Fairfield News

A fine recovery program started nearly 18 months ago has more than paid for itself, said Jefferson County Attorney Tim Dille.In the fall of 2010, Kris Barker was hired by the county part time to track down unpaid state fines. Upon collection, the funds are split between the county and the state.?It?s been working well,? said Dille. ?It will be an ongoing program.?Jefferson County has two collections programs, ...

With snow in the air today, it doesn?t seem quite as much like spring, but Thursday the sunshine and lack of wind made for a different story. Crocuses are in bloom in protected spots, both yellow and purple varieties. Temperatures forecast for next week are definitely spring-like, predicted to be in the 60s Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will unveil a new program Friday that will offer financial incentives for farmers to enroll up to 1 million new acres of grasslands and wetlands into the conservation reserve program.The government pays farmers to idle about 30 million acres of erodible land. However, contracts on about 6.5 million acres expire Sept. 30. With high corn and soybean prices there is concern that ...

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says his department will lead an agricultural trade mission to China at the end of March.Representatives from 40 U.S. agribusinesses and six state agriculture department leaders are planning to attend. They include Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, Oklahoma Agriculture Secretary Jim Reese, and representatives from North Carolina, Illinois, Kansas, and South ...

A 54-year-old Des Moines man has claimed his $1 million Powerball prize.Gary Higens said Thursday that four of the numbers he used for Wednesday?s drawing come from the birthdays of him, his wife, their son and their daughter.He matched five of the six numbers in winning the money.Higens says he bought the winning ticket at Krueger Amoco on Southwest Ninth Street in Des Moines.He says he and his wife will use ...

NEW YORK (AP) ? Gasoline prices climbed Friday for the 24th straight day as service stations pass along the rising cost of oil.The national average for gasoline hit $3.741 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That?s an increase of 46.5 cents per gallon since the start of 2012. Gasoline has never been so high this time of year, and analysts say it could reach a record of ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) ? Apparent tornadoes destroyed houses, sent people to hospitals and tore up the roof of a maximum security prison in northern Alabama as bad weather threatened more twisters across the region Friday, two days after a storm system killed 13 people in the Midwest and South.In the Huntsville area, at least four people were taken to area hospitals, and several houses were leveled by what ...

The Jefferson County Sheriff?s Office responded to a call at 5:38 p.m. Thursday at 1924 185th St., where it appeared a truck ran a stop sign and smashed through a fence.

President Barack Obama warned that he is not bluffing about attacking Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, but in an interview published Friday, Obama also cautioned U.S. ally Israel that a premature attack on Iran would do more harm than good.In his most expansive remarks on the issue thus far, Obama told The Atlantic magazine that Iran and Israel both understand that ?a military component? is among a mix of ...

Fairfield City Administrator Jeff Clawson has accepted a position with the city of Princeton, Ill.Clawson publicly announced his resignation Wednesday, but was unable to release the name of his new employer until today. His resignation takes effect April 27.Clawson came to Fairfield in June 2010 from LeRoy, Ill. He had worked in Illinois 23 years before accepting the job here and said he is only returning to ...

The Van Buren County Board of Supervisors approved a $7.75 million budget for fiscal year 2013, following a hearing Monday at the district courtroom.Taxes levied on property will increase from $2,529,883 to $2,579,602.According to county auditor Jon Finney, road use taxes and other intergovernmental transfers make up about half of all sources of revenue for the budget, with the rest coming from property taxes ...

After 2.5 hours of discussion and reviewing previous floor plans about updating Fairfield High School, school board members left Wednesday night?s work session with homework.?The seven of us need to come up with a plan, something that will endure and make sense 30 years from now, and longer,? Jennifer Anderson, board president, told other members. ?We all need to compile what we know and come to an agreement on ...