Andy Hallman

Radon gas is the focus of the Washington County Environmental Health Department?s recent educational campaign. The department won a $2,500 grant from the Iowa Department of Public Health to spread the word about the dangers of radon. The grant allows the department to hand out 300 free radon test kits. Department employees have used the grant to give Power Point presentations to elementary students about radon, where

Lincoln Elementary School invited parents to walk a mile in their children?s shoes Friday. The school held its annual ?VIP Day? which allows parents to sit in on their kids? classes. Phil Krachak attended a few classes with his son Wil, who is in sixth grade. It was the first VIP Day he?s ever been to.    ?Elementary school is more hectic than I remember,? he said. ?I went to Lincoln, too, and there is more going on

The Washington City Council discussed its lease with Washington County Public Health at its meeting Wednesday night. The council voted 5-0 to agree to a lease with public health. Russ Zieglowsky was absent. The city may terminate the lease but must give public health 60 days notice of the termination. Public health will continue to pay the city $400 per month to rent the second floor of the former library.    The

Washington County experienced quite the storm over the last few days. Employees of the city of Washington have worked nearly around the clock to clean the streets. J.J. Bell is the city?s maintenance and construction supervisor, and he said the storm was among the most severe he?s ever seen. He estimated that Washington received 18 inches of snow during the storm.     ?I?m not so sure it?s not the worst one in 30

The blizzard Tuesday night made travel next to impossible in the county. It was not the day Kalona couple Kyle Campbell and Chelsea Caddle wanted to have their baby. As luck would have it, Caddle went into labor that night. What ensued was a Herculean effort on the part of the Kalona Quick Responders, a couple of deputies and a tow truck to transport the couple to the Washington County Hospital in the middle of the

By Andy HallmanThe JOURNALThe Washington County Supervisors continued their budget meetings Tuesday afternoon. Environmental Health Director Jeff Thomann said his re-estimated budget for the current fiscal year (2010-2011) is about $270,000. Thomann requested a budget of about $237,000 for the upcoming fiscal year.Thomann asked the supervisors to raise the salary of Jennine Wolf, the assistant sanitarian. Thomann

The Washington City Council heard citizen feedback on a resolution to ban guns from public buildings. Under the proposed resolution, guns could not be brought into public buildings without the mayor or police chief?s consent. At its Jan. 19 meeting, the council voted to table the resolution. At Wednesday?s meeting, no one on the council motioned to untable the resolution.    Scott Clark and Seth Cornwell, both of

The Washington City Council pored over the budgets of its various municipal departments Monday night. Fire Chief Tom Wide presented the fire department?s budget. The council talked about the department?s utility bill, which some councilors thought was very high. The department spent about $8,000 on utilities over a six-month span.    Wide remarked, ?We?ve got to keep the trucks from freezing.?    City Administrator

The JOURNAL    The snow has recently receded thanks to a couple of warm days, but it will make an appearance today and return with a vengeance tomorrow. The National Weather Service is predicting 15 inches of snow for Tuesday with winds of 30 mph.    An inch of snow is expected to fall on the area tonight. Tuesday morning should see mixed and freezing drizzle before noon. About 5 inches of snow is expected Tuesday

A couple of high school students have just produced a video about the city of Washington. Juniors Alex Thode and Brock Kimball filmed the city?s schools, houses and retail outlets, all in an effort to attract families to settle in Washington. Within the next week, they will upload the video to Youtube. Chamber of Commerce director Tim Coffey said he is working on a way to host the video on the chamber?s Web site.   

I?ve talked to a number of people in the last month who spend a few weeks down south over the winter. Arizona and Florida are the typical destinations, but I?ve also talked to people who visit California and Texas. Some of them want to move there. Some of them have relatives who want them to move there.    I?ve spent some time down south as well. I lived in Mexico for six months when I was a senior in college. I

Thursday night was a special night at Stewart Elementary School. The school hosted ?Math Night,? an evening of games that employ basic arithmetic such as addition and subtraction. The event wasn?t just for kids, either. The students brought their parents along to play the games with them.    The school was divided into four main sections for ?Math Night.? In one room, kids were given cereal and asked to arrange the

The Washington City Council set its priorities for the upcoming year at a work session Wednesday night. Jeff Schott of the University of Iowa guided the council through the process of naming and prioritizing its goals. Schott is the program director at the Institute of Public Affairs at the university.    The councilors made a list of the ?new initiatives? it wants to accomplish in the next few years. New

The Washington Safety Center is fielding more and more 911 calls every year. That was what the Communications Commission members learned at their meeting Monday night. Communications Supervisor Cara Sorrells distributed a packet of information to the commissioners that included the number of 911 calls for each town in the county over the past year.    The safety center received a total of 9,916 calls in 2010, which

Abby Charlier makes sure that her students get plenty of exercise. Charlier and her colleague Jean Meek teach a preschool class at Washington Preschool, which is housed in the United Methodist Church?s Wesley Center. A typical January in Iowa does not allow for much outdoor activity, which means that the kids do a lot of their exercise indoors.    Charlier has been a preschool teacher for five years and has taught