National Award To Washington For Blood Drives

The organization, America's Blood Centers is presenting a national award to the City of Washington. Iowa Blood Drives Bi-Monthly Civic Sponsorship Rotation puts on blood drives in the community throughout the year to generate donations for the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center. Yale Jarvis coordinates the drives. He received a letter from America's Blood Centers saying Washington is going to be awarded the 12th Annual National Humanitarian Service Award. The award recognizes a civic group that has encouraged the spirit of volunteering.

Sheriff's Office Move Delayed

The Washington County Sheriff's Office will soon be relocating to the new jail but their moving plans have been delayed slightly. Sheriff Dunbar says they were hoping to be moved out there last week. Dunbar says the person that is helping switch systems, such as the phones, has been ill and if he can't make it out this week, the office may have to wait a couple more weeks for the move. The sheriff says the main purpose for the move is to be able to quickly address problems that may come up at the jail.

New Chamber Director Starting Friday

The Washington Chamber's new director will start on the job Friday. The chamber board announced last week they had hired Tim Coffey. Coffey has been running a fund raising consulting firm in Washington primarily working with non-profit groups. He says as he takes the position he wants to work closely with WEDG and Main Street Washington to market the city in a higher visibility way. He also would like to make the benefits of being a chamber member more visible, with the hope of increasing membership.

Former Keokuk Resident Accused Of Murder In Missouri

Missouri officials have charged a former Keokuk County resident with first degree murder in the death of his roommate who also used to live in Keokuk County. According to Daviess County Sheriff Officials, Carlos Sarmiento is accused of killing Lance Davis. Keokuk County Sheriff Jeff Shipley says both men used to live in Keokuk County about two or three years ago.

Attorney Generals Warns Of Phishing Scams

The Washington Chamber of Commerce has recently circulated a warning issued by the Iowa Attorney General's Office warning of various phishing scams going around the state. Bob Brammer with the Attorney General's Office says these scams primarily involve email or text messages. He says they all are seeking personal information from you such as social security number or credit card number. Brammer says legit companies don't ask for such information in email. He says the only time you should be asked for your credit card number, is if you have gone to a website, selected items to purchase, and are closing out the purchase. Finally Brammer says while many times you may hear of individuals being scammed, small businesses should also be cautious.

Mid Prairie Home School

The Mid-Prairie Home School Supervisors are talking to the state lawmakers about Home School Drivers ed. Superintendent Mark Schneider says he hasnt really studied the issue too much yet. Schneider says he has a lot of faith in the home school department and believes that they would not be going after something if it didn't have merit. Schneider says the home schooling teachers at Mid-Prairie are some of the best he has worked with.

Fruit Tree & Brambles Clinic

Wondering how to get the most out of fruit trees? Keokuk County Extension Education Director Gary Bickmeier says they have a clinic coming up that covers just that. He says the Fruit Tree and Bramble Care and Selection clinic will look at several things including how to properly care for fruit trees. The program will be March 12th at 5:30 at Marie Atwood's across from the Sigourney John Deere. The cost is ten dollars and to register you can call 800-515-2680.

Sextro Contract Renewed

The Washington School Board President says the district's interim superintendent's work and help dealing with the district's budget was key in the board's decision to keep him another year. Board President Eric Turner says he feels many are pleased with Interim Superintendent Dave Sextro's performance in his first year in the district and Turner feels he's brought some trust back to the district. Sextro was hired at the beginning of the school year for one year after Dave Schmitt resigned in August.

Mourning loss of employee

The Riverboat Casino and Golf Resort is mourning the loss of one of their employees. Spokeswoman Sharon Haselhoff says Tina O'Leary of Lone Tree had been a dealer at the casino since they opened and a model employee. Haselhoff says the casino wants to extend their deepest sympathies to family and friends of Tina O'Leary and her tragic loss will be felt throughout the company. O'Leary was the victim of a murder suicide in Lone Tree over the weekend.

Work Release Area at Jail

Washington County Supervisors have approved putting the project to build the work release area of the county jail out to bid. The supervisors have had the item on their agenda the last couple of weeks but wanted to get a few questions answered, primarily if additional work would affect warranties on equipment and systems in the current facility. After receiving a report that it wouldn't be a problem they approved a bid letting for March 24. The work release area and a covered drop off area were in the original plans but the county wanted to get the main facility constructed first and then make sure there was enough money approved by voters for the add-ons.

Demon Basketball

The Washington Demon girls' basketball team saw their season come to an end last night, one game short of the state tournament. Last night in Fairfield, the Keokuk Chiefs beat the Demons 44-36. Demon Head Coach Phil Long says he felt his team left all on the floor and that's what he wanted. It is the furthest the Demons have been in the post season tournament since they last qualified for state in 2002. This was the first Regional Final team Phil Long as taken as head coach and comes in his fourth season.

Mid Prairie Honors Retirees

The Mid Prairie School Board honored the teachers that are retiring at the end of the school year. At the board meeting on Monday, 4 teachers were presented a plaque for their outstanding achievements and years of service to Mid Prairie. Being honored were Special Education teacher Mr. Dalton, who has been with mid prairie for 11 years; Librarian Mrs. Conway, who has been there for 22 years; and Reading Teacher Mrs. Shellady and Band Teacher Mrs. Curtis who have both been with Mid Prairie for 31 years.

Public Library Programs for kids

The Washington Public Library has a few programs coming up for local little ones. Story time for preschool readers will start next Tuesday at 9:30. Wee Read for toddlers with an adult will be Tuesday at 10:30. Also the library will put on Create Your World a creative writing club for writers K-5th grade which begins next Wednesday at 4:00 pm. And for a little older kids, the Scribblers Club, a teen creative writing club for 6th-12th graders begins Monday at 4:00 pm. You can register at the Washington Public Library's front desk.

Story Times

During the month of March, on Wednesdays from 10:30-11:00am in the childrens area of Kalona Public Library, the Youth Services Librarian Marissa Tartaglia will be holding story times for preschoolers. Tartaglia says story times help build early childhood literacy skills through listening, finger plays, rhymes and songs. The story time themes for March are as follows: Dr. Seuss, Leprechauns, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Fairytales & Knights. Melina Lagios. Also a guest librarian at the Kalona Public Library will conduct the March 18th story time in honor of the 40th Anniversary of Eric Carles, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. For additional information, contact Marissa at 319-656-3501.

Washington Man One Of Two Found Dead In Lone Tree

The body of a Washington man was one of the two bodies found in a Lone Tree home over the weekend. According to the Johnson County Sheriff's office 51 year old Timothy Mellinger of Washington died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound in a murder suicide. The other body discovered was that of 39 year old Tina O'Leary who died of asphyxiation. The Sheriff's office and Iowa DCI say Mellinger and O'Leary were involved in a relationship that ended around Thanksgiving last fall. They suspect Mellinger killed O'Leary and then took his own life.

Highway 22 Road Work

Roadway patching today will reduce Iowa 22 to one lane in the city of Riverside, according the Iowa Department of Transportation. The patching project is set to run from Iowa 1 to U.S. 218 and be completed by late this afternoon. Flaggers will be in place to assist motorists through the work zone.
The Iowa DOT urges motorists to caution in the area, obey flagger instructions and posted signs, reduce distractions and always wear seat belts.

Schmitz Stance On Prevailing Wage

State Senator Becky Schmitz says she supports the idea of state lawmakers passing a prevailing wage bill. Such a bill would require workers on projects funded by state dollars, be paid by the typical wage for the area identified by the state labor department. Schmitz says this practice is used in many cases today when the state uses federal money on projects and will be used when stimulus package money comes to Iowa, so it's not an out of the box proposal. Schmitz said at a weekend town hall meeting in Washington that she'd vote for such a bill. However, Schmitz says since it couldn't pass in the House, it is highly unlikely they'll spend time introducing such a bill in the Senate. Opponents of prevailing wage have expressed concern about being forced to pay a higher wage, could drive up governmental project costs.

County Supervisors

Washington County Supervisors will again consider bidding out the project to build the work release area of the county jail. The area was included in the original plans, but the county held off to make sure there was enough money in what voters approved to build the work release area. Now that they are comfortable there is a enough money they plan to bid the project. However, supervisors have held off approving putting the job out to bid because there have been concerns about how much responsibility the original builder would have and if warranties will be affected if additions are made. The supervisors meet this morning at 9:30.

Teacher In-Service

You probably know how your child spends a teacher in service day, but what about their teacher? One of the ways Washington Community School District has used in-service days this year to implement a standard practice for teachers in the district designed to improve student reading comprehension. District Curriculum Director Veta Thode says some of these include stating what will be covered in the class, writing it on the board, reading to or with students, and giving very detailed explanations not assuming prior knowledge of a subject. Thode says these are non-negotiable practices that apply to all teachers.

Wellman Water Supply

The Wellman water supply is getting a make over. City Administrator Dave Ross says everything seems to be going well in getting the new reverse osmosis system put in. Ross says they are working with H.R. Green Company and getting all the details worked out and they should have a construction date set very soon. Ross says that even though the water bill will rise to pay fore the system it is worth it in the long run, he says the water people will receive is cleaner and healthier than it has ever been.