Andy Hallman

The Washington City Council heard from more residents about what should be done with the 90 acres the city purchased on the north side of town at its regular meeting Wednesday. Christy Escher said her son Logan has been in Washington?s soccer program for five years.?We seem to be the only free-standing club that has no green space,? Escher said. ?The school programs have places to go, but we struggle every ...

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds are touring the state to promote their plan for reforming Iowa?s educational system, and the two began their tour Thursday morning in Washington. Branstad and Reynolds addressed a crowd of spectators in the auditorium of the Washington High School and then fielded questions from the audience. Branstad said in his opening remarks that Iowa?s students must be ...

The Riverside City Council voted Monday night to purchase land east of town in order to erect a welcome sign on it. The plot of land is 30 feet by 80 feet (2,400 square feet) and will cost $7,000. The land belongs to Larry and Jan Tener, who agreed to pay the surveying fees and all other costs associated with the project. The idea did not sit well with everyone in the audience. Riverside resident Jim Strabala ...

RIVERSIDE ? The Riverside City Council held a public hearing at Schnoebelen Inc. Monday evening. The business?s owner, Ralph Schnoebelen, who is also a councilor, took the rest of the council and members of the public on a tour of his business, which is a farm implement dealership. The City of Riverside took Schnoebelen and his wife Jan to court in May over alleged nuisance violations at their business. At that ...

The West Chester Post Office will close its doors next week on Friday, Oct. 7. United States Postal Service spokesman Richard Watkins said West Chester residents will have rural addresses. They will receive mail service via a rural carrier who will take the mail to a cluster of box units in the town. Each address will be assigned its own locked compartment, he said.Earlier in the year, Watkins said there was a ...

The Washington Street Committee met Wednesday afternoon at city hall and discussed uncontrolled intersections. Committee chairwoman Karen Wilson-Johnson showed the committee a list of uncontrolled intersections in the city. An uncontrolled intersection is one with no traffic signs such as stop or yield signs.Committee member Bob Shepherd said that, in a sense, all of the intersections in town are controlled. ...

A retired teacher who taught for 32 years at the Washington High School has died. Russ Bannister, 91, died Wednesday at Halcyon House in Washington. Bannister taught social studies from the time of his arrival in Washington in 1950 until he retired from teaching in 1982. He was also the boys? golf coach for many years during his teaching career. His funeral is Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in the United Presbyterian ...

The Washington County Emergency 911 board met Monday and heard that Henry County is still interested in sharing dispatch services. The board agreed that Henry County could use Washington County?s equipment for routing 911 calls without affecting Washington County?s operations at all. However, the board members said if Washington County dispatchers are also expected to dispatch emergency personnel in Henry County, ...

A string of six burglaries hit businesses and churches in Kalona Tuesday. Five were reported that morning and a sixth was reported that night. A church in the 900 block of Sixth Street and the another church in the 1100 block of J Avenue reported that they were broken into. Two businesses in the 500 block of E Avenue reported that they were burglarized. A business in the 1400 block of E Avenue was broken into, ...

Ainsworth resident Rodney Lee ?Joe? Bean, age 52, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday in connection to the death of 78-year-old Joye L. Gentzler, formerly of rural Ainsworth, Feb. 27, 2008. A Keokuk County jury of six men and six women handed down the verdict after six hours of deliberation. Bean?s sentencing will be Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. in the Washington County Courthouse. His bond was set at ...

A delegation of Chinese businessmen visited John Heisdorffer?s farm Thursday afternoon to learn more about Iowa?s soybean crop. Twenty-three persons from China are on a tour of the top soybean producing states from Sept. 18-28, and their stop at Heisdorffer?s farm south of Keota was one of many. The purpose of the tour is to visit major soybean-producing regions in the United States and to strengthen the ties ...

The Washington City Council has changed course on which company it wants to abate the asbestos in the collapsed buildings on South Marion Avenue. At the council?s meeting Sept. 7 it voted to hire Active Thermal Concepts of Hiawatha to remove asbestos from 207, 209 and 211 S. Marion Ave. for about $27,000.At its meeting Tuesday, the council voted 6-0 to rescind its support for Active Thermal Concepts and ...

The Washington County Communications Center has received about $700,000 in new equipment it purchased earlier in the year. Washington County Communications Supervisor Cara Sorrells said her office is undergoing two separate upgrades. One upgrade is the replacement of the entire 911 system. The other upgrade is to the local database that stores the information the 911 system uses to deliver calls. The equipment is ...

Local law enforcement will conduct nighttime seat belt checks in the near future. The Washington County Sheriff?s Office, Washington Police Department and the Iowa State Patrol are conducting the checks in conjunction with the Iowa Governor?s Traffic Safety Bureau.According to a press release from the sheriff?s office and police department, law enforcement will select locations with a high volume of on-coming ...

The Washington City Council discussed what to do with the 90 acres of land on the northwest edge of town it acquired from the Washington School District last year. A few councilors spoke about the possibility of selling a portion of that land to raise money for the city. Several residents spoke about the need for a wellness park or even just more flat, open green space in the city. The council agreed to discuss ...