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Washington’s top stories of 2024
YMCA Shuts Down Indoor Pool / YMCA opens indoor pool
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Athletes, water aerobics enthusiasts and recreational swimmers alike mourned the closure of Washington County’s only indoor pool March 22, after water from burst pipes damaged its pre-internet maintenance manuals and broke equipment, stumping repairmen who had worked on the facility for years.
The shutdown was disappointing, but hardly a surprise: the Washington YMCA’s indoor pool had been closed since Jan. 2 for the attempted repairs, and the aging facility was just two months from its 100-year anniversary.
The mood in March was a stark contrast from that on Dec. 10, when YMCA staff and community members gathered on the deck of a brand-new indoor pool, the capstone of a $17 million facility over a decade in the making. The ribbon-cutting was attended by hundreds of community members.
“My biggest feeling right now is pride,” YMCA of Washington County CEO Amy Schulte said. “I grew up in the YMCA, my grandfather was a lifelong member of the YMCA. So being able to be a part of this fills me with a lot of pride.”
The new aquatic center is a vast upgrade from its predecessor, with a lap-swimming pool, sauna, hot tub and shallow area for kids. Especially exciting to competitive swimmers: its lanes are regulation-length, unlike the last pool’s, which were too short to host competitions.
Highland adopts 4-day school week. Others may follow
The Highland School District made waves in a statewide debate in February, when the school board voted 6-1 to start holding classes four days a week instead of five, starting with the 2024-25 school year.
The move lengthened school days by about 45 minutes, and got rid of weekly early-outs. Decision-makers said they expected it to improve the schools’ appeal to prospective hires, addressing a staff shortage that’s plagued rural Iowa schools, and joining WACO, another district in Southeast Iowa which was the first in the state to try a four-day schedule.
“Having a qualified, experienced professional in that classroom is what’s best for students, and that’s what we’re driving this for,” said Ken Crawford, the superintendent of both Highland and WACO school districts. “It’s not about a one-year gimmick, it’s about what we can do to sustain this district at the highest possible level.”
Other districts have discussed the option in the months since. Washington plans to decide in February whether it will adopt a four-day school week model in the coming year.
Rosien resigns as Washington mayor
The Washington City Council unanimously accepted a letter of resignation from Mayor Jaron Rosien at a meeting in February. Other officials had increasingly called on the city’s former leader to step down as he passed the 1-year mark on a voluntary, unpaid leave of absence while facing charges of third degree sexual abuse.
“I have struggled immensely with this decision,” he wrote in his resignation letter, read aloud at a council meeting Feb. 19. “I ran for office to better our community. And I keep returning to the question of what is best for the city of Washington. Ultimately, continuing on with a leave of absence slows progress.”
Rosien has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but his his case has lingered in the court system longer than initially expected, and has yet to go to a trial. Regardless of the eventual verdict, the circumstances of his departure complicated the former mayor’s legacy.
While some called his legal battle an “embarrassment” to the city, Rosien’s career was marked with landslide election wins, and no shortage of lasting accomplishments. Noteworthy examples included monetary concessions from merging international railroads, compromises forged in an overhaul of the municipal parking code, and successful navigation of the COVID-19 pandemic, to name a few.
“Jaron is welcome to run as mayor after he deals with and resolves his legal matters,” Council Member Ivan Rangel said a day before Rosien stepped down. “Don't take it wrong, he was great at being mayor. But now we need someone in that position to take the reins on and deal with the issues in Washington full-time.”
Millie Youngquist wins race for mayor
Mayor Pro Tem Millie Youngquist officially shortened her title in late April, emerging victorious from a special election with 432 ballots in her favor. At 44.17%, she won the plurality of votes cast to choose Washington’s next mayor in a four-way race.
"I’m pleased and flattered that the citizens of Washington have put their vote of confidence in me,“ she said after results came in. ”I’ve done a lot of hard working, meeting people, and knocking on doors and shaking hands, and talking to people, and hopefully that helped get some of the vote out.“
The victory for Washington’s stand-in executive of the last 14 months ended a contentious four-way election between Youngquist, council members and Ivan Rangel (240 votes,) and Elaine Moore (171 votes,) and challenger candidate Rob Meyer (130 votes.)
For many, the outcome symbolized something more: the conclusion to a lingering sense of uncertainty about the city’s leadership, which started with former Mayor Rosien’s leave of absence in early 2023.
Washington esports team finishes first season undefeated
With a nail-biter victory, Washington’s first-ever esports team notched a win at its final preliminary round of the Super Smash Bros season, sending the Demons to states with an undefeated record, and only one round loss between all their best-of-three matches.
The decisive victory was a surprise both to Washington’s competition, and its own members. 2024 was the school’s first-ever forray into an esports program.
“We hoped to have a successful start of the program, definitely wasn’t expecting this,” said Coach Drew Ayrit, after the last game against Williamsburg had ended. “I’m just proud of these guys for working hard, and we saw a lot of improvement from our players over the course of the year, too. I think they deserve it.”
Washington’s team featured seniors Kyann Miller and Lucas (Lucky) Lindsey, sophomores David Ide, Elijah Ide, Luis Torrijos and Synder Ortega, and freshmen Tyler Burroughs and Colin Fritz. The group went on to take second place at the state tournament in Marshalltown, Nov. 22.
The win was celebrated by administrators as well as students. Washington school board members unanimously approved creation of an esports program over the summer, with officials saying they hoped it would attract students who otherwise lacked interest in extracurricular activities.
“Anything we can do to get kids involved and find some success, anywhere — whether it’s choir or e-games or whatever it is — that’s the real key,” High School Principal Ed Rathjen said in June. “That support’s appreciated, because that was really a core group of kids that just didn’t really have a place in high school, and hopefully we’ve got a place for them now.”
Washington County formally removes ambulance director
After 16 months on paid leave, Washington County Ambulance Director Jeremy Peck was unceremoniously removed from the local government’s payroll March 5 in a unanimous vote with no discussion, sandwiched between a flurry of eight unrelated change requests from the department.
County officials have not given a formal explanation for Peck’s suspension or termination to date. Board of Supervisors Chair Richard Young attributed the long wait of Peck’s paid leave on aspects of the state “Back the Blue Act,” which passed in 2022.
Several anonymous ambulance employees told The Southeast Iowa Union that Peck had instructed staff to alter official documents, leading to state and federal investigations of the department’s record-keeping practices. Additionally, some EMS staff have publicly claimed that Peck created a “highly toxic” environment where they feared workplace retaliation.
“If you can tell me for fact who the anonymous sources are I will comment,” Peck said in response to a request for comments on those claims. When The Union declined to identify its anonymous sources, he continued, “Yep. Then that's my comment! I will happily talk to you once you give up the names.”
In June, the details of a legal settlement between Peck and the county were released. The terms included a $105,584 payout to Peck, in addition to his compensation while on paid leave. It also forbade the former director from pressing charges against Washington County under the federal Family Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Civil Rights Act, or under state laws involving whistleblower protections, employee wages, and workers’ rights to vote on election days.
Northside Diner restores classic spot on Washington square
Community members eagerly crowded into the establishment formerly known as Winga’s Cafe Thursday, April 18 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the soon-to-open business of a new name: Northside Diner.
It was an instant hit upon opening.
On the first day of business June 1, during Washington’s annual Ridiculous Days, the diner served around 360 people, before everything on the menu was sold out. By the end of their third day, staff had tallied 1,000 customers.
“It’s been off the charts,” said owner Isabella Santoro. “Several of us cried that day, a combination of happy and overwhelmed. It totally blew all our expectations out of the water.”
Many early visitors saw the eatery as a revivification of the long-enjoyed Winga’s Cafe, an iconic diner in the same location on the square for decades. But Northside’s been careful to carve out its own brand.
The restaurant’s tagline, “a retro diner with a modern twist,” is embodied by the menu. While the establishment has a classic soda fountain, burgers and pies it also has options further out on the culinary horizon, like “cowboy caviar,” a falafel, kale chips, and a poke bowl.
High rainfall relieves drought, but farmer worries remain
By the start of July in 2023, every farmer in Southeast Iowa was wringing their hands over an ongoing drought. Over two thirds of the state’s fields were short or very short on moisture, and producers noted slow growth of their crops and low effectiveness of their pesticides, both of which require water. Hay prices skyrocketed and pasture conditions sank, with low precipitation numbers lingering into the winter.
2024 offered a sharp contrast. As the northwest end of the state endured severe flooding, Iowa was free of drought conditions on June 7 for the first time in four years, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. While the totals only added up to a few inches more than average in Southeast Iowa, they reflected a radical increase from the year prior.
“It probably feels like that, especially compared to how dry we were,” Washington County ISU Extension Field Agronomist Rebecca Vittetoe said. “We’re definitely above normal this year, but not insanely above normal for rainfall.”
While the drought’s end was welcome news, it sparked a new fear for producers: overproduction.
That fear appeared to come true. Massive yields across the state helped drive down commodity prices in 2024, worsening the bottom line for growers and indirectly resulting in the first downtick of Iowa farmland values for the first time in five years.
Washington Library’s ‘MakeIT Space’ now open
A long-awaited creative workspace opened over the summer in the basement of Washington’s public library. The makerspace project came quickly to fruition after its plans began in 2022, and spent only library foundation money throughout construction, costing zero taxpayer dollars.
“I am really happy with the way that construction turned out, the way everything looks, the flow of the space, the storage that we have, the equipment we were able to buy,” Library Director Cary Ann Siegfried said. “I’m just excited today to be able to open it to the community, because we’ve been working on things for so long.”
Equipped with sewing machines, pottery wheels, Legos, a 3D printer, and an array of other specialized equipment, the makerspace allows anyone with a library card to access its resources, although users need to take a few classes or prove their proficiency to a librarian before accessing some of the harder-to-learn tools.
Those involved in the project said they expected it to bring new people to the building that didn’t use it before. While the library serves as a community gathering place, database access point, occasional music venue and free source of internet — among other things — its advocates continue to fight outdated notions that it’s only a place for books.
“It’s really become a place for learning and creativity,” Library Board President Margi Jarrard said. “This MakeIT Place is going to provide even more opportunities than what we had already. We are so fortunate to have it.”
Last building of Dublin, Iowa slated for demolition
he last intact building of Dublin, Iowa — an unincorporated community in Washington County that existed from the 1870s until 1964, when its last store closed — was scheduled for a demolition by fire in September, although dry weather led firefighters to delay the date by a few months.
The structure about eight miles west of Washington, along 250th Street, was once a general store, also hosting a lodge hall upstairs. But local historian Michael Zahs, who managed the property for the Washington County Historical Society, said it was time for it to come down.
“I kept it going as long as possible,” he said. “It’s just to the point that it’s no longer safe, and people have started putting their trash in the store, and there’s no point in that continuing.”
The teetering building was a far cry from Dublin in its prime. The community was once a thriving center of commerce, and in the 1880s it had a glove factory, a doctor, a newspaper, a school that trained teachers and an industrious cheese factory, according to a Washington County history textbook, shared by Zahs. But over the decades, it struggled to compete with nearby communities thanks to its lack of a railroad connection.
Not everyone agreed with Zahs’ assessment, apparently. A sign was nailed to the teetering shop’s west side shortly before its initially planned demolition, Zahs said he didn’t know by whom.
“Don’t burn me!” the sign declared in black, all-capital letters, painted on a white plank. “I’m old! I like it here! It’s ole sweet home for Dublin!”
Despite some public pushback, the building was demolished in a quiet, controlled flame the morning of Nov. 23. Zahs said a boulder would eventually be placed on the site, with a plaque offering details about the community that once stood there.
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
