Andy Hallman

Washington Police Chief Greg Goodman said the police department is making progress on the investigation into the death of Robert Blankenship, who died Nov. 22 after he was found unconscious outside the Fourth Avenue Bar and Grill. Goodman said that the department would likely issue a press release in the next two weeks concerning the information it has gathered in the past four months.    ?We?re trying to get this

The employees of Planned Parenthood in Washington are enjoying their new digs located at 311 N. Fourth Ave. They like it so much they are having an open house Tuesday from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at the clinic.    The Planned Parenthood clinic was moved to the Fourth Avenue location on Jan. 26 from its former location south of the courthouse on Main Street. Carol Greiner, the clinic manager, said they have more space in the

The Washington City Council took a step in the direction of vacating a portion of Sitler Drive at the south edge of town at its meeting Wednesday night. The council had earlier assigned the Planning and Zoning Commission the task of investigating the vacation of Sitler Drive from South Avenue B to South Avenue E. The commission met last week and recommended the city vacate that portion of Sitler Drive provided

The Crawfordsville City Council discussed the new water mains that are being installed in town during its regular meeting Tuesday night. Jim Zieglowsky was at the meeting and spoke on behalf of Cornerstone Excavating, the company that is putting in the water mains.    Cornerstone Excavating bid $382,000 to replace approximately half the water mains in Crawfordsville. Part of the bid included time spent searching for

A crowd of people gathered on North Iowa Avenue Friday to witness the Mills Seed Building inch closer and closer toward its future foundation on the east side of the street. The people who watched came from near and far to get a glimpse of history in the making. One onlooker, Roger Greiner, drove from Keota just to see the building being moved.    ?I just came down to see this,? said Greiner. ?It certainly is

CRAWFORDSVILLE ? A state auditor?s report has revealed that former Crawfordsville City Clerk John Hamil received improper payments from the city?s checking account to his personal residence. The audit shows that approximately $32,000 in improper disbursements were made from the city treasury between July 1, 1999 and Feb. 28, 2009. Among the improper disbursements were $8,733.17 in telephone service and $9,947.47 in

A group of nine seventh graders are enrolled in an after-school class about hunter safety that will run through Thursday at the Washington Junior High. The group receives instruction from Jim Cuddeback, a man who has been teaching this very course every year for the past 31 years. Cuddeback spent Monday showing the students a few of his guns and educating them in how to safely handle them.    ?The two things I

Nearly 2,000 homes and businesses in and around Washington were without electricity for an hour and a half Thursday afternoon in an unanticipated power outage. According to Alliant Energy representative Scott Drzycimski of Cedar Rapids, the outage was caused by a malfunction in a transmission line owned by ITC Midwest that occurred at around 4 p.m. Thursday. The outage affected customers on the east side of the city

The E911 Board and Communications Commission voted to agree to the proposed budgets Thursday evening. The next step is for the board and commission to hold a public hearing. The board voted to hold a public hearing on March 11 at 7 p.m. in the former library, which will be followed by the commission?s public hearing at 7:15 p.m.    The board and commission will also hold their monthly meetings at that time, assuming

The tax asking of the Washington County Hospital will not increase next fiscal year. That was the unanimous vote of the Washington County Hospital and Clinics Board of Trustees at its public hearing Wednesday afternoon. The board approved the fiscal year 2011 budget which keeps tax asking at $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.Hospital CFO Steve Sanders said that hospitals vary greatly across the state in the tax rates

Local residents who are thinking of purchasing an appliance in the near future may be able to receive a rebate from the state government. As part of the federal stimulus bill passed a year ago, consumers who purchase energy-efficient appliances may be able to receive a rebate of one-third or even one-half the cost of the appliance. Consumers can reserve a rebate beginning Monday, which will be handled at the state

Ainsworth residents Rodney Lee Bean and Lori Jo Bean have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the death of 78-year-old Joye L. Gentzler in 2008. According to the affidavit of Washington County Deputy Eric Holsapple, Gentzler was a dependent adult who was staying with Rodney Bean at 3294 Old White Way in Ainsworth at the time of her death on Feb. 27, 2008.    Both Rodney, 51, and Lori, 50,

The Washington County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to send the zoning ordinance to a third reading at its regular meeting Tuesday morning. The supervisors did not discuss the ordinance before voting to send it to a third reading. The third and possibly final reading of the ordinance will be held at the Supervisors? next meeting on March 2 at 9:30 a.m.    After the meeting, Supervisor Steve Davis spoke

Ainsworth resident Lori Jo Bean has been charged by the State of Iowa with involuntary manslaughter which resulted in the death of Joye L. Gentzler. Bean is charged with acting as a principal or by aiding and abetting Rodney Lee Bean by committing acts in a manner likely to cause death or serious injury.    Lori Jo Bean was charged with six other counts, namely second degree theft, neglect of a dependent person,

State Senator Becky Schmitz (D) and State Representative Larry Marek (D) spoke to a group of about 25 people in the courthouse Saturday for the second legislative briefing of the year. Cell phone use was one of the hot topics debated at the legislative briefing. Marek announced that the state is considering a bill that would outlaw sending text messages while driving. He said that during the first year the law was in