Andy Hallman

The biodiesel plant in Washington has had to dramatically cut production since the first of the year owing to the expiration of a federal biodiesel subsidy. Every year since 2004, the U.S. government has approved a $1-per-gallon subsidy on biodiesel fuel. The Senate did not renew the subsidy in 2009, so biodiesel manufacturers around the country have had to scale back their operations since then.     Mike Bohannan,

The Washington City Council passed the first reading of an ordinance to quickly remove junk vehicles from city streets at its meeting Wednesday night. The current ordinance states that inoperable vehicles may not be parked outside in a residential neighborhood for more than seven days. The revised ordinance passed by the council would give the owner of the junk vehicle seven days to abate the nuisance instead of 14

The town of Crawfordsville can now boast of a new fire station and city hall thanks largely to a grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation. The new fire station sits directly on the land occupied by the old fire station building that was wheeled away last summer.     Roy Felts, Crawfordsville Fire Chief, said he is very pleased with the new building. He said he especially likes the extra room afforded by

Dick Weeks, a lifelong resident of Washington and the owner of Sitler Electric Supply Inc., passed away Wednesday morning. Weeks had many friends in Washington who have fond memories of the man who gave so much to the community.    Dale Torpey, the president of Federation Bank in Washington, was a friend of Weeks for almost 30 years. Torpey said what he remembers most about Weeks was his knowledge of how to run a

The weather forecast for Washington is 5 inches of snow Wednesday night and a few more inches Thursday. Wind gusts of 30 mph on Thursday are expected to produce a wind chill of minus 10. City and county officials have been battling freezing temperatures for a month and still have a few months to go before they can declare victory.    Greg Johnson, the acting city maintenance and construction superintendent for

The Washington City Council will hear the first reading of an ordinance to accelerate the removal of junk vehicles from the town?s residential areas at its first meeting of the year on Wednesday. The current ordinance states that inoperable vehicles may not be parked outside in a residential neighborhood for more than seven days, including junk vehicles the owner is attempting to sell. The revised section of the

The city of Washington can boast of many historic homes and businesses. What the town?s residents are finding out is that the state and federal governments are willing to help those individuals who wish to rehabilitate historically significant structures. The state and federal governments provide tax credits to developers who refurbish old buildings that were associated with a prominent person or had national or

The English River Wildlife Area recently received an addition of 167 acres on the western edge of the property, bringing the total acreage of the wildlife area to 782 acres. Washington County contributed $8,520 toward purchasing the property, which was assessed at $184,000. The Clemencia Nolan Estate owned the property and sold it to Washington Keokuk and Iowa counties on Dec. 30.    Steve Anderson, director of the

The project to renovate Lake Darling in Lake Darling State Park will continue despite expected budget cuts from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), according to DNR Regional Fisheries Supervisor Steve Waters.    The DNR is under pressure to trim its budget for 2010, as are nearly all state entities. The Associated Press reported Monday that the state may close selected trails and beaches and even entire

Southeast Iowa has been able to escape the brunt of the torrential snowstorms that have hammered other parts of the state. The state has been hit by two major snowstorms in the month of December. A blizzard swept across the state in the second week of December which forced the cancellation of the Washington schools for three straight days. A second blizzard hit last week and made travel extremely difficult,

After serving as Washington?s water plant superintendent for two decades, John Hays will step down from his post at the end of this week. Assistant utilities director Chad McCleary will fill Hays? position after the first of the year. In retirement, Hays said he will travel the globe to provide clean drinking water to villages that need it.    Hays will stay on as a consultant to the city for 18 months after his

Members of the Washington Police Department and Sheriff?s Office participated in SWAT team drills in the high school Monday afternoon. The group spends approximately eight hours every month preparing for things like high-risk search and arrest warrant executions and hostage situations. The team selected the high school because of the large number of rooms in the building and because school is not in session this

David Hunter doesn?t get to spend much time with his family. In fact, he?s only in the country three weeks out of the year. So you can rest assured that he enjoys every minute he has with his family, especially during Christmas.    Hunter spends the other 49 weeks of the year in Iraq where he works as an aircraft parts contractor for a company called ARINC. Hunter returned to Washington a little more than a week

As the year comes to a close, it?s time to look back at what has happened in the past 12 months. The City of Washington has accomplished quite a few things in 2009. The downtown enhancement project and the new library building were among the significant additions to the town that occurred in 2009.    The downtown enhancement project began in the spring of 2007. The project consisted of resurfacing streets on all

More families registered for the adopt-a-family Christmas program in Washington County this year than last year, according to HACAP Social Worker Associate Cindy Gretter. Gretter said 230 families in the county registered for help this Christmas, well over the 196 families who registered for assistance in 2008. What is more, Gretter said the 2008 figure was nearly double the number from 2007.    Gretter said a