Glance Back

(From The Washington Evening Journal, Friday, Jan. 21, 2005)

10 YEARS AGO

County Attorney Barbara Edmondson spoke with Mayor Ed Brown and the Washington City Council, during the council?s meeting last night. She said that she wanted to ask some questions about the city?s position on the shared law enforcement administration contract between the city and the county.

Olegario Lopez Sr. is a happy man. With his granddaughter, Isabella, in his arms and his new status as a permanent resident, his worries seem fewer than they did two days ago.

Iowans? encounters with deer drew comment from the politicians and the audience during the first Legislative Briefing held Saturday morning at the Washington County Courthouse.

20 YEARS AGO

For the parents of junior high students who are accustomed to hearing the popular complaint, ?I?m bored. There?s nothing to do,? now there is an answer. With the formation of the Parent Activities Committee (PAC) through Washington Junior High School, parents have the opportunity to plan recreational activities for their children which will generally be held on Saturday evenings at the Washington Community Y.

AINSWORTH ? Ira Cunningham called it ?almost criminal.? Other Ainsworth residents also are upset that cross arms have not been installed at the three railroad intersections in the community. The oversight has caused George Schultz, director of the Ainsworth First Responders, to spearhead a drive to press the Iowa Department of Transportation into action.

Once again, Washington enjoyed a housing boom in 1994, according to statistics released by Tom Palmer, city zoning administrator. Twenty-one family homes were built in the city last year, representing $1.9 million in value.

30 YEARS AGO

The Washington County Board of Supervisors today confirmed the reappointment of two deputy sheriffs and a jailer. Deputy Sheriff Jack Seward Jr., Deputy Sheriff Clifford Elmore and jailer Richard Allison were renamed to their posts.

Bill Bordwell, son of Esther Bordwell of Washington, will leave Jan. 19 for the Philippines on a Voluntary Optometric Service to Humanity (VOSH) mission.

FAIRFIELD ? A small plane from Des Moines was forced to make an emergency landing in a farm field near Packwood, but no one was hurt, Jefferson County authorities said. The undamaged plane landed Saturday about 3:40 p.m. and was moved to the Fairfield airport Sunday to continue its trip, after a mechanic looked at it.

40 YEARS AGO

At a meeting of the building committee last night, Arthur Lundgren of Lundgren-Taylor Architects presented final plans for the Washington Community Center to be constructed on the fairgrounds site recently released by the City of Washington for that purpose. Plans were approved.

Keith Hora succeeded his father, George, as the champion corn grower in the 1974 Washington area section of the Iowa Master Corn and Soybean Yield Contest. He reported a 178.07 bushel per acre average

50 YEARS AGO

Mr. and Mrs. James Moeller and family moved Saturday from the Robert Friese farm north of town to the Doyle Plecker farm nine miles northeast of Washington.

Virgil Norton began work today in East Hall at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, as an IBM operator.