Andy Hallman

The Washington City Council?s committee on wards met Thursday afternoon to discuss redrawing the city?s ward boundaries. The Washington County General Information Services prepared seven possible maps for the committee to consider. Committee member Merle Hagie said the committee wanted the option that kept the boundary lines as straight as possible.Hagie said the committee leaned in favor of map No. 6, which ...

Natalie Twaddle, Halle Barkema, Gabrielle Goodwin and Elizabeth Goodwin have to be the youngest entrepreneurs in the city of Washington. The four girls sold lemonade, cookies and geodes at the Washington Farmers Market Thursday. They said they started getting ready for the market since 9:30 a.m. that day. Gabrielle Goodwin (front left) is the daughter of Cassie and Scott Goodwin. Natalie Twaddle (front right) is ...

The Washington City Council discussed the future of the Washington County Communications Commission, and specifically the money it gives to the commission, at its meeting Wednesday night. The councilors were reacting to a proposal by commissioner Adam Mangold to disband the commission and turn its duties over to the Washington County Sheriff.City Attorney Craig Arbuckle reminded the councilors that the city ...

The new water and sewer rates that went into effect in July have generated plenty of discussion in the city of Washington. Many Washington residents who got their utility bills earlier this week were alarmed at the size of the increase in their bills, and they let city hall know about it.Washington City Clerk Illa Earnest said city hall has four phone lines, but that wasn?t enough to handle the call volume ...

Construction of animal feedlots in the state has gone up considerably since 2010. In fact, the number of permits for new construction in 2011 has already surpassed last year?s total, according to statistics released by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in July.The DNR is responsible for regulating animal confinement operations, and keeps tabs on how many new operations are built in the state. In ...

Christine Kirkwood has won the special election for the open seat on the Riverside City Council. According to the unofficial results released Tuesday night, Kirkwood received 105 of the 194 votes cast, or 54 percent. Samuel Torrey received 73 votes, or 38 percent. James Strabala received 8 percent of the total with 15 votes. There was one write-in vote cast, but the line beside the write-in oval was left blank....

Christine Kirkwood has won the special election for the open seat on the Riverside City Council. According to the unofficial results released Tuesday night, Kirkwood received 105 of the 194 votes cast, or 54 percent. Samuel Torrey received 73 votes, or 38 percent. James Strabala received 8 percent of the total with 15 votes. There was one write-in vote cast, but the line beside the write-in oval was left blank....

The band ?Say Uncle? performed Thursday night at the Central Park Bandstand in Washington as the Chamber of Commerce?s Thursday Night Live entertainment. The band consists of Tim Barnes, Mark Chorpening and Jeffrey Morgan.

The three candidates in the Riverside City Council special election met to discuss city politics Sunday night in a forum at the Riverside Elementary School. The candidates are Christine Kirkwood, James Strabala and Samuel Torrey. The special election is Tuesday. The polls at city hall will be open from noon until 8 p.m. that day.The candidates made opening remarks, then answered a list of prepared questions ...

The members of the Washington County Communications Commission heard a proposal Monday from one of its members to dissolve the commission. Commissioner Adam Mangold said that the commission?s functions are mostly done by the county government now, and that all of them could be done by the county government. He suggested that responsibility for overseeing communications go to the sheriff?s office.Since Monday, ...

Twelve-year-old Anna Rockhold tells her friends that geodes are so much more than ?rocks.? Rockhold is especially fond of geodes, and has collected them since she was 7 years old. On Thursday, she put them on display and up for sale at the Washington Farmers Market.Anna lives in Washington over the summer with her father, Shawn Rockhold. One of their favorite pastimes is to look for geodes around local lakes. ...

Yahir Jiménez (left) and Cheyanne Schalk have fun on the playground equipment at New Dawn in Sunset Park Sunday. Yahir is the son of Alondra Diez. Cheyanne is the daughter of Bridgette and Omar Arreola.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is urging motorists to take special caution at rural intersections this summer. According to a DOT press release issued earlier this week, Iowa?s corn crop is on pace to be one of the largest ever recorded. While this is great news to the state?s farmers, it means that motorists have to worry about newly obstructed views.The DOT?s statistics show that there were 46 ...

The feeling of weightlessness at the crest of a roller coaster ride sickens many people. Not Washington native Bobby Roe. Roe has gotten used to the feeling through his work at NASA in Houston, where he achieves weightlessness dozens of times in a single day.Roe was born and raised in Washington, the child of Mike and Patty Roe. In his youth, he was very interested in airplanes. He earned his pilot?s license ...

The Washington Communications Commission?s architect, John Mahon, has drawn a floor plan for what the dispatch center would look like if it were attached to the Washington County Sheriff?s Office at Orchard Hill. According to the drawing he presented to the commission Monday, it would attach at the north end of the sheriff?s office, take up 1,465 square feet and cost approximately $400,000.Commission Chairman ...