Obituaries

IOWA CITY (AP) ? Johnson County officials say they aren?t surprised that a new study has recognized the county as a hot spot for organic food. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that a Pennsylvania State University study released Wednesday by agricultural economist Ted Jaenicke named Johnson County and five other Iowa counties as organic hot spots. They were identified as having high levels of organic agricultu...

DES MOINES (AP) ? A Texas company is asking utility regulators to expedite a permit to build the Bakken oil pipeline through 18 counties in Iowa, including Jefferson and Van Buren counties. Last week, the Iowa Utilities Board voted unanimously to approve plans by Dakota Access LLC for a pipeline that would transport up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota?s Bakken oil fields to Patoka, ...

The Fairfield Police Department reports the following incidents logged into dispatch: Thursday12:29 a.m. ? A security officer at Maharishi University of Management reported that a citizen advised him that someone is going through cars in Utopia Park just east of Utopia Way. Officers checked the area for suspicious activity, but no one was located. Campus security advised that they would contact police if ...

One day, Kynsington Deutsch will know first-hand what it means to be one out of 1,461 ? the probability of being born on Leap Day. The only baby born to Southeast Iowa parents Monday at Ottumwa Regional Health Center, Kynsington joins a unique group of only 4 million others in the world who were born on the day that comes once every four years. ?It?s really exciting,? said Kynsington?s mother, Fairfield ...

KALONA (GTNS) ? Residents approved a $3.9 million bond issue to finance an enlarged community center in a special election Tuesday. The project found solid support among those voting in the election, with 400 residents voting for the project and 204 casting votes against it. For passage, a margin of more than 60 percent was required. Just over 36 percent of the city?s registered voters turned out for the ...

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, right, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey participate in a roundtable discussion on agriculture Wednesday afternoon at the Jefferson County Farm Bureau Office in Fairfield. The stop was part of a two-day tour of southeast Iowa to meet with ag leaders.

DES MOINES (AP) ? An advocacy coalition in Iowa says it will deliver thousands of petitions to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley to protest his recent comments about the selection of a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. A coalition of organizations plan to deliver 42,000 petition signatures today to Grassley?s six regional offices around Iowa. They also plan to deliver excerpts from the U.S. Constitution. Why Courts Matter ...

Several Fairfield Community School District teachers urged school board members Monday night to reconsider proposed faculty cuts from the music and athletic departments.Mick Flattery, life skills instructor at Fairfield Middle School and head coach for both the Fairfield High School girls? basketball and FHS boys? golf team, told board members that he didn?t envy them when it came to making staff cuts, but that ...

In the tradition honoring the birthday and agricultural legacy of the nation?s first president, Future Farmers of America Week begins next week for Fairfield High School students.?Next week is National FFA Week. It starts around George Washington?s birthday. He was a leader of our country, and we?re trying to instill leadership,? said Courtney Taglauer, FHS agricultural education instructor and FFA advisor.Accor...

KEOSAUQUA ? The Van Buren Community School Board approved a resolution to study the question of reorganizing with Harmony Community School District during the Van Buren school board meeting Feb. 10.Harmony is scheduled to vote on the resolution at a special meeting Wednesday. The motion to study reorganization anticipates that the reorganization would occur on or before July 1.Last month, the two school ...