Archive for February, 2009

Demon Dash for Cash

Posted: Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 10:32 am

Washington Community Schools and Bodywrx are putting on a 5K Run/Walk and Mile Run/Walk to raise money for local schools. They are calling Demon Dash for Cash, Teri Hartzler is the chair of the event. She says it will be April 18th at the Washington Junior High. The proceeds go towards the purchase of books for the media centers and libraries for the four schools in the district. Hartzler says there are sponsorship packages available.

Paving Work

Posted: Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 10:32 am

Kalona will be getting new paving work done. The Kalona City Council approved moving ahead on paving 10th Street from Highway 22 to the middle school by beginning to bid for design work. One block of F Avenue would also be paved. City Administrator Doug Morgan said the engineers had given the probable cost at $149,000. The street would most likely have 7 inches of concrete at 31 feet in width. He noted the entrance to the school was currently 25 feet wide, so the last block of the paving project would narrow to conform to the school entrance. The City Council agreed that this paving work should be number one priority this year.

Valentine Craft Event

Posted: Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 10:32 am

The Kalona Library held a Craft Event on Valentines Day. Youth Services Coordinator
Marissa Tartaglia says on Valentines Day kids came to the library to make different things. Tartaglia says youth have been coming to the library more and more, she says every week it seems that more kids are attending the library and participating in different events such as the craft event and reading groups.

ISU Crawfordsville Research Farm Educational Meeting and Annual Meeting

Posted: Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 10:31 am

Everyone is invited to the ISU Crawfordsville Research Farm Educational Meeting. The annual meeting for the SE Iowa Agricultural Research Association will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 5 in the Washington County Extension office in Washington. Gary Bickmeier, the Keokuk County Extension Education Director says after a short business meeting, Kevin Van Dee, farm superintendent for the SE Iowa Research & Demonstration Farm will give an update on research occurring on the farm. Again the event will be 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 5 in the Washington County Extension office in Washington.

Washington Y Director

Posted: Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 9:36 am

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

Posted: Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 9:35 am

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

Posted: Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 9:35 am

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

Posted: Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 9:34 am

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

Posted: Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 9:34 am

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

Posted: Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 9:34 am

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.