Fairfield News

Jefferson County Sheriff?s Office received a report at 8 p.m. Monday about a possible attempt to break-in from a resident on Salina Road. About $500 worth of damage was done to the resident?s garage entry door sometime between 4:30 p.m. Friday and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Entry was not gained.

Rudolph the reindeer is having a glittering antler makeover ? the latest attempt to halt some of the thousands of road deaths of the roaming caribou in the wilds of Finland.Anne Ollila of the Finnish Reindeer Herder?s Association says the antlers of 20 reindeer have been painted with various fluorescent dyes to see how the animals react and whether the paints are resistant to the harsh Arctic climate. If ...

Fairfield Fire Department responded at 7:37 p.m. Tuesday for a possible structure fire at 507 N. Fourth St. A passerby reported seeing smoke coming from a window. The resident was burning candles, there was no fire. Firefighters returned to the station at 7:47 p.m.A second possible structure fire call came in at 7:47 p.m. Tuesday and firefighters responded to 801 W. Broadway Ave., for a possible chimney fire. ...

President Barack Obama headed into a summit today with Mexican and Canadian leaders eager to engage on issues of trade and other neighbor-to-neighbor interests, even as Congress is pushing back against some of his top cross-border agenda items.Obama, flanked by his trade negotiator and secretaries of Commerce and Homeland Security, stepped off Air Force One in Toluca, near Mexico City. Obama will meet with ...

MT. PLEASANT (GTNS) ? At the Regional Utility Service Systems meeting earlier this month, the board of directors reversed a previous vote, this time voting to force the counties to each pay an additional $5,000 to make up for the loss of the $50,000 Utility Management Organization grant.Lee Dimmitt, Jefferson County?s representative on the board, was among those to vote against the motion.Dimmitt said he voted ...

Fairfield Community Education Association, the teachers? union, and the school district have opened negotiations for a master contract.The current contract, negotiated two years ago, expires at the end of this fiscal year, in June.The school board met early today to offer the district?s first proposal.?The tone was good, and we have a few dates lined up for our closed session bargaining,? said Superintendent ...

The National Weather Service in the Quad Cities said a strong storm system will move over the plains Thursday bringing mainly rain to the outlook area.The latest indications suggest a brief period of freezing rain and sleet will occur at the onset Thursday morning north of Highway 20 before quickly changing to rain.Seasonably high rainfall is expected and may cause flooding issues on area rivers due to rapid ...

There?s one big reason the United States has a dearth of execution drugs so acute that some states are considering solutions such as firing squads and gas chambers: Europe won?t allow the drugs to be exported because of its fierce hostility to capital punishment.The phenomenon started nine years ago when the EU banned the export of products used for execution, citing its goal to be the ?leading institutional ...

The debate about whether to continue the dragnet surveillance of Americans? phone records is highlighting divisions within the Democratic and Republican parties that could transform the politics of national security.While some leading Democrats have been reluctant to condemn the National Security Agency?s tactics, the GOP has begun to embrace a libertarian shift opposing the spy agency?s broad surveillance ...

Hungarian Jewish leaders say they have found 103 Torah scrolls taken from Hungary during the Holocaust in a Russian library.Rabbi Slomo Koves said Tuesday the sacred texts were discovered in the manuscript section of the Lenin State Regional Library of the western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod.Koves said negotiations are underway with Russian officials to restore the scrolls and possibly display them in ...

Public preschool, schools? allowable growth funding, fuel taxes and roads, and mental health services were the most talked about topics Saturday at Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast.Rep. Curt Hanson said the Legislature has moved from discussion to action mode now.?I?m sorry to see the Iowa House has not set allowable growth by the Feb. 13 deadline,? Hanson said. ?Education is truly a ...

Jefferson County Sheriff?s Office responded at 6:07 p.m. Saturday to a two-vehicle accident on Packwood Road, about a half-mile north of Highway 34.Raymond Steffen, 48, of Ottumwa, was driving a semi-tractor trailer south on Packwood Road.Heath Huggins, 34, of Bloomfield, was driving a Jeep north on Packwood Road. He told deputies he tried to make more room for the semi by moving right, and the Jeep fell off ...