DES MOINES – Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday applauded the Iowa State Senate for passing Senate File 345, a bill that works to prevent bullying in Iowa schools. The bill passed with bipartisan support, 43-7.
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A month or forever
~a column by Colleen O’Brien March is Music in Our Schools Month. It is also National Craft Month, National Frozen Food Month, National Irish American Heritage Month, National Nutrition Month, National Peanut Month, Red Cross Month and Social Workers Month. Most important (to me) is that it’s National Women’s History Month.
Read MoreWord games for the idle
~a column by Colleen O’Brien There are moments in your life when you’re on your own for entertainment — it’s almost like time travel, going back to an era before instant and constant electronics. Getting stuck in traffic can be one of those times. Listening to the radio is fine and the book on tape is compelling, but what if…
Read MoreDMWW files Clean Water Act complaint in federal district court
DES MOINES – Des Moines Water Works filed a complaint March 16 against the Sac County board of supervisors, Buena Vista County board of supervisors and Calhoun County board of supervisors, in their capacities as trustees of 10 drainage districts, for the discharge of nitrate pollutants into the Raccoon River, and failure to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit…
Read MoreAnother 50 years
~a column by Colleen O’Brien In 1965, about 600 people tried to march across a bridge in Selma, Alabama, in what was called by the organizers a non-violent demonstration. Its purpose was to wake people up to the fact that Blacks in the South did not have the same voting rights as white Americans. The non-violence was coming along okay…
Read MoreTree Tracings
Greene County Genealogical Society ~by Valerie Ogren Meeting notice – PLEASE NOTE change of location. The next meeting will be Saturday, March 7 at 10 am, but NOT in the Jefferson public library. We will again be meeting at the courthouse – this time in the second floor auditor’s office.
Read MoreAbout poets
~by Colleen O’Brien A United States Poet Laureate died last week: Philip Levine, Poet Laureate in 2011 and 2012. He was 87 and had been writing poems since he was 14 — can you imagine that? Seventy-three years of metaphoring and rhyming and finding just the right word. Being a successful poet is often a compulsion — there’s many a…
Read MoreReynolds launches statewide ‘Stories of Women’s Lives Tour’
Emphasis on Iowa’s female leaders DES MOINES – Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds announced Feb. 23 that she is embarking upon a statewide tour to celebrate “National Women’s History Month” in March. The Lt. Governor will be traveling to several communities to meet with female leaders and highlight how women are positively impacting Iowa with their ideas, actions and ingenuity.
Read MorePost-flu
~a column by Colleen O’Brien, Feb. 12, 2015 I awake to sunshine hitting me in the eye and a gradual realization that my adjectives have altered. I am back to passable, lively and snuggly. For five days, in between periods of moaning and groaning because of being in the throes of the flu, my adjectival litany was dull, boring, pointless,…
Read MoreNorthey receives environmental award
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture honored for work on Iowa Water Quality Initiative CHARLSTON, SC – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey received a National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) National Environmental Achievement Award for excellence in Public Service. Northey is the first state Secretary of Agriculture to receive the award. NACWA’s Public Service Award is presented to current or…
Read MoreSay it, Iowans: “Progressive”
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Oh, poor Iowa, we’re in season again. The conservative politicos were invited in last month by one of our least progressive politicians to speechify a year ahead of time — Iowa caucusus are set right now for February of 2016 — and we get to hear the media talk about us as the Tea Party/evangelistic…
Read MoreTree Tracings
Greene County Genealogical Society ~by Valerie Ogren Meeting notice – PLEASE NOTE change of location: The next meeting will be Saturday, Feb. 7, at 10 am – but NOT in the Jefferson public library. Because of construction work installing the new elevator there, the meeting will be held at the courthouse in the second floor recorder’s office. Marcia Tasler, Greene County recorder, will…
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