Andy Hallman

The Washington City Council voted, multiple times in fact, on whether to spend about $100,000 on a camera system for its sanitary sewer. The camera would allow the city to find out where leaks are and to find out where rainwater enters the sanitary sewer. Nick Duvall of the Maintenance and Construction Department wrote in a memorandum to the council that the city?s current camera is unreliable and that manufacture...

RIVERSIDE?The Riverside City Council discussed what to do with a concrete pillars on the south edge of town just off W61 that used to hold a tar tank. Councilor Ralph Schnoebelen objected to what the city had done with the pillars the prior month. Public works director Brad Herrig drilled holes in the concrete pillars in August to test their strength. Schnoebelen asked why the city had drilled test holes in the ...

Visitors to Washington?s skate park see bikers and skateboarders perform high-flying and often dangerous stunts. One of those stuntmen is Washington native Donavon Swift. Swift has ridden his bike at skate park for the past five or six years.?When I was little, I got interested in this by watching the X Games,? he said, referring to the annual event that features skateboards, bikes, Motocross and other extreme ...

Visitors to Washington?s skate park see bikers and skateboarders perform high-flying and often dangerous stunts. One of those stuntmen is Washington native Donavon Swift. Swift has ridden his bike at skate park for the past five or six years.?When I was little, I got interested in this by watching the X Games,? he said, referring to the annual event that features skateboards, bikes, Motocross and other extreme ...

A big storm blew over one of the dugouts at a softball field at Stewart Elementary School on the morning of Aug. 7. Members of the Washington Area Softball Association took apart what was left of the dugout and set in motion a plan to rebuild it. The dugout was rebuilt less than two weeks later, in time for the association?s tournament Aug. 20. Here, Stewart Elementary students test out the bench in the new ...

Swim instructor Pam Perdock (left) helps second-grader Elyse Hunt stay afloat Wednesday morning at the pool in the Washington Community Y. Each grade in Stewart Elementary has gone to the indoor pool this week for swimming lessons. Elyse is the daughter of Andrea and Thaddeus Hunt.

A local man said he was harassed by a group of motorcycle riders on the highway and that one of them broke his side view mirror while he was driving. Frank Bruty of rural Washington said the incident occurred Saturday, Aug. 20 while he was driving on Highway 218. He said he was driving near a group of motorcyclists with his grandson in the vehicle.?They busted the mirror when they went past me,? he said. ?One ...

The Washington County Emergency 911 board met Monday and learned that neighboring Henry County is interested in farming out its dispatch service to another county, possibly Washington County. Board member Wes Rich said he sits on some of the same regional boards as Henry County supervisor Kent White and that the two discussed emergency communications at a recent meeting.In an interview Tuesday, White said ...

The Washington County Communications Commission voted to use the commission?s reserve funds to remodel the current dispatch center and to ?look down the road five to eight years for a new plan.? Communications supervisor Cara Sorrells said the commission has between $40,000 and $44,000 available to spend in reserve funds. The motion did not specify what would be remodeled or the amount of money to be spent on ...

The bond of Thomas Lee Hansen has been reduced from $2 million to $1.4 million. Hansen, age 70, is charged with the first-degree murder of Sharon Kay Gerot on May 1 outside the couple?s home at 1355 Deer Run Drive near Riverside. Judge Joel Yates announced the bond reduction Friday during a hearing for Hansen?s motion for bond review. Washington County Attorney Larry Brock filed a motion of resistance to the bond ...

Mark and Jill Lukavsky of rural Washington were one of six families that received ?The Way We Live Award? at the Iowa State Fair Aug. 13. According to a press release from the Iowa State Fair, the award is given to families who demonstrate a daily dedication to animal agriculture and exemplify farm values derived from hard work and a love for the occupation of farming.Jill is the daughter of Dan and Jean ...

The Washington Street Committee met Wednesday to discuss how to control truck traffic on South Ninth Avenue. Committee member Bob Shepherd said the key is to make South Ninth appear more residential.?The first order should be to make the speed limit 25 miles per hour,? Shepherd said. ?It will cut back on truck traffic if we enforce it.?The speed limit on South Ninth is 30 mph.Committee member Merlin ...

The Washington City Council passed the second reading of an ordinance to adopt new ward boundaries at a special session Wednesday night.Under the proposed ordinance, the dividing line between Ward 1, which covers the northwest part of town, and Ward 2, which covers the northeast, would begin at the north end of town at the intersection of 18th Street and North Marion Avenue. The boundary line would go south ...

The Washington County Communications committee of mayoral representatives of the towns in the county besides Washington met Wednesday and passed a series of motions about their preferences regarding the future location of the Washington County Communications Center.The committee voted to recommend spending $50,000 on the current dispatch center immediately. It voted to keep the dispatch center on county ...

Washington County has the lowest unemployment rate in southeastern Iowa, according to statistics released by the Iowa Workforce Development. Washington County posted an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent for July, the same rate as neighboring Johnson County. Washington County?s unemployment rate is down slightly from where it was a year ago when it was 5 percent.Communications director for Iowa Workforce ...