~by Colleen O’Brien A United States Poet Laureate died last week: Philip Levine, Poet Laureate in 2011 and 2012. He was 87 and had been writing poems since he was 14 — can you imagine that? Seventy-three years of metaphoring and rhyming and finding just the right word. Being a successful poet is often a compulsion — there’s many a…
Read MoreYear: 2015
A year late, but the Jefferson Hy-Vee is open
The long-awaited Jefferson Hy-Vee store opened Tuesday at 6 am with less than a handful of customers outside but dozens of smiles and high fives inside. Steve White of Churdan and Ray Walzer of Jefferson were the first through the door and they were headed not for groceries, but for breakfast at the Market Café. White explained that he has done road…
Read MoreBid winter farewell as you March Into March
“We are tired of winter. We are ready for spring. We want to promote healthy living. We want people to incorporate walking into their daily schedule.” These are rapid sentences that come from John Brunow when asked about the March Into March promotion for the Greene County Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber’s Promotion Committee challenges Greene County residents to put…
Read MoreAfter much discussion, no change for high school track teams
Paton-Churdan high school athletes competing in track and field this spring will do it wearing Rockets’ orange and black, not Greene County Rams’ red and black. The subject of where those students will compete was a topic of discussion at both boards’ regular February meetings.
Read MoreLincoln Highway topic of public meeting
Elected officials from Grand Junction, Scranton and Greene County, along Greene County engineer’s office staff, representatives of the Greene County Chamber, Jefferson Matters: Main Street and the Lincoln Highway Association were among the two dozen people at a meeting Tuesday in Jefferson to discuss a corridor management plan (CMP) for the Lincoln Highway. Scranton, Jefferson and Grand Junction are Greene…
Read MoreDestival hired to manage city’s golf course
The Jefferson Community Golf Course will open its inaugural season managed solely by the city with someone familiar to local golfers at the helm. The hiring of Micah Destival as manager was approved by the Jefferson city council at its Feb. 9 meeting.
Read MoreMain Street starting market analysis
Jefferson Matters: Main Street is embarking on an old-fashioned feet on the pavement face-to-face survey to determine what is needed to make businesses in the downtown district more successful and what new businesses would enhance the downtown.
Read MoreGreene County musicians going to state hoops tourneys
As in past years, Greene County high school will be represented at the state basketball tournament not by players, but by musicians. According to activities director Dean Lansman, a trio of Nadia Fisher, Annie Palmer and Michael Kennedy will sing that National Anthem at a girls tournament game next Tuesday, March 3. The Jazzatonics jazz choir will have the honor…
Read MoreGreene County makes two buses techsmart
The Greene County board of education enhanced the schools 1:1 technology initiative by approving the addition of wifi to two activity buses. The board approved the purchase of routers and initial connection fees at a total cost of $1,400, as well as $150 per month for a US Cellular data plan.
Read MoreBJ Wright named Scranton mayor
Fills vacancy left by death of Rod Walker Lifelong Scranton resident BJ Wright was unanimously picked as the new mayor of Scranton. The Scranton city council made the decision at its Feb. 11 meeting. He took office immediately, filling the vacancy created by the unexpected death of Rodney Walker in December.
Read MoreWork on infrastructure needed for casino continuing
The Jefferson city council at its regular meeting Feb. 24 approved the low bid of Scharnweber Inc of Toledo to complete the water and sanitary sewer extension to the Wild Rose Jefferson site. According to city engineer John Milligan, five bids were submitted ranging in cost from $697,789 to more than $1 million. The pre-bid estimate for the project was…
Read MoreElks tell essay winners
A pair of sixth graders from Greene County Intermediate School were among the top winners in the Iowa Elks Northwest District essay contest “Our Flag…What it Means to Me”. Madison Truitt placed second in the girls competition and Chance McCollom placed third in the boys competition. Both won the Jefferson Elks Lodge #2306 local contest in their respective divisions. There…
Read More