2008 was an interesting year for Jasper County

The controversy began early for the Jasper County Board of Supervisors. On the first meeting of the year, one of the requirements of the board is to select official newspapers for the county’s legal publications, a designation that can mean a lucrative revenue source for those papers. The selection is based on subscription numbers. Along with the Jasper County Tribune and the Newton Daily News, the Diamond Trail News has been designated for several years. This year, however, Pete and Criste Scarnati, owners of the Prairie City News, challenged the Diamond Trail News for the official designation, based on subscription numbers that were slightly higher for the week of March 11, 2007. Although the Diamond Trail News challenged the ruling in court, the Prairie City News retained its official designation. Later in January, the Colfax Senior Citizens Center was granted $500 for repairs to the center when the county’s Congregate Meals program moved to its new location at former Aldi’s Grocery store in Newton. Then in March the supervisors gave the Senior Citizens Center 30 days’ notice of termination of its contract, citing lack of volunteers, and began searching for an alternate location for serving Congregate Meals. The decision sparked an immediate response from the Colfax Senior Citizens, who packed the third floor courtroom for the supervisors’ meeting on April 2. The showing of support apparently worked, and the supervisors reversed their decision to terminate the contract. Also in March, the supervisors approved a “difficult” county budget that included an ending fund balance for fiscal year 2008-09 of $3.8 million, about 13 percent of the total expenditures, well below the ideal 25 percent. Maintenance at the new law enforcement center, a new community center, higher fuel costs and utility fees made the budget difficult. In June, long-time supervisor Max Worthington was defeated in the primary by Sheriff’s Deputy Denny Stevenson. Stevenson went on to win the election for Worthington’s seat in November.

John Jennings can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 425 or via e-mail at jjennings@newtondailynews.com.