Washington News

The Washington Hotel/Motel Committee — a municipal board that handles roughly $75,000 in annual taxes on local hospitality businesses — has issued its first-ever grant. Officials say it’s the start of a newfound effort to formalize its application process.

On May 15, approximately 70 Mid-Prairie East Elementary second-graders were able to learn more about agriculture through a cooperative learning opportunity provided in partnership with twenty-two Mid-Prairie FFA members, Sam Jamison, the Washington County Ag in the Classroom Coordinator, and the Iowa Corn Education trailer exhibit.

Washington sweeps Fairfield, moves to 5-0 in conference softball standings

In his stop at the Washington County Fairgrounds June 9 for the 26th Annual Antique Tractorcade, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig discussed farm profitability with local reporters, saying it was “top of mind” for his office.

Municipal police say they’ve arrested a man accused of carrying firearms onto school grounds, almost a week after two unloaded handguns were found under a tree near the Washington High School baseball field.

Washington County supervisors allowed a handful of public comments from advocates asking for a local civil rights ordinance Tuesday morning, but say they still don’t plan to take action on it for the time being.

City council members in Washington have completed the first reading of an ordinance amendment that legalizes fireworks on certain holidays, after years of banning the pyrotechnic rockets in town without exception. And they’re not happy about it.

Washington’s 78th Ridiculous Days were a blast last week. And despite unfavorable forecasts, there was no rain on the annual parade, nor any of the numerous other activities as community members gathered for the long-beloved town festival.

A new town celebration will mix Art Domestique’s annual En Plaine Air competition with a handful of new events focused on the arts, as community members seek to show off their designation as an Iowa Arts and Entertainment district.

Neither side seems to expect speedy resolution as case is referred to the state’s supreme court, which can either make a ruling in several months, or delegate the matter to the Iowa Court of Appeals. It’s the latest in a legal battle over polling place errors that allowed at least 70 invalid voters to cast a ballot in the school’s $15 million bond referendum in November.

A reunion of friends, neighbors and former students met June 1, 2025 at Marjorie Koehler’s home in Keota. Also present …

Jackie Morgan has a solid medical background, working as a nurse practitioner for primary care clinics and urgent care floors in Iowa, where she’s lived for 15 years.