Andy Hallman

Washington County is a few weeks away from hiring a zoning administrator to handle the county zoning ordinance that will go into effect July 1. Assistant County Engineer Jacob Thorius said that the county received nine applications for the position, and that it will likely make its selection by June 1.    According to the job description posted on the county?s Web site, the zoning administrator will be in charge of

Washington?s Central Park will soon be abuzz with local gardeners selling their home-grown produce. Central Park is the location of the first farmers market of the year, which is Thursday from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Anita Davis of Ainsworth will be a special guest at the market who will sell flowers to benefit the Louisa County Fair.    The farmers market is an opportunity for farmers, gardeners, bakers and anyone else to

The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced the largest drop in the index?s history Thursday afternoon when it plummeted nearly 1,000 points in less than half an hour, according to the Associated Press. The Dow recovered to finish the day but was still 347 points lower than where it had begun the day.    Edward Jones Investment Advisor David Bruns, who has an office in Washington, said the large drop was caused by

The JOURNAL    Roads will be packed with the cars and ovens will be filled with pies this weekend as Americans celebrate Mother?s Day. Brighton resident Danielle Glaspie said she is planning to get together with her mother, who lives in Wellman. Glaspie said she may either take her mother out for lunch or have a meal at her house. Glaspie said that she sees her mother on a regular basis.     ?I try to see my mother

The Washington City Council voted to raise the price of the city?s brown yard waste bags from 50 cents to $1 at its meeting Wednesday night. The vote was 4-0 with council members Fred Stark, Merlin Hagie, Mike Roth and Karen Wilson-Johnson voting in the affirmative. Councilmen Russ Zieglowsky abstained and Bob Shepherd was absent.    Hagie said that the sanitation committee he sits on recommended the price increase

The Brighton City Council discussed the possibility of having an Internet provider use the city?s water tower as a broadband tower at its regular meeting Tuesday night. Mike Schill, the president of the Internet provider Natel out of Fairfield, addressed the council about negotiating an agreement whereby his company could use the water tower as a broadband tower rather than build a whole new tower.     ?Our model is

The Riverside City Council discussed the issue of nuisance abatement at its regular meeting Monday at City Hall. The council debated how to encourage residents to improve the look of their property so it complies with the city?s ordinances against dilapidated buildings, junk vehicles and tall grass, among other things.    Councilman Rodney Waldschmidt said that the council has tried to address the problem of

The students at Stewart Elementary School in Washington have noticed quite a few more books in their library lately. The school library has 125 new books on its shelves thanks to a donation from Ted Stewart, a Washington resident who volunteers at the school. Stewart won a $500 award earlier this year for the time he spends working with second and third graders. Stewart continued to ?pay it forward? by using the

The pretrial of Washington resident James Dean Blum, 70, has been moved to Aug. 13 at 1 p.m. in the Washington County Courthouse. Blum?s pretrial was originally scheduled to occur this morning at 10 a.m. Blum?s trial is set for Aug. 24, also in the Washington County Courthouse.    James Blum is charged with the second-degree murder of his wife Patricia Blum, who was found unresponsive in the couple?s home at 1009

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) held a public meeting in the Washington Public Library Thursday night to discuss changes to the intersection of State Highways 92 and 1 on the west edge of town. DOT engineers presented three possible designs intended to improve the flow of traffic at the intersection, including the installation of a stoplight and converting the intersection into a roundabout.    Under the

?It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.? That was how Washington County Engineer David Patterson described his three-month visit to Brazil, from which he just returned a few weeks ago. Patterson took an unpaid leave of absence from his position with the county to volunteer his engineering skills in a city called Niterói, which is in southeast Brazil and right next to Rio de Janeiro, the country?s second largest

The Washington City Council passed the first reading of an ordinance to adopt the recommended speed limit changes to Highway 92 proposed by the Iowa Department of Transportation. The changes would raise the speed limit from 30 to 35 mph for east and westbound traffic between Seventh and 15th Avenue, while lowering it from 55 to 50 mph for the eastbound traffic between the airport road and the entrance to Walmart,

Kalona resident Lynne Holdeman was found guilty of three counts of insurance fraud by a Washington County jury last week. Her husband Roger Holdeman was also charged with insurance fraud but was found not guilty on all three counts. Lynne Holdeman?s sentencing date is scheduled for May 21.    Lynne, Roger and the late Tommy Lee Riley were charged with filing fraudulent information on a life insurance application.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) held an informational meeting Tuesday about the proposed replacement of the Crooked Creek Bridge on Highway 92 just east of West Chester. Iowa DOT engineers Pete Tollenaere and Chuck Belgarde answered questions about the project on the second floor of the library Tuesday evening. They said that the bridge replacement is scheduled for the spring of 2011 and that it would

The search for a new home for the Washington County Dispatch Center got a little narrower Monday night as the E911 Board and Communications Commission agreed to take Washington?s city hall off the table. The board and commission held a joint meeting in the old library to discuss a new location for the dispatch center, and agreed that housing it in the current city hall would not work. The members of the board and