As a nation we will be celebrating Veterans Day this Saturday, November 11. Give pause that day and reflect on those who have served in the military. While I cannot say I come from a military family, I support those in the military. My father was given a deferment during WWII because he was a farmer. My husband was drafted…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
M. Saddoris re: Kading project, city council election
Letter to editor: I am replying to comments made about our opposition to the large housing project insinuating that it is something to do with “who might live there.” I can assure you that it has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that there are “taxpayers” and “tax consumers.” A community can NOT GROW or THRIVE without…
Read MorePublic education – Part of the ABCs of democracy
Dear editor, Rural Iowans value public education. We know that regardless of race, religion, or zip code, all Iowa children deserve access to a quality education. We write because the current Iowa education policies of diverting public dollars to private, often faith-based schools, while underfunding public schools, are hurting rural Iowans. The school is the heartbeat of a rural community,…
Read MoreThe good news
~a column by Colleen O’Brien As much as I’ve enjoyed/hated/done it anyway, my writing columns for the past eight years making fun of #45 (now advertising himself as 45-47: precisely what I fear) or mentioning his latest lies, I’m tired of it for the day, so will make my day by listing a few of President Biden’s accomplishments, which somehow…
Read MoreThoughts after the party, Part 2
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Months prior to my 80th birthday party, my sister wrote a fable for me because I was in a major decline. I had told her I felt physically awful (rheumatoid arthritis); mentally feeble (where is my phone, my purse, my car key? Oh, locked in the car!). And I was tired all the time, uninterested…
Read MoreView from My Window – Where are you looking when you talk to me?
This past week my grocery store checker and carry out assistant both said the right words without any eye contact. The first was the checker, an estimated mid-aged teenager. Most likely the manager had taught her to ask, “Did you find everything you needed?” All well, but she was clicking the cans through the scanner during the statement and didn’t…
Read MoreDecision on Kading housing project should be for financial reasons, not who might live there
~by Victoria Riley, GCNO publisher The proposed construction of workforce housing in Jefferson’s north central neighborhood has brought dozens of residents to the last two city council meetings. While the work of Greene County Development Corporation usually goes unnoticed by most residents, this project – 80 to 140 or so rental units built by Kading Construction to be managed by…
Read MoreBuffoonery wins
“The best lack all conviction. While the worst are full of a passionate intensity.” From the poem The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats ~a column by Colleen O’Brien Our government is shut down because of Republicans – the House Republicans can’t figure out how to select and vote for a Speaker; the Senate Republicans can’t figure out how to…
Read MoreIn support of jail bond referendum, Chuck Offenburger
To the editor, I’m going to vote “yes” on Nov. 7 for the $10 million bond issue to build a new Greene County jail, and I encourage others to join me. I view this mostly as a growth measure, for three reasons: 1) The current jail is from another era, worn out, undersized and inadequately equipped. 2) We in Greene…
Read MoreReflections on the party
~a column by Colleen O’Brien My kids threw me an 80th birthday party two weeks ago. It turned out to be one of the highlights of my life, along with a little discord that we all had to ignore to continue our myth of the perfect family – there is no such thing, as we all know, although my tiny…
Read MoreView from my window – October Is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
~a column by Mary Weaver PETER, PETER, PUMPKIN EATER / HAD A WIFE AND COULDN’T KEEP HER PUT HER IN A PUMPKIN SHELL / AND THERE HE KEPT HER VERY WELL. Oh my, how many times did I read that nonsensical nursery rhyme to our children. I have vivid recall of the “Little Golden Book” depicting a woman in a…
Read MoreWhy I’m voting ‘YES’ for the Greene County Community Schools VPPEL
Dear Editor, I served as the school business manager for East Greene, Jefferson-Scranton and Greene County School Districts for 31 years, retiring in June 2023. I fully support the renewal of the VPPEL levy. It is vital that the VPPEL levy, on the ballot in November, is approved. This is not a new tax. Let me repeat that: This is…
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