The Schwarzer factory in Washington produced Franz Schwarzer's world-famous zithers and other instruments for 66 years. It went out of business in 1956 and has been torn down, but the instruments made there are a string of Washington's past. 

On a crisp and windy Chicago morning, a professor at Loyola University sits at their computer and prepares for a lecture. With a click of their mouse, the Zoom call is live and the professor is addressing their class. 

To many Washington parents, Theresa McGowan is known as their children’s high school guidance counselor. The 54-year-old was a counselor at St. Francis Borgia Regional from 2004 to 2017, and since 2017 has been a counselor at Washington High School. 

Luke Davis dreamt about this moment for three years — maybe longer. In fact, the night before his trek across Missouri, the Marthasville man could hardly sleep. 

A chorus of giggles pierces the quiet night that has settled around Cinema 1 Thursday evening. Under the beams of the streetlights, four girls, three clad in matching tan button-ups, unfold and admire their new flag. It reads: “Troop 636 Rotary Club Washington, Mo.”

The 22-year-old welding student rides to success atop the backs of two horses, literally, with Daredevil Drafts entertainment.

Theater students at St. Francis Borgia Regional High School want to take audiences on a journey — literally. The theater department will perform “Cellular ’Cenes,” not in the auditorium, but rather in the art room, music room and cafeteria to accommodate social distancing.

Halloween might be dressed up a little differently this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are still ways to treat yourself to a celebration that doesn’t feel like the ghost of years past. The CDC guidelines split many classic activities into three categories based on health risk, …

Vibrant balloons bustling in the breeze greeted all arriving at the back lot of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ Saturday afternoon. Although the event was scheduled for 5 p.m., the first car arrived at 3:15 to wait. A colorful banner announced the occasion — the 10th anniversary of Harve…

From former presidents to president hopefuls, Franklin County has welcomed many from "the other Washington."

“I always thought Grandma and Grandpa were rich ... When I got older I realized it wasn’t money, they just made it feel like we had everything,” Darlene Copeland said.

ECC Nursing Students are Running Toward the Front Lines to Battle the Novel Cornavirus

The 4-year-old golden retriever is a certified comfort dog with Lutheran Church Charities K-9 program.

Hondo, Texas. Forty miles west of San Antonio. That’s where Kim Choate, 52, and her husband, Matt, were planning to drive on their inaugural roadtrip in their newly purchased RV. The recently retired Sullivan couple, who have three daughters and seven grandchildren, was planning to visit one…

Lucille Giffone, Washington, recently published her book “The Shape Rebellion,” a children’s book teaching geometry and life skills. It’s her fifth published children’s book and her first with Austin Macauley Publishers. She previously published “Putting the Onions to Sleep” in 2019 and “Nat…

Young Farmers Continue Area’s Rich Livestock Tradition

For Americans of European ancestry, Ellis Island is where their families’ journeys to discover the country began. For Neal Moore, 48, Ellis Island, with its iconic Statue of Liberty, will be where his journey ends.

Last November, on opening weekend of firearm deer season, Mandy Yeager spent her Saturday helping the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) in its effort to test deer for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a degenerative brain disease that’s contagious and deadly. 

All the world’s a stage, Shakespeare said. Even, according to the St. Francis Borgia theater department, the computer screens in audience members’ homes. The department just wrapped its first-ever virtual play, “The Internet is Distract—OH LOOK A KITTEN!” written by Ian McWethy. There were t…

Eight miles north of Washington in Marthasvillle, a multi-generational family farm is proving once again to be a popular destination for families anxious to get outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The 2020 Vacation Culture School (VCS) is on — and online. The third annual program organized by “Neighbors United — Undoing Racism” and Peace Lutheran Church will take place Sunday, Sept. 20, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Zoom. Register at Facebook.com/neighborsunitedmissouri or by emailing vacati…

The Missouri might be grander, the Meramec more scenic, but when it comes to rare mussel species, few rivers are stronger than the Bourbeuse.

A century ago, longtime Washington resident Katherine Graham was born near Fort Smith, Ark., just east of the Oklahoma border. Today she is the oldest living graduate of St. Francis Borgia High School and just celebrated her 100th birthday July 26.

Vicky Webster, 54, is a mom of two, a prescription delivery driver for The Medicine Shoppe in Pacific and now a two-time published author. Webster’s story, “Phone Call from Heaven,” appears in “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Listen to Your Dreams,” which published in August.

Pacific Police Officer Stephanie Kelly recently befriended teenager Jeremy Lohan. Lohan, who is on the autism spectrum, loves trains and was filming the train tracks near First Street in Pacific when he met Kelly in August.

The Washington Police Department is expanding its outreach to home-schooled children this year by offering a free Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program to the Hope Homeschool Co-Op.

Professional bodybuilder Nadia Wyatt is a two-time IFBB Olympia medal winner from Washington. She has over 30,000 Instagram followers and has been profiled for Muscle and Fitness magazine. 

The year was 1968. Bell-bottoms and tie dye were growing trends. The first Big Mac hit the McDonald’s menu for 49 cents. The Beatles released “The White Album.” And Jackie Krafft was teaching kindergarten at South Point School with aide Gail Kingsbury. Fast forward 52 years later, both women…

The First Lady’s New Cookbook is Culinary Tour de Missouri

For Labadie natives, even

motherhood is ‘a twin thing’

The Humane Society of Missouri is running a special on adoption fees for the horses available through Longmeadow Rescue Ranch in Union. Now through Aug. 31, adoption fees are reduced by $100. Adoption fees for the horses range from $200 to $1,500 and average $600 without the discount. The ra…

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lived someone who had reason to fear a wolf. 

At 1170 W. Fifth St., a simple white door opens up to an almost-finished vision. The floor inside is designed to mimic a golf green meeting the blue of a small pond, and along the wall rests hundreds of different frisbees and plastic discs, each a unique, vibrant color. This is Aces & Ea…