It’s been a long standing tradition in virtually every community to hold a Memorial Day service on Monday. Due to COVID-19 gathering regulations, most will not be held.
A service with in-vehicle attendance will be held at the Highland Township Cemetery in Churdan Monday at 9:30 am. Continue reading Memorial Day services limited
The primary election on Tuesday, June 2, is rapidly approaching.
Greene County auditor Jane Heun and Secretary of State Paul Pate encourage voters to cast absentee ballots by mail. Forms were mailed recently which included pre-paid postage for returning them to the Greene County auditor’s office. The forms can also be downloaded directly from the Iowa Secretary of State website, VoterReady.Iowa.gov. Continue reading Deadline Friday for mail-in primary ballot requests
There were 4.3 days suitable for field work during the week ending May 17, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Windy days made spraying weeds difficult, but planting continued prior to most of Iowa receiving rain in the latter half of the week.
Continue reading Planting well ahead of average year, welcome rainfall received
The first drive-through public distribution of face masks in the COVER Greene County mask initiative will be held Thursday, May 21, from 5 to 6:30 pm in the Trinity Lutheran Church parking lot, 801 W. Lincoln Way, in Jefferson. There is no charge for the masks.
More than 250 face masks are available to hand out on a first-come, first-served basis. Only one mask will be given for each family member. Persons should plan to remain in their vehicles. Continue reading COVER Greene County slates mask distribution
The Greene County public health department and Greene County attorney Thomas Laehn will review the most recent proclamations of Gov Kim Reynolds regarding COVID-19 at a Zoom event hosted by Jefferson Matters: Main Street’s economic vitality team. Each will provide the most recent recommendations and an overview of the remaining restrictions on economic activity in the state. Continue reading Main Street plans Zoom meeting on reopening business in the pandemic
The Greene County Fair has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fair board and Greene County Extension announced Monday that virtually all elements of the fair will be postponed. The exception is the youth exhibits.
The fair board press release follows:
The Greene County Fair board and Greene County Extension have announced several changes to the upcoming 2020 Greene County Fair. After much discussion, due to the many unknowns concerning public safety and gatherings, a majority of our annual events will be postponed. This includes all grandstand, grounds entertainment, commercial exhibits, open class exhibits, and many other events with public gatherings. Continue reading County Fair is canceled; stay tuned for youth exhibit info
~by Victoria Riley
The Greene County supervisors have long held they have no power to prevent construction of a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) if the master matrix submitted with the construction permit meets the minimum 440 points.
In recent years, the supervisors have accepted master matrices as presented, not questioning scoring even when the point total is only slightly more than the total needed. Continue reading Paid consultant says supervisors should verify matrix numbers
~by Janice Harbaugh
The Background: At a public hearing for Stumpf Finishers, LLC held by the Greene County board of supervisors on May 11, allegations were made by the public that Becky Sexton had attempted to intimidate residents of the county over their exercise of free speech. Allegations were also made that the master matrix scores submitted by Sexton to the Greene County board of supervisors were inaccurate. Continue reading A deeper look: Interview with Becky Sexton, Twin Lakes Environmental
The Bell Tower Community Foundation has scheduled special Tower Tunes Live concerts for Memorial Day weekend. A variety of patriotic songs and hymns will be played by three musicians over the weekend to celebrate this important holiday.
Concerts will be played from 12:15 to 12:30 pm each day. Wendy VanderLinden will play Saturday, May 23, Yvette Bardole will play Sunday, May 24, and Rick Morain will play on Memorial Day, May 25. The Memorial Day concert will be offered on Facebook Live. Continue reading Tower Tunes will mark Memorial Day weekend
Greene County continues to see community spread of COVID-19. The Greene County public health department reports that as of May 14, Greene County has 14 confirmed cases of the illness; nine patients have recovered. A total of 1,163 county residents have been tested. Continue reading COVID-19 update from GrCo public health
The Jefferson city council at its May 12 meeting paved the way for an elite wrestling program to relocate in Jefferson with the approval of a $150,000, 10-year forgivable loan to T.J. Sebolt.
Sebolt and his father Scott Sebolt are negotiating the purchase of The Fieldhouse from Greene County Youth Athletic Association. The building was originally the Safeway grocery store, but was renovated as a youth training facility about six years ago. GCYAA purchased it when owners Jeff and Amy Schroeder moved from Jefferson. The non-profit youth organization has used it for its own programs and rented it to Greene County Schools as a wrestling practice facility. Continue reading Jeff council okays loan to wrestling academy, contracts for runway and trails
The results of COVID-19 testing done as part of the Test Iowa initiative have been validated by the State Hygienic Lab, Gov Kim Reynolds announced Thursday at her daily press briefing. The tests were found to be 95 percent accurate for persons with COVID-19, and 99.7 percent accurate for those who test negative.
Since Test Iowa was launched 23 days ago, the assessment on the Test Iowa website has been completed more than 400,000 times, more than 4,300 Iowans have been tested as a result of the assessment, and 4,000 of them have received their results. Continue reading Test Iowa accuracy rates at 95 percent when result is positive