Andy Hallman

A conscientious objector is someone who refuses to perform military service on the grounds that such service runs counter to his convictions. Often, these convictions stem from the conscientious objector?s religious beliefs about non-violence. Three Christian churches are officially pacifist, and they are the Church of the Brethren, the Quakers (The Religious Society of Friends) and the Mennonites.Before the ...

Washington County Communications Commissioner Adam Mangold proposed investigating the possibility of disbanding the commission and letting the sheriff?s office take over its functions. Mangold made the announcement at the commission?s meeting at the former Washington Library Monday night.Mangold said that the commission has no authority to borrow money and that if it were to build or remodel a facility for the ...

A group of young girls organized a garage sale and bake sale Saturday to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. The girls set up shop at 704 E. 13th St. where they sold brownies, angel food cake and pumpkin bread as well as their toys, such as the stuffed animals seen here. The girls who put the fundraiser together are, from left, Carly Reuscher, Hannah Anderson, Kelsey Pacha and Katelyn Pacha. Carly is the ...

Wellman City Administrator Dave Ross has announced he will resign in August. Ross is in Boston at the moment, where he has been taking continuing education classes in municipal administration for two weeks and has one more week left to go. While in Boston, Ross informed the city staff that he would leave his position shortly after his return from Boston on Aug. 1. The council was aware that Ross was looking for ...

Thursday night?s storm left several broken branches in its wake, including this large branch which broke away from a tree in the 800 block of South Iowa Avenue in Washington. The tree belongs to Jeremy and Lucy Schmidt.

Matt Romoser receives a pink ribbon tattoo on his arm from Lexi Marek (left), his sister Kayla Romoser (back), and Lauren Carter at the Washington County Fair Tuesday afternoon. The four fair-goers are all on the 4-H County Council. They were selling pink ribbon tattoos to raise money for Relay for Life as part of ?pink week.? Matt asked his fellow councilors to apply the tattoo multiple times around his arm so ...

Washington County residents are suffering through the worst heat wave of the year, and many of them are doing so right alongside their animals at the county fair. The thermometer at the Washington Airport read 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, and today?s expected high is 101 degrees with a heat index of 114 degrees. People who spend long periods of time in this weather face the prospect of heat exhaustion or ...

The Washington City Council agreed to finance the remodeling of the former library to be used as the new dispatch center, assuming that several conditions are met. The city agreed to remodel the second floor of the former library only if: the Washington County Communications Commission decides to move the dispatch center there; the remodeling costs no more than $300,000; and the commission agrees to a lease of ...

Washington Schools Superintendent Mike Jorgensen reacts to being dunked in the dunk tank at the Washington County Fair Tuesday afternoon. On a day that saw triple-digit temperatures, Jorgensen commented, ?There are tougher jobs I could have.?

Riverside resident Bob Schneider told the Riverside City Council that it charges too much for copies of its official documents. Schneider addressed the council during citizens? time at Monday?s council meeting.Schneider began his remarks with some advice for the council and other public bodies. He said public officials should leave their disagreements ?on the table? and not allow them to affect the way they ...

Iowa abounds in soybeans, so it?s no surprise that the state?s residents have learned to make just about everything under the sun from the crop. Washington resident Crystal Davis uses soybeans to make soy melts, a waxy substance that gives off a fragrance when heated.Davis started making the melts a few months ago when she bought a candle making business from Molly Pence. Davis asked friends of hers for advice ...

A Keota man has been sentenced to 60 months? imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The man is Nathan Trier, age 37. He was handed the sentence Friday.According to a press release from the United States Department of Justice, Trier was also ordered to serve four years of supervised release following his imprisonment and pay $200 to the Crime ...

Students of violin instructor Gwen Ying performed a concert for a crowd of classical music fans at the Central Park Bandstand Thursday night. The group is known as ?Suzuki Strings.? Twelve students performed that evening, and they were Ashley Beatty, Alijah Beatty, Maia Hopewell, Meredith Lumberg, Jia Huang Dong, Ellen Willhoit, Gwen Flannery, John Flannery, Kevin Flannery, Kate Flannery, Wilx Witthoft and ...

Few people have it as rough as Kathy Evans, and even fewer are able to keep such a positive outlook on life. The Washington native is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation for skin cancer at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.After two weeks of driving back and fourth from Washington, Evans asked her friends and relatives for a place to stay closer to the hospital. Her mother Mary Bruty and stepfather...

Blue Spruce trees in the county are under attack from a nasty fungus. Several spruce trees in Sunset Park are dying as a result. Spruce tree owners in Washington have cut down their infected trees that are too sick to recover.Washington Parks Director Tim Widmer said that perhaps as many as 10 trees are infected on city property alone. The city is treating the infected spruce with a fungicide if it shows ...