Glance back: From The Washington Evening Journal, Friday, June 12, 2009

10 Years Ago

The Washington School Board scheduled at least two special meetings this month to discuss facilities with the goal of taking a bond referendum to the voters in September.

During its regular meeting Wednesday, the school board also voted unanimously to form an advisory committee on the school facilities. The committee will be made up of the schools superintendent; the district business manager; the high school principal; two board members; two members recommended by the Washington Education Association; one member recommended by the non-certified staff; and four citizens recommended by the board.

The Washington Fire Department's new firetruck will change the way the fire department responds to calls, according to Washington fire Chief Tom Wide. For a fire call, the department has had the front line pumper go to the scene with just the driver. The new firetruck, which arrived last week, has a larger cab area and is able to accommodate five people including the driver.

Starting July 1, the Mid-Prairie (M-P) and Keota school districts will share the services of a media specialist and technology support provided by Mid-Prairie employees Phyllis Casper and Beth Swantz. The 28E agreement, approved at Monday's M-P board meeting, calls for Keota to pay 20 percent of Casper's salary and benefit package and 40 percent of Swantz's.

20 Years Ago

RUBIO - The Rubio Bridge, commissioned in 1904, was recently named to the National Register of Historic Places. To celebrate this distinction, the Washington County Historic Preservation Commission is sponsoring a Bridge Party, Sunday, June 13, at 4 p.m.

Plans for a new community center and city offices are in the works for the City of Riverside.

On May 24, the Riverside City Council decided to try to find a new place for the community center and new offices.

The Iowa Farm Bureau, joined by eight Iowa commodity organizations, announced that it has petitioned the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa to intervene in lawsuits brought against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

30 Years Ago

A tentative agreement between the city of Riverside and a medical waste treatment company could result in as many as 60 new jobs and an infusion of millions of dollars into the Riverside economy, according to a spokesman with the National Environmental Corporation, a medical waste treatment company based in Champaign, Ill. The company has signed a conditional agreement with Riverside 'to initiate site development activity including applications for local and state approval” for a proposed treatment plant near the community.

DES MOINES - A divided court of appeals today overturned the first-degree murder conviction of a Washington County man partly because of the prosecutor's 'disgraceful” conduct.

'Washington County's loss will be Iowa's gain.” That pretty much summed up Washington County Sheriff Yale Jarvis' feelings about losing Sgt. Jack Seward Jr. to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

40 Years Ago

A reunion which planners hope will become an annual event has been scheduled for all graduates of Brighton High School which closed during a reorganization in the early 1960s.

State Auditor Richard D. Johnson today released an audit of Washington County for fiscal year ended June 30, 1978.

A three-vehicle accident 3 miles east of the Victor interchange on Interstate 80 involving a Washington County man caused five people to be injured, one critically.

50 Years Ago

Perry Palmer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Palmer of Wellman, has been elected state secretary of the boys' 4-H Clubs for Iowa.

The Washington County Hospital activated an Inhalation Therapy service on both an inpatient and outpatient basis this week.

The Washington area received a total of 1.1 inches of rainfall during the past weekend of stormy weather. Some lightning damage was reported at a cottage on the UP Home grounds and other various locations in the area.