Esther Anne (Shank) Ponx of Jefferson passed away May 16, 2020, at the age of 97. Esther was born in New Hampton on February 20, 1923, the first of two children born to Doyle and Beulah (Powell) Shank. She lived in New Hampton until 1929 when the family moved to Greenbrier Township, Greene County. She attended Greenbrier Township #6, a…
Read MoreDay: May 17, 2020
Letter to the editor – Dean Hoskins re: Stumpf CAFO application
To the editor, On Monday of this week, a debacle of large proportion was visited upon our community. Another pair of CAFO hog factories were approved by the Greene County board of supervisors for submittal to the DNR for the issuance of construction permits.
Read MorePaid consultant says supervisors should verify matrix numbers
~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…
Read MoreA deeper look: Interview with Becky Sexton, Twin Lakes Environmental
~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…
Read MoreJim Ball, 1932 – 2020
James Hans Ball was born the son of Lora and Luella (Peterson) Ball on November 8, 1932, at Webb, Iowa, and passed from this life with his loving wife of 64 years at his bedside on May 15, 2020, at MercyOne Hospital in Des Moines at the age of 87 years. Jim grew up on his parents’ farm and graduated…
Read MoreMore Fareway gift cards for local businesses
The Jefferson Area Chamber of Commerce applied for and received $1,000 in Fareway gift cards last week, in addition to $2,000 received in April. Fareway Stores Inc announced last month a $200,000 donation to the Iowa Chamber of Commerce Executives. The $3,000 received by the local Chamber is the maximum amount any chamber could receive.
Read MoreJeff city hall opening Monday; library doing well but staying closed
There’s good news: Jefferson city hall will be open to the public again starting Monday, May 18. Regular hours are 8 am to 5 pm. There’s other news: The curbside service offered by the Jefferson public library staff is proving to be very successful. That allows the library trustees to take extra time in reopening the library. The trustees determined…
Read MoreWhere there’s a will
The Class of 2020 has had special opportunities to learn stamina, resilience, the the power of thinking “outside the box” as the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed the end of their senior year. A pair of seniors, Ashlee Harmeyer and Alexis Miller, had a drive thru graduation party Saturday.
Read MoreTower Tunes will mark Memorial Day weekend
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,…
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