Thursday, February 19, 2009

Washington Y Director

The Washington Community Y will be looking for a new director. Darren Pickles has accepted a job in the Lancaster metro area in Pennsylvania. He will be the branch director for the Lancaster Y which is opening a new 45,000 square foot facility on 10 acres of land. Pickles says this opportunity just kind of fell on him and it was the toughest decision he's had to make. Pickles last day at the Washington Community Y is March 6th.

Prevailing Wage

One Washington County Supervisor is opposed to the idea of requiring prevailing wage on state funded projects. Supervisor Wes Rich says lawmakers are looking at requiring the area's prevailing wage be used on projects that involve state money. Rich says the requirement of using prevailing wage will likely force projects to cost more which could lead to higher taxes.

Kalona Days

Kalona days aren't far off and they'll need a new committee chair. Dave Finley says because of the lack of support from the chamber he has resigned from the Kalona Days committee. Finley says he thought the chamber would give the committee the money they raised last year to help with this year's Kalona Days, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Finley says they have been invited to a special Kalona Chamber of Commerce meeting to be held in the chamber building, tomorrow morning at eight to discuss the funding of Kalona Days.

All-State Showcase

The Washington High School Speech team is sending three events to Ames to perform at the All-State Speech Festival, and they are asking for your help. The students are heading up Friday and will perform on Saturday. To help with costs for the trip they will be performing for local residents tonight at the high school auditorium. They'll take donations at the door to help with the costs of the trip. The performance starts at 7:30pm.

Kalona Elementary Playground

The Kalona Elementary Playground Improvement Committee is asking the Kalona City Council for help with their project. Kerri Bell says they started raising money to improve the playground at Kalona Elementary in 2006 and they have raised over $86,000. She says they still need to raise up to $250,000 to complete the project.

Flood Rebuilding Seminar

Louisa Count Extension is putting on a seminar geared towards homeowners rebuilding or remodeling after the summer flood. The Flood Rebuilding Seminar is sponsored by Iowa State University and Louisa County Extension. Louisa County Extension Education Director Kathy Vance says the all day seminar will bring together specialists from Iowa State University and Iowa Community College to provide the latest information in their fields. The seminar will be held at the Oakville Community Building in Oakville on Monday, March 2. To register or for more information contact the Louisa County Extension office at 319-523-2371.