played Taps on the bugle. Prior to the 21-gun salute, attendees listened to Dan McClure, a 43-year veteran of the military, who read an essay titled, ?Who is a vet???He or ...

Washington High School?s dance marathon will see a number of ?firsts? this year. It will be the first year the organizers have served a meal and the first year they have sold tickets to it. The school?s mini-dance marathon is Saturday in the High School gymnasium. The supper and variety show start at 5:30 p.m. and are open to the public. The dance marathon itself is reserved for junior high and high school ...

Ainsworth resident Rodney Lee ?Joe? Bean, age 52, was sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for committing involuntary manslaughter, theft and dependent adult abuse against Joye L. Gentzler, formerly of rural Ainsworth. District Judge Joel Yates handed down the sentence in the Washington County Courthouse Thursday afternoon. Bean was convicted of the charges Sept. 22 by a Keokuk County jury. See the Nov. 11 edition ...

Ainsworth resident Rodney Lee ?Joe? Bean, age 52, will be sentenced this afternoon for committing involuntary manslaughter in connection to the death of 78-year-old Joye L. Gentzler, formerly of rural Ainsworth. Bean was convicted of the charge Sept. 22 by a Keokuk County jury. See the Nov. 11 edition for more coverage of this story. As soon as the sentence is delivered it will be published on the Washington ...

The Riverside City Council met Monday and discussed how the city would replace former public works director Brad Herrig. Herrig announced his resignation from the city after a closed session Oct. 17. Apart from discussing ways to maintain city operations in Herrig?s absence, the council also talked about whether to compensate Herrig for his hundreds of hours of unused sick leave.At the time of his departure, ...

A landmark at New Dawn at Sunset Park Playground was given a new home Monday night. The tree trunk into which two bear outlines were carved in 2001 was sold by the Washington Parks Department at an auction in Washington for $70. Washington Park Board member Don Pfeiffer said the tree trunk had to be cut from its base earlier this year because its roots were rotten.The trunk now belongs to Steve and Brenda ...

The Washington High School has welcomed three exchange students into its student body this year. The three students are from three different countries, Ukraine (in eastern Europe), Russia and Kazakhstan (in central Asia, south of Russia). They arrived in August and will stay until the end of the school year.Alyona Neygebauer is a senior from Russia and has studied English for the past 10 years. She said that ...

A barn near Wellman caught fire Saturday night and burned to the ground. No injuries were reported. The barn was located at 1555 180th St., about four miles south of Wellman. Jared Kinsinger, assistant fire chief in Wellman, said that he and other Wellman firefighters were dispatched to the fire at about 11:30 p.m. When they arrived at the scene, the barn was already engulfed in flames.?The barn was a total ...

The municipal elections for all the towns in the county are Tuesday. The pools are open from noon until 8 p.m. for all polling places. Washington residents will vote on one contested race in the city, and that is for an at-large seat on the city council. Incumbent Karen Wilson-Johnson is competing against challenger Mark Kendall. Bob Shepherd is running unopposed for Ward 1. Larry Bartlett is running unopposed ...