Andy Hallman

The Communications Commission elected a new chairman at its meeting Monday night. Wes Rich is the new chairman, replacing Bob Shepherd. The vote to elect Rich as chairman and Shepherd as co-chairman passed 4-2. Rich, Adam Mangold, Ryan Miller and Paul Shelangoski voted yes. Shepherd and Merle Hagie voted for a competing motion to keep the officers as they were, which was Shepherd as chairman and Mangold as

The Washington Community Y held its annual meeting Friday afternoon. Community Y staffers recognized the achievements of four local volunteers. Those who were honored were Shane Anderson, Gwen Thyen and Ron Barnes, all of Washington, and Alberta Walker of Wellman.    Anderson was recognized for his work with the Y?s flag football program last fall. Marcus Uhlenhopp, the program director at the Y, sought coaches for

The Washington City Council voted to proceed with litigation against Jeremy Patterson House Moving over access to the Mills Seed Building. Patterson owns the building, which was moved from Seventh Avenue to Iowa Avenue last February. The council voted 4-1 to proceed with litigation. Councilors Mike Roth, Karen Wilson-Johnson, Merlin Hagie and Fred Stark voted yes while Bob Shepherd voted no. Russ Zieglowsky was

Representatives of the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that the department has no plans to change the configuration of the intersection of highways 1 and 92. The announcement came at the Washington Street Committee meeting in the former library Wednesday. Jim Phillips, DOT staff engineer, said the department might repave the intersection in 2012 but change nothing else about it.    At a public

Collegiate scholarships are often earned through well-crafted essays and impressive résumés. Washington High School senior Brian Roder recently won a scholarship in a rather unconventional way.    Roder entered a contest to see who could produce the best video about college planning and financial aid. The winner of the contest would receive a $1,000 scholarship. Roder interviewed his guidance counselor Belinda

RIVERSIDE ? The Riverside City Council met Monday night and discussed a grant application from St. Mary?s Catholic Church. St. Mary?s applied for a $25,000 grant from the hotel/motel tax fund to go toward rebuilding St. Mary?s educational center, which is adjacent to the church. The councilors elected to table the resolution until they had a chance to ask City Attorney Les Lamping if the city could give funds to a

Washington High School students may be featured on MTV next year. The casting producer for the MTV show ?Made? visited the high school Tuesday and addressed the entire student body during an assembly in the auditorium. The casting producer, Nathan Johnson, told the crowd that he?s looking for students who want to be on the show. Johnson answered questions about the show and promised to return to the high school Jan.

Marr Park was the scene of many smiling faces Saturday afternoon. The Washington County Conservation Education Center hosted a day of ice fishing on one of its frozen ponds. There were four tents set up on the pond for the kids to ice fish inside. In one tent, fishermen kept watch of the fish through a television connected to an underwater camera. When the tents overflowed with people, more holes were drilled outside

The issue of preschool dominated the first legislative briefing of the year in Washington County. More than 30 people attended the briefing at the Washington County Courthouse on Saturday, during which State Representative Jarad Klein of Keota and State Senator Sandra Greiner of Keota answered questions from the public.    Holly Soboroff of Washington told the legislators she was worried that funding for preschool

The president of Iowa Renewable Energy (IRE) said 2011 figures to be a much better year for the biodiesel industry than 2010. Mike Bohannan is the president of IRE, a biodiesel plant in Washington. He said that one reason the industry will be better this year is the passage of the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit.    Between 2004 and 2008, the U.S. government approved a $1-per-gallon subsidy on biodiesel fuel. The

Local residents will have a chance to voice their concerns over state politics Saturday morning. State Senator Sandra Greiner and State Representative Jarad Klein will be in the courtroom at the Washington County Courthouse from 10 a.m. to noon to answer questions and report on what the Iowa Legislature will do this year. The Legislature is about to end its first week in session.     The format of the legislative

Iowa?s blizzards and cold winter temperatures are not something many people look forward to. Local people have coped with winter in a variety of ways. Some like to play in the snow. Some curl up with a good book indoors, while others fly the coop to enjoy warm weather down south.    Washington resident Diane Higgins is intimately familiar with winter, having lived in Alaska for several years. She is from southwest

There are local indicators that the economy is rebounding from the recession that began at the end of 2008. One of those is that Modine Manufacturing?s work force has doubled in the past year.    Plant Manager Don Horner started in Modine in the summer of 2009. At that time, the company was going through a period of layoffs.    ?We had about bottomed out by then,? he said.      In March 2010, Modine had 115

The Washington Fire Department is holding its annual Pancake Day today at the fire station. The firefighters serve two meals ? lunch and supper. Lunch was served today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and supper is served tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. Joe Redlinger, who is one of the department?s drivers, fulfills the role of Pancake Chairman for the second year in a row.    Tom Tanner has been with the fire department for 60

James Dean Blum was found guilty of second-degree murder of his wife Patricia Blum Friday afternoon. Blum was convicted by a 12-member jury after a trial that lasted three days. On Friday morning, the prosecution and defense made their closing arguments. The jury went into deliberation at noon and by about 3:30 p.m. it had reached a verdict. Blum?s sentencing hearing will be Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. at the Washington County