DES MOINES – Gov. Terry E. Branstad on Tuesday delivered his 2015 Condition of the State address in front of a joint session of the Iowa Legislature. Branstad’s address, titled “Together We Can,” is a forward- thinking plan for Iowa’s future. The governor’s plan of action places a focus on infrastructure – both in terms of high-speed broadband internet and funding for…
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Midland Power Cooperative to invest $2.3 million toward energy efficiency
Midland Power Cooperative’s Energy Efficiency Plan (2015-2019) was filed Jan. 5 with the Iowa Utilities Board and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Advocate by the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives. In this plan, Midland Power intends to invest approximately $2.3 million in energy efficiency programs over the next five years. The energy savings from the five-year plan are expected…
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~a column by Colleen O’Brien The January National Geographic has arrived and I am happy about this, as usual. When I see it in the mailbox, I get a tiny frisson of anticipation — these folks not only know how to travel the world, they know how to intrigue us with their tales and share photos with us that knock…
Read MoreTime. And time again.
~a column by Colleen O’Brien It took me a long time to get to the millennium, and now it’s 2015? My dad told me when I was a grade schooler that time would speed up as I got older. “I can remember everything that happened to me before you and your sisters were born,” he said. “And then it speeded…
Read MoreTree Tracings
Greene County Genealogical Society ~by Valerie Ogren Meeting notice: The next meeting of the Greene County Genealogical Society will be Saturday, Jan. 3, at 10 am in the Jefferson public library. Valerie Ogren will give you a few tips on “Saving Your Stuff”. Since we focused during 2014 on gathering family history, now we must learn how to save it.
Read MoreThe ghosts of youth
~a column by Colleen O’Brien The ghost of Christmas past – as in long ago and far away Christmases — visits more readily the older I get. Adult Christmases were about our kids, and those years were very busy, for it wasn’t just the kids, it was the job and the house and the school pageants and the parties. Then,…
Read MoreThe best gifts
~Denise O’Brien Van When I was a little girl growing up in Jefferson, I got the most wonderful Christmas presents. Lots of them were identical to the gifts my sister Colleen received–red chenille bathrobes, cowgirl outfits, patch quilts made by Grandma Mae, doll buggies and books we were meant to share.
Read MoreConsumer alert: Iowans report surge of government imposter scams
DES MOINES – Dozens of Iowans daily are reporting government imposter scams to the Consumer Protection Division and local law enforcement throughout the state. “Iowans report that callers claiming they’re with the IRS or local authorities warn the recipient of the call to act immediately to clear up some sort of supposed fee, taxes or debt,” attorney general Tom Miller…
Read MoreCops/killers
~a column by colleen O’Brien My husband was a cop who came to dislike cops. I did not know this until some time after he’d become a law enforcement agent. But when we never went to the cop parties it dawned on me that something was up. I knew about them, the parties, because I knew sheriff deputies’ wives, but…
Read MoreReading with rules
~a column by Colleen O’Brien A new “movement” called Slow Reading was recently launched. Its name sounds like a knock-off of the Slow Food movement, which has been going on for 25 years. The Slow Food wave started in Italy as a protest to a proposed McDonald’s at the Spanish Steps in Rome. A few gastronomes suggested the world needed…
Read MoreYear-long salute to soil underscores need to focus on its health
DES MOINES – It’s responsible for nearly all life on the planet, but rarely gets the respect it deserves. On Dec. 5, this living and life-giving resource finally had its day—across the state and across the globe. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization launched the International Year of Soil on World Soil Day (Dec. 5) to raise awareness of the…
Read More“Despite the high cost of living, it continues to be very popular.” -Anon.
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Don’t you wish you’d said that? Quotes such as this one tickle me even as they make me wonder why I can’t come up with them. I can laugh at some of them for years. Who thinks them up? Comedians sometimes, writers, quick wits; maybe now and then an ordinary person with an extraordinary thought,…
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