OELWEIN - The Williams Center for the Arts will be presenting the blues/blues rock group The Millers.  The event will be held on March 23, 2010, at 7 P.M., at the Williams Center.

OELWEIN - The Fayette county Democrats convened their 2010 convention at the court house in West Union Saturday, March 13, 2010.  Chairperson Tim O’Brien of Fayette presided over the meeting hearing reports from the various committees.  Several planks for the platform to be advanced to the district convention were presented and after lengthy discussion, all were passed unanimously.

DES MOINES—Administrative Law Judge Carol Greta commended the Oelwein Board of Education Monday morning for their actions following their decision to expel a student during the first semester of the school year.

DES MOINES (AP) — Gov. Chet Culver says he’ll veto any state budget that doesn’t include an extra $347 million for Iowa’s schools.

WATERLOO (AP) — A retiree says he will seek the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Rep. Bruce Braley for the 1st District congressional seat.

OELWEIN - Oelwein will host their 4th of  July Celebration on Saturday, July 3, 2010. The committee has been hard at work planning the events. The following is a list of the day’s events or ideas that have been approved with more events being added.

The Oelwein Farmers’ Market organizers would like to move their twice-weekly seasonal market from its present location near the log cabin in the city’s south parking lot. They made a written request to the city council to relocate operations to the east parking lot next to the First Baptist Church. Their reason for the move is to make the open market more visible to traffic along Highways 3 and 150. After looking over the request during Monday night’s council proceedings, the city council moved to table the request until more specifics are gathered on the amount of space the Farmers’ Market would require. More details on the request should be available by the next city council meeting on March 22.

HAZLETON - Uncontrolled and illegal trade threatens many species of wildlife (both plants and animals) and is a significant factor in the loss of biological diversity throughout the world.

A semi rollover closed down Highway 150 between Urbana and Independence. The accident occurred north of the Rowley corner after a car went left of center and forced the driver of this semi off the road. The semi was carrying about 850 car batteries, weighing about 45,000 pounds. The semi ended up in a creek overflow, prompting Haz-Mat crews to become involved. The highway was closed through much of the day, Wednesday and reopened about 1 a.m., Thursday.

JESUP - Marshall Grosscup, along with 10 Jesup High School students, started the Jesup FFA Chapter on March 26, 1935. It was the 51st chapter to be chartered in Iowa, but it was only the beginning of a longstanding tradition of leadership and excellence that has been maintained for the last 75 years.

ARLINGTON – The old Arlington School building is set to become just a memory.

LA PORTE CITY (AP) — A traffic stop by La Porte police led to the makings of a methamphetamine lab and the arrest of three people.

 The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office responded to a one-vehicle accident with injuries at the intersection of Highway 150 S. and 190th Street, Wednesday. A 2002 International truck driven by Donald Charles Snyder, 63, of Waucoma had lost control and rolled over into the ditch. Snyder was transported to Palmer Hospital by Northeast Iowa Transport for his injuries. (Status unknown at time of news release) West Union Fire also assisted the sheriff’s office at the scene. This accident remains under investigation.

(The following article was submited by Williams Center Director Doug McFarlane.)

WEST UNION - Oelwein Publishing Co., the parent company of the Oelwein Daily Register, has purchased the Fayette County Union.

The Oelwein Board of Education approved the calendar for the 2010-2011 school year at its regular meeting Monday night.

OELWEIN — The Oelwein City Council approved a $12.8 million budget for 2011 during Monday’s proceedings. While the council kept the budget increase from last year at a modest $700,000, the local tax levy will go up 33 cents from $16.74 to $17.07 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Decreased state support and rising health insurance costs are blamed for the tax hike.

OELWEIN - The Oelwein School Board approved the management fund resolution for 2010-2011. The resolution states that the board, consistent with the Iowa Code, will levy tax for 2010-2011 in the amount of $300,000 for the district’s management fund.

OELWEIN – The Oelwein Healthcare Coalition will meet Thursday, March 11, 7 p.m., at the Community Plaza. Coalition members are expected to discuss a situation at a Wheaton owned hospital in Racine, Wis., where as many as 50 physicians indicated they might leave the hospital because of changes in the hospital’s anesthesiology staff. Wheaton is also the parent company of Oelwein’s Mercy Hospital.