Registration for GrCo Virtual Academy open

Registration is now open for the Greene County Virtual Academy for the 2026-27 school year. Students enrolled in the academy will learn from home using an accredited online curriculum aligned with Iowa standards. Expectations of students in the academy will be the same as of students attending Greene County Schools in person; students will work toward the same Iowa academic…

Read More

AREA Housing Impact Award to Origin Homes for Jefferson infill project

Origin Homes has been honored with a 2025 Ames Regional Economic Alliance (AREA) Housing Impact Award for its innovative infill housing development project in Jefferson. The award recognizes the company’s commitment to community-focused development, thoughtful design, and housing solutions that strengthen rural Iowa communities. Origin Homes’ Jefferson project was recognized for transforming underutilized land into high-quality, attainable housing that complements…

Read More

View from my window: My garden

March 29, 2026 You know that nursery rhyme, MARY, MARY, QUITE CONTRARY, HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? Well, historically mine has not had silver bells and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row! Last fall, as I was lifting the tomato cages off the dead plants, I vowed not to try a garden again. Weeds had engulfed the…

Read More

We DO know

~Colleen O’Brien “You know that. And everybody knows that.” This is an oft-spoken collection of words from a president who in the wee hours of every morning Tweets or Xs lies about any number of things medical, military, historic, artistic. He’s a blabbering mouth and the sheer repletion of lies shuts our brains down. For four years of the Biden administration,…

Read More