Winner Announced for Jefferson Matters Fall Contest
Jefferson Matters: Main Street recently announced the winner of their “Fall Into Jefferson, Leaf Happy” contest.
Program Director Peg Raney says Bonnie Silbaugh and her daughter were the winners. The contest was to take a selfie at any of the participating downtown businesses in Jefferson and post the picture onto Jefferson Matters Instagram account or Facebook page. The winner was determined by the most shares or likes. The winning selfie was taken in front of Greene Bean Coffee and it received 112 likes. $100 cash was awarded to Silbaugh.
The contest was from September 21st through October 21st.
Next Week is Fall Clean Up for Jefferson
A notice for Jefferson residents, next week is fall clean up week.
City Administrator Mike Palmer says crews will pick up extra material, outside of normal garbage, for free. Each resident receives two free hopper loads and anything beyond that will be a $25 charge. A hopper load is the equivalent to a two-yard dumpster.
Items that will be accepted include yard waste in 30-gallon biodegradable paper bags; tree trimmings and brush with the cut ends facing the curb; appliances, electronic waste and metal items; furniture, carpet and windows; lumber and other construction debris; along with regular garbage. Appliances that contain freon such as refrigerators and air conditioning units will incur a $40 per appliance charge,and all other appliances will be a $25 fee. Materials such as tree trimmings and brush must be placed in arm loads with like items to be picked up.
Items that won’t be picked up include tires, whole trees and yard waste in plastic bags or in garbage cans.
Palmer thanks residents for their help in making this free service a smooth operation.
“You’ve noticed less that we’ve had to pick up. Our tonnage has gone down slightly. But in general, it’s been a much better process over the last five to ten years. (I’ve) got to hand it to the citizens, they’re really trying out there to make this process go so much better.”
Call City Hall for more information or with any questions about fall clean up week at 386-3111.
Times and Dates for Beggar’s Night in Greene County
As Halloween draws closer, several Greene County communities will hold their respective Beggar’s Nights.
Trick-Or-Treat Around the Square will be in Jefferson from 5 to 7pm on Thursday, October 29th, sponsored by the Greene County Chamber. Scranton will hold their trick-or-treating on Friday, October 30th from 5 to 7pm and Paton’s will be Friday from 5 to 6:30pm.
On Saturday, October 31st will be trick-or-treating in Grand Junction, Rippey and Churdan from 5 to 7pm. Jefferson’s suggested time on Halloween will be from 5:30 to 7:30pm.
Fire Destroys Corn Stalk Baler in Greene County
Large farm equipment was destroyed after a fire in Greene County Monday.
Sheriff Steve Haupert says at 9:18am, two deputies and the Scranton Fire Department responded to a corn stalk baler fire in a farm field in the 700 block of 220th Street (US Highway 30). As crews arrived on scene, Haupert notes that the smoke was so thick, his deputies shut down the highway for about 20 minutes to keep motorists from possibly colliding.
The cause of the fire is believed to be mechnical. With the growing number of farm implements on fire this harvest season, Haupert suggests that all equipment be inspected and cleaned out before use to help lessen the chance of a fire.
No one was hurt in the incident and the baler, which is owned by John McCormick, was a total loss at $40,000.
Both Greene County School District’s Enrollments are Up for Different Reasons
School districts recently certified their enrollments for the 2015-16 school year.
Greene County School District saw a dramatic difference in their enrollment numbers from last year to this year. The official enrollment is 1,298.8 students, which is a 14.43 increase over last year. The news is certainly better than year’s enrollment which was down about 19 students from the 2013-14 school year. Superintendent Tim Christensen is excited to see that enrollment is increasing and he attributes most of it to the projects and developments going on in the county.
However, Paton-Churdan saw a slight decrease in their certified enrollment to 198 students, which is 6.2 students fewer than last year at 204. Principal Annie Smith says even though they are down in the number of students based off the certified enrollment, they look at the actual number of students that they are educating, which is up ten from last year to 199 students. She points out that their actual enrollment numbers have increased every year for over five years.
“Not a lot of schools are able to say that the actual kids that they are educating is up, especially rural schools because we know how hard it is to keep that enrollment because people are going to other places. It is exciting to say that we’ve been up for multiple years.”
Certified enrollment is counted as those who live in the district and attend that school and it also counts those who open enroll to other districts as well. It does not count those who open enroll into the district that live outside of it.