New award categories told for Bell Tower Festival parade entries

The Bell Tower Festival parade will feature a refreshed set of award categories this year, designed to spark creativity, boost community participation, and celebrate Jefferson during the nation’s 250th anniversary. The parade is organized by the Rotary Club of Jefferson, marking its 30th year as sponsor. Rotary leaders announced the updated categories following several weeks of planning discussions and input from…

Read More

Stupid is as stupid does, Part two

My continued contemplation about recent events has led me back to consider Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity (an internet search for this theory will help you follow along with my suppositions). One is this past winter’s anti-ICE movement in Minnesota. The other are April’s “No Kings” rallies. Let’s start with Minnesota and especially the deaths of Renee Good and Alex…

Read More

Trump and the growing class divide

~a column by Colleen O’Brien Why is it that American billionaires want to run their country into Third-World status? Stingy healthcare, high rate of birth deaths, lessening life spans, politicized public education, banned books, low incomes, soaring prices, unsafe bridges and tens of millions of potholes? Billionaires are eager to give a ton of money to a felon of a…

Read More

150 years of Iowa food topic of museum program

Like almost everything else, Iowa food has history, from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” family recipes for gingerbread and homemade cheese to church dinner covered dishes to Younkers Tea Room’s rarebit burgers and, of course, to breaded pork tenderloins. Lake City author Darcy Maulsby will relate the history of the Hawkeye State’s foods Sunday, May 3, at 2…

Read More

Last week not a good one for fieldwork

There were 2.7 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending April 19, 2.8 days less than last year. Topsoil moisture condition rated 2 percent very short, 8 percent short, 72 percent adequate and 18 percent surplus. Corn planting in Iowa reached 2 percent complete, which is 14 percentage points behind last year when 16 percent had been planted. Soybean…

Read More

Take a guess at Historical Society meeting

It will be “Show and Tell” time at the Greene County Historical Society’s May 1 mid-day program at St. Columbkille Catholic Church in Churdan. Museum volunteers will bring out some of the History Society’s oddest possessions, like the one pictured, and challenge the audience to identify them. “We’ll show a wide range of items,” said museum program director Margaret Hamilton.…

Read More

Sheriff’s report

Following are excerpts of activities reported by the Greene County sheriff’s office: Sunday, April 26: Routine activity reported. Saturday, April 25: At 2:09 am Brandon Nevins, 45, of Lehigh was booked into the jail on a charge of possession of a controlled substance*. At 8:06 am a deputy investigated a complaint of criminal mischief in the 700 block of Sand…

Read More

Victim, suspect named in GJ homicide

Greene County sheriff Jack Wiliams provided the following information regarding a homicide that occurred in Grand Junction Sunday afternoon. “On or about April 19, 2026, at or about 2:13 pm the Greene County sheriff’s office received a 911 call for an assault that occurred at 505 Main Street East, Grand Junction. The Greene County Sheriff’s Office along with Greene County…

Read More