Dear Editor I want to thank everyone involved in Relay For Life of Greene County for the super successful event held recently. So many businesses, organizations, teams, individuals and families donated and worked hard to reach the goal of over $50,000 to the American Cancer Society.
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
Sing tra la, humans, sing tra la
~a column by Colleen O’Brien When my friend was young, she longed for a pretend self who would go to math class and the dentist and show up after supper to do the dishes. Escape is a human’s middle name. We start young with a pretend friend to hang out with so we can ignore our parents’ demand that…
Read MoreGov Branstad releases statement on close of 2014 legislative session
DES MOINES – Gov. Terry E. Branstad on May 1 released the following statement after the close of the 2014 legislative session: “In January, Lt. Governor Reynolds and I brought forth a simple message: ‘Iowa is Working.’ In fact, Iowa Workforce Development recently reported that more Iowans are working than ever before in our state’s history and our unemployment rate of 4.5…
Read MoreJust read
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Edith Wharton said, “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that receives it.” I like this. It gives me an out from the terrible plague of my life — thinking I have to write novels. If I can spread the light by just reading novels and talking about…
Read MoreTree Tracings
Greene County Genealogical Society by Valerie Ogren MEETING NOTICE: The next meeting will be Saturday, May 3, at 10 am in the basement of the Jefferson public library. Our guest will be Ron Gruber from Stuart. Ron is our new regional representative for the Iowa Genealogical Society (IGS) for Adair, Boone, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie and Madison counties. He will share…
Read MoreSoil & Water Conservation Week is April 27- May 4
DES MOINES – Iowa Soil and Water Conservation Week is an opportunity to recognize the important conservation practices placed on Iowa’s landscape and bring attention to the ongoing work by farmers, landowners and urban residents to protect the state’s soil and water resources.
Read MoreWhat would you like done with the $52.6 billion?
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Oh, how we complain about work: the bosses, the coworkers, the drive to and the drive from, the pay, the hours, the pointlessness of it; we do complain. I don’t know if it’s part of the human psyche to complain or if it’s acculturated, but complain we do, especially about work. But, in the working…
Read MoreLetter to the editor
Editor: When Carson Griffith, Richard Carey, and Monica McGregor left the world of music in Greene County and beyond, much — so very much — was lost. Their influence was beyond measure. Their instruction of the young, their entertainment of people of all ages, and their generous natures in contributing their talents to churches, nursing homes, organizations, funerals, special programs,…
Read MoreLetter to the editor
Editor: Your April 16 opinion “Let’s just watch a ballgame…” really hit a HOMER for me here in Alliance, NE. Spring is trying to break through from winter and I’m hopeful for the baseball season. I sure could use a hot dog with mustard, a seat in the bleachers for cheering, and all the other fun summer brings in the Midwest.…
Read MoreLet’s just watch a ballgame
~a column by Colleen O’Brien In this new century, we live with a few dilemmas, most of which have to do with what side we’re on. As with the watershed of the Continental Divide, or, closer to home, the M and M Divide (Mississippi/Missouri), we’re all slipping down one slope or another, looking back across a chasm at the other…
Read MoreFarmers engaged in Iowa Water Quality Initiative
~by Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Many Iowa farm fields are turning green earlier than normal this spring as a rapidly growing number of farmers are using cover crops to help better protect the soil and water they depend on to make their living. Farmers are always looking for new and better ways to raise crops and livestock, and…
Read MoreZip It
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Got a bucket list? I didn’t know I had one until the first time I heard the phrase, and since then I’ve filled a lot of buckets. The lists are all similar: go someplace. Katmandu. Great Wall. Every presidential library. Traveltraveltravel. Had I ever said I’d like to do a zip line? No. Not on…
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