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After working nearly 22 years at The Journal, I am retiring. My last day of work will be this Friday, April 29.
On July 6, 1994, I started my new temporary part-time job as a typesetter here. I learned how to type up and format legal publications and how to compose ads. I did that job for about nine months before I went to work at the Columbus Gazette in Columbus Junction as the news editor. I was there for five ...
Linda Wenger
Oct. 2, 2018 8:45 am
After working nearly 22 years at The Journal, I am retiring. My last day of work will be this Friday, April 29.
On July 6, 1994, I started my new temporary part-time job as a typesetter here. I learned how to type up and format legal publications and how to compose ads. I did that job for about nine months before I went to work at the Columbus Gazette in Columbus Junction as the news editor. I was there for five years.
I enjoyed working for the weekly newspaper. I covered school boards and two city councils. I was involved in the Community Club and I got to know some really great people.
On Dec. 15, 1999, I started working at The Journal. I?ve been an assistant news editor, news editor, lifestyles editor and features editor.
The city of Washington and Washington County have had a lot of big stories in all those years.
I started covering water quality at Lake Darling in 2000. I started going to meetings at the Brighton Community Center with experts on water quality and how to clean up the Lake Darling Watershed. In 2000, I also started working with conservationist Stan Simmons. My first story was about a farmer named Roy Rogers who was using conservation practices on his farm in the watershed. Stan would take me to the watershed once or twice a year to see all the work being done and I would write stories updating Journal readers about that progress. It was a huge accomplishment involving local, state and federal dollars.
One of the biggest stories I worked on for over eight years was the county zoning ordinance issue. There is no greater story about grassroots politics than this one. For me it began on Jan. 22, 2008, when the county adopted a new comprehensive plan. Implementing a county zoning ordinance was part of the plan. The board of supervisors appointed a group of volunteers from throughout the county to draft the zoning ordinance, a process that took 18 months or so before it became law.
A group of zoning opponents formed. They campaigned for supervisors who promised to repeal zoning and they eventually succeeded in their efforts. No matter what side anyone comes down on, grassroots politics can succeed.
That new group of supervisors also worked for the residents of Richmond and Rubio and ended the plan to build a lagoon wastewater system in Richmond.
This community supports veterans. They supported the National Guard when it was called up for duty in Iraq. The Journal was there when the service members came home from their first deployment. Volunteers helped the families of the service members while they were gone.
This community built a new veterans memorial, sent World War II and Korean War veterans to Washington, D.C., so they could see the monuments built by a grateful country. I was able to go on one of the trips and bring back stories and photos. I?ve interviewed many World War II veterans, three of whom were prisoners of war.
I was covering the Washington City Council as it hired its first city administrator and as the police department moved out of the county building. The fire department bought the aerial platform truck.
During my time here, The Journal has been involved in the lives of many people, from cancer survivors and Relay to Life to covering the Washington County Fair Board and the Washington County Fair. We have written about progress, including reporting on new businesses and business updates.
The library built a new building, the hospital a new hospital, the school district a new high school and a performing arts and events center, with new facilities for young children in the works. The Y has expanded and is raising funds for a new facility is Washington.
Individuals are also doing remarkable things or living remarkable lives. I?ve loved meeting so many of them and helping them tell their stories.
There are countless stories and groups and people I haven?t mentioned, and there are all the future stories that I will miss, but that The Journal won?t.
I?ve worked with a great bunch of people. While a writer?s name is on the byline, stories don?t get written by one person. Getting the paper out the door five afternoons a week needs everyone of us here doing our jobs. They are the ones I will miss the most!
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