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THOMAS D. "TOM" KERR Washington Thomas D. “Tom” Kerr, age 73, of Washington, Iowa, passed away on Saturday, November 28, …

I always enjoy going in to schools as a reporter, partially because my first job reporting had me focusing on schools and education in Keokuk, as well as Hamilton and Warsaw, Ill., across the Mississippi River and occasionally across the Des Moines River into Kahoka, Mo.Then there was my 21-month break from the newsroom, when I was a student myself again for six months and then taught high school in Wayne County ...

I spend too much time on Facebook some evenings.I?m not one to post very often, telling others what I am doing, but I see posts from various pages and share those that strike a chord with me. Of course, it?s much easier to click a ?like? or ?share? button than actually go out and do something; I am guilty of that, I admit.Facebook has been a fertile ground of quotes and ideas. I particularly like:?A society ...

My month of May.This month seems to go forever ? spring is in full force with flowers blooming, gardeners gardening, crops being planted ... well most years at least ... the school year winds down, and a three-day weekend/holiday near the end of May entices us to be outdoors.In my world, May 3 was a joyous day. My first grandchild was born, Colin Vance, son of my one son and his wife, only an hour?s drive ...

In my 15 years experience as a newspaper reporter, Tyler Webster?s murder trial earlier this month in Jefferson County was the first of any type of trial I have covered for an assignment.At my previous newspaper, the Daily Gate City in Keokuk, (1997-2010) another reporter covered the police beat and courthouse. I sat in with her one afternoon during a murder-by-arson trial and another time in a sex abuse trial ...

This season in Iowa takes my breath away with glowing trees, crops turning from vibrant green to yellow, gold and brown ? the air is clear of summer?s humidity and blue sky and sunshine are deeply appreciated.We call it autumn, or fall ? but it also is change. Many of us resist changes. Learning a new way of doing a task, even though it may be more efficient, can be bothersome. Watching our children transform, ...

Diane Vance is a Ledger staff writer.

Margaret Mary Hallan, 90, of Tacoma, Wash., died Wednesday, April 10, 2013, at Alaska Gardens in Tacoma.A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Tacoma. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Tacoma.Mrs. Hallan was born July 25, 1923, in Tacoma, Wash., the daughter of Robert James and Margaret Mary Carr Freeman. She married Eugene Hallan Oct. 5, 1946, in Tacoma, Wash. He preceded ...

LONE TREE - Jolene Diane Vance, 60, of Lone Tree, died Friday, May 6, 2005, at Lantern Park Nursing and Rehab Center in Coralville.      Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 10, 2005, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lone Tree. Burial will be in Sunnyside Memorial Garden Cemetery in Charles City at 3:30 p.m. Following the services at the church, a time of food and fellowship will be held at the

Art Sathoff, beginning his second year as superintendent for the Fairfield Community School District, recently added another responsibility to his week as pastor at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Fairfield.He completed a three-year licensed ministry program through the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Upper Midwest in October 2009.?I was very involved in my church in Packwood, ...