~by Colleen O’Brien I generally get to leave Iowa before sock-weather hits. The very act of pulling on the socks because of cold toes goes against the grain. This year I didn’t get outta Dodge in time. The morning I left Jefferson for southern climes I had to put on socks because as I loaded the last bag into my…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
Letter to the editor
Dear Editor, On behalf of the veterans of Greene County, I wish to publicly thank all who are responsible for the courtesies extended to us during this year’s Veterans Day activities. The delicious hot breakfast in the high school Ram Restaurant followed by a rousing vocal and instrumental concert in the packed high school auditorium were overwhelming to many of…
Read MoreChanging the world one story at a time
~a column by Colleen O’Brien “Putting the brakes on hate” is the motto of a non-profit called — what else? — HateBrakers. Founder Susan Margolis Balk, who spent her career writing for the big boys – New York Times Magazine, Travel and Leisure, Playboy — launched HateBrakers, now in its third year, as a teaching tool. She is already transforming…
Read MoreLetter to the editor
Editor, I saw the movie “Fury” tonight and it bothered me. The new guy got into the tank and cleaned out the blood from the guy he replaced. After my team was ambushed in Iraq, we pulled in the remains of my best friend and fled the attack. His blood covered the seats and floor. We cleaned and bleached that…
Read MoreThank you for a great first year
GreeneCountyNewsOnline’s inaugural year has concluded, as Nov. 6 is the first anniversary of the launch. It has been a very good year for me. I learned about community journalism from Rick Morain, longtime Jefferson Bee & Herald publisher/editor, and I’ve tried to stay close to his standards for fairness and balance. News writing is news writing, regardless of where it…
Read MoreA year already? Time flies when you’re reporting the news
~a column about Jefferson by Colleen O’Brien The first week in November a year ago (Nov. 6, 2013, to be exact), Victoria Riley launched a newspaper for Greene County. She called it GreeneCountyNewsOnline.com, and here you are reading it, she hopes on a regular basis. When Victoria hired me as a columnist, it was my first attempt at regular, weekly,…
Read MoreThe girl from Ferguson
~a column by Colleen O’Brien I was in St. Louis the other day, and I met a girl named Morgan. She lives in Ferguson, Missouri, a town that’s been in the news since Aug. 9, when a policemen shot an 18-year-old boy who in two days was going to enter his first semester at a trade school to learn heating…
Read MoreLetter to the editor
To the editor, As we head toward the holiday season it is time for all of us to think about the THANKS we get in GIVING. It is at this time of the year when charities and organizations put out their pleas for us to donate so they can be of help to others. It is a time for us…
Read MoreTree Tracings
Greene County Genealogical Society ~by Valerie Ogren Meeting notice: The next meeting will be Saturday, Nov. 1, at 10 am in the Jefferson public library. (These meetings that fall on the first day of the month have a way of sneaking up on me.) Elaine Deluhery will share a fun program “To Grandmother’s House We Go.”. Rumor has it that…
Read MoreLetter to the editor
To the editor: It’s time for a new county treasurer. Almost three decades ago my mother, Karyl Thompson, helped her friend, Donna Lawson, get elected as Greene County treasurer. Donna has done a good job in managing the bureaucracy of the office, but an elected official should be an active delegate in the interest of county residents.
Read MoreAmazon to refund some Amazon Prime customers
DES MOINES – More than 1,000 Iowa consumers charged for unused Amazon Prime memberships through online retailer Amazon.com will receive refunds or credits, under an agreement with Attorney General Tom Miller. Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Services LLC have agreed to provide $122,000 in refunds and credits to about 1,100 Amazon Prime members in Iowa whose unused memberships may indicate they did…
Read MoreGOP photo album
The Republican “Team Iowa” shook hands and posed for pictures at a brief meet-and-greet in Jefferson Monday. Supervisor Tom Contner (left) posed with Lt Gov Kim Reynolds. Supervisor Guy Richardson (right) also talked with her.
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