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 MoreCategory: Opinion
Let’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…
Read MoreWeek of the Young Child, April 6-12
Essential ingredients of high-quality early childhood education highlighted in Week of the Young Child™ celebrations WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Week of the Young Child™ (April 6-12, 2014) draws attention to how a high-quality early childhood experience the first few years of life set a child’s path for success in school and…
Read MoreGetting along in America
~a column by Colleen O’Brien You’d think that after 150 years of emancipation and 50 years of civil rights, racism in this country would be past history, not current. I recently attended a class on a 2012 non-fiction book called The New Jim Crow, by Michele Alexander. The lawyer-professor from Columbus, Ohio explained concisely how the justice system in the…
Read MoreBaltimore to run for third term in Iowa House
State Representative Chip Baltimore (R- Boone) recently announced that he will seek re-election for Iowa House District 47 in the November election. Baltimore is currently serving his second term in the House, representing Greene and Boone counties.
Read MoreTree Tracings
Greene County Genealogical Society ~by Valerie Ogren MEETING NOTICE: The next meeting will be Saturday, April 5 at 10 a.m. in the basement of the Jefferson Public Library. Our guest will be General Nathaniel Greene. If the name sounds familiar, Greene County, Iowa was named for him 160 years ago. Come and meet Roger Aegerter and ask lots of questions. …
Read MoreWho are you really?
~a column by Colleen O’Brien My computer flashed a message at me: You’ve gone incognito. How did I do it? Why did I do it? What did it mean? The message faded away. I could not find it again. I’ve felt invisible, like when I take off my glasses — can’t see you, you can’t see me. But incognito? This…
Read MoreLetter to the editor
Dear Editor: Often times you hear about how bad kids are these days. However, as a teacher I get to see the good side of kids every single day. Last week at Paton-Churdan Community School, we celebrated World Down Syndrome Day in honor of one of our students. Together we learned about Down syndrome; how people are different from each other,…
Read More‘It’s important to assume positive intent on the part of others regardless of their behaviors. They are doing the best they can at the moment.’
~a column by Colleen O’Brien This quote above has been floating through my life for a year or two. I wrote it down without attributing its owner, which I regret. I searched Google, but even the Great G herself could not come up with the person who said it. (Obviously, Google does not know all. This was disappointing as well…
Read MoreGreene County Farm Bureau marks National Ag Week
From the cotton shirt on your back to the ethanol fueling your car to the after-dinner glass of wine, agriculture is everywhere in your everyday life. And, every day, Iowa farmers raise the crops and livestock that contribute to the nation’s affordable and abundant supply of food, fuel, and fiber. In addition, agriculture represents a strong part of the state’s…
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