The Greene County board of education set its legislative priorities for the 2015 session of the Iowa Legislature at its July 16 meeting. The school board participated this year in the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) legislative policy process by talking about the impact of state policy on the district and voting on legislative resolutions for the next legislative…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
To be PC or to poke fun, that is the question
~a column by Colleen O’Brien I just read online that if I mention in public that we are becoming a two-tiered society (rich and poor), the rich will accuse me of being classist. Will I ever learn to be Politically Correct? This word classist means to them that I’m fomenting dissatisfaction with the status quo, but who wouldn’t? Look at…
Read MoreTeacher, Principal Leadership Symposium slated
Public welcome, launching TLC which included Greene County Schools Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds on Mondady provided Iowans with an update on the second Iowa Teacher and Principal Leadership Symposium, scheduled to be held at the Des Moines Area Community College’s (DMACC) FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny on Aug. 4. Symposium is open to the public, with…
Read MorePreserved values in the Middle Border
~a column by Colleen O’Brien The Greene County Fair was once a carnival with cows. It’s now cows, no carney. Although the glitz is gone, the fair remains, and it’s worth a stroll through Clover Hall and the barns – the whole 4-H scene – because these 4-H’ers are smart, creative, hard-working and nice . . . such a combination…
Read MoreA worthy woman
~ a column by Colleen O’Brien It was 1964. She was between her junior and senior years at Drake when she told her parents she had signed up to travel south to the Mississippi Summer Project. She would be gone for a month. Right before she left, the news of three missing young men was all over the media; these…
Read MoreMedical Center Moment, June 2014
~by Carl Behne, June 26, 2014 Summer is here – and what a wonderful time of year. Everything is so green, crops are rapidly growing and so is Greene County When I drive by the future H-Vee property or out to the corner of Highway 4 and 30 where there is a “future site of” sign for the approved casino,…
Read MoreZero Fatalities traffic safety initiative launched June 30
DES MOINES – Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday announced the launch of “Zero Fatalities,” Iowa’s plan to keep every man, woman, and child safe on Iowa’s roadways. Iowa’s Zero Fatalities program is a multiagency effort currently supported by the Iowa departments of Transportation, Health, and Public Safety through the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau. The leaders…
Read MoreTree Tracings
Greene County Genealogical Society ~by Valerie Ogren MEETING NOTICE: We will have our annual “Christmas in July” on Saturday, July 5, at the Pizza Ranch in Jefferson. Meet there a little before noon. The meal will be on your own. Please bring an item to donate to the Action Resource Center (food pantry). Also, bring along an item or a…
Read MoreOh, the wildness and wonder of it all
~a column by Colleen O’Brien We live in a town Of great renown Where hail-fellow and smiles Beguile But mayhem on Maple Made untrue the fable That life in our time Was benign While just ‘cross the street On a night dark and deep Six pots were smashed Three garden chairs slashed And over on Oak A…
Read MoreOne in a million? Not yet. We’re one in 8,100
~by Colleen O’Brien As of June 3, 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’sfarmersmarket directory listed more than 8,100 markets in the country. The criteria are two or more farm vendors selling agricultural products directly to customers at a common, recurrent physical location. One of these 8,100 is our own Greene Countyfarmers market, the place where we can buy fresh and…
Read MoreLetter to the editor – Brandy Peterson
Dear Editor, I would like to thank the participants, volunteers and sponsors of the Jeffette Youth Track and Field meet for making the event a great one. A special thank you to Coach Sawhill, Coach Simpson and Coach Buenz for giving us the knowledge, encouragement and support to accomplish great things through track and field, whether competing in 1994 or…
Read More‘Hollywood in the Heartland’ exhibit opens at State Historical Museum
Exhibit explores history of Iowa and Iowans in the movies DES MOINES –Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds were joined at their regular weekly press conference June 16 by Department of Cultural Affairs director Mary Cownie to announce a blockbuster exhibition, “Hollywood in the Heartland,” will open this month at the State Historical Museum of Iowa. The State…
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