Andy Hallman

The Washington Planning and Zoning Commission denied Gerald Franzen?s request to change a city ordinance. The ordinance would have permitted certain ground floor dwellings in the downtown area. The vote was 5-1 against the proposed change. Commissioners Bill Fredrick, Bob Bonar, Rick Hofer, Kathy Salazar and Connie Larsen voted against the change. Deran DeLong was the only commissioner to vote for it. The issue ...

The Public Health Building and Finance Committee will approach the hospital with a list of ideas for a future building. Public Health is looking for a home, and the hospital is one option it?s considering. The suggestions the committee will pose to the hospital are about ways of paying for the building and about who will manage it once it?s built.Terry Philips is a member of the committee and proposed four ...

The Communications Commission has resurrected the option of constructing a new dispatch center at Orchard Hill. The idea of building new has been discussed at the commission?s meetings for over a year. At the last couple of meetings, it was put on the back burner because it was much more expensive than the other options of moving the dispatch center to the former jail or the former library. However, at Monday?s ...

Washington residents should expect the boil order to last at least through Wednesday. City Administrator Dave Plyman said samples of the water will be taken today and sent to the State Hygienic Lab in Iowa City to test for pathogens. The city will send several water samples from various locations in town. The boil order will be lifted when all tests come back clean.Plyman also said that the water towers are ...

The entire city of Washington is in a water emergency. Residents should conserve water and boil the water they will consume. The boil order will probably be in effect for at least a few days. City staff will take water samples today and send them to the State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa. The lab will test the samples for e-coli bacteria and other pathogens. If the test finds no pathogens, the boil ...

The city of Washington is under a boil order, and will be for at least a couple of days. That means residents who wish to consume water must first boil it. The city recommends bringing the water to a rolling boil for at least two minutes.The city maintains its water under high pressure in its water towers. If the pressure gets too low, harmful bacteria such as e-coli can enter the water supply. That is why ...

The Washington School District will hold classes Tuesday despite the water emergency the city is under. Schools Superintendent Mike Jorgensen made the announcement Monday morning.Jorgensen said students should bring bottled water because the water fountains will be off. Faucets and other water distribution devices will function normally.The cafeterias will serve sandwiches, which do not require water in ...

Delores Franzen of Washington has as much Easter spirit as anyone. She decorated this evergreen tree outside her home on Second Street with 100 plastic eggs and rabbit figurines. She also tied a half-dozen inflatable rabbit balloons to her front porch.

TrekFest is on. The Riverside Area Community Club (RACC) met Thursday night and announced that TrekFest will run as scheduled June 24-25. In the past month, RACC raised over $10,000 in donations for Star Trek-themed celebration. And yet, some of the past events had to be cut for lack of funds. RACC has no plans for a rodeo, nor will it pay any Star Trek celebrities to come.Four RACC members attended Thursday?s ...

We?ll have to wait another week for May flowers. In the meantime, we?re stuck with April showers. Rain continued to soak the area Friday morning. Local residents hope it lets up by this weekend in time for their family Easter egg hunts.Jenisa Hanson said her family will have an Easter egg hunt rain or shine. Hanson?s family gathers at her grandmother Pat Bruegge?s home every Easter. The egg hunt is the ...

The new Marion Avenue Baptist minister Joseph Brown addressed the Washington City Council about a fireworks permit Wednesday night. Joseph became the pastor last Sunday after his father Larry stepped down. The church will host an event known as ?Our Time Youth Program? tonight at the Fairgrounds. The highlight of the program is a fireworks show, which will begin at 9:15 p.m. and last approximately 25 minutes. The ...

The Washington City Council will debate a number of hot button issues at its meeting tonight at 6 p.m. One of those is the reconfiguration of West Madison Street. The Iowa Department of Transportation has proposed changing the lane configuration of West Madison from a four-lane to a three-lane road. The middle lane would be for left-turning traffic only.Representatives of the DOT visited Washington in February ...

A recent report from a conservation group suggests that Iowa loses more topsoil than previously thought. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released the report, ?Losing Ground,? earlier this week.In 2007, the United States Department of Agriculture released a study which found that the state lost an average of 5.2 tons of topsoil per acre per year, just above what it termed the ?tolerable loss? rate of 5 ...

The charity concert Musicians Against Hunger raised nearly $900 Saturday for Operation Backpack. Operation Backpack supplies Stewart Elementary students with a bag of food every Friday throughout the school year. Pictured are the members of the youth praise band from the United Presbyterian Church, where the concert took place. The band was one of many acts to perform at the event. The event was organized in ...

The students at Lincoln Elementary had fun with their parents Thursday night. The school held its annual ?Literacy Night? which featured three activities and a meal. The night began at 5:30 p.m. when the kids and adults ate supper in the gymnasium. They dined on hot dogs, chips and lemonade. The Washington Lions Club provided popcorn.The crowd then broke up into three groups. One group heard librarian Don ...