USDA Greene County Farm Service Agency (FSA) staff encourages everyone to take a moment to appreciate the hard working farmers and ranchers in Iowa on March 25, National Ag Day. This year’s theme is “Agriculture: 365 Sunrises and 7 Billion Mouths to Feed.”
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
Lt Gov Reynolds urges eligible Iowans to use state’s Free File tax system
Free File program helps eligible Iowa residents file their federal and state taxes easily online at no cost Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, accompanied by Iowa Department of Revenue director Courtney Kay-Decker, urge eligible Iowa residents to use the Iowa Free File program to save money at tax time. This program allows taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $58,000…
Read MoreRewrite
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Age seems to color memory; the stories get better. Enhanced by a bit of rearranging of sentences and paragraphs and chapters, my stories suit me or they’re tossed. I alter dialogue. I get tired of always being the spineless wimp in my true memories, so periodically, I make myself the hero. After 50 years I…
Read MoreCounty Day at the Capitol
WEST DES MOINES – County officials and employees from across the state will travel to Des Moines on Wednesday, March 12, for the sixth annual County Day at the Capitol hosted by the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC). The event will give county officials and employees the opportunity to be involved in the legislative process by promoting legislation that is…
Read MorePrejuiced and myzled
~ a column by Colleen O’Brien Mispronouncing words, using incorrect grammar, spelling everything wrong, wondering which word we’re supposed to use that sounds like two other words– this is life in the English language. That our language is, in general, fun to play with because it is complicated and rule-bound is the good part. Tackling problems and breaking the rules is…
Read MoreNorthey recognizes Weights and Measures Week March 1-7
DES MOINES –Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey on Monday highlighted the important work of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s Weights and Measures Bureau as part of Weights and Measures week, which runs from March 1 to 7.
Read MoreOne “what-if” among many
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Have you ever wondered how brave you are? Would you become an insurgent if Greene County were under siege or occupied? I’ve played this what-if game since my sophomore year with Miss Price, history teacher at Jefferson High School. She instructed us in a semester of what she called “Russian Reading,” the name of which…
Read MoreTree Tracings
Greene County Genealogical Society ~by Valerie Ogren NOTE: MEETING CANCELED BASED ON WEATHER FORECAST. MEETING NOTICE: The next meeting will be Saturday, March 1, at 10 am in the basement of the Jefferson Public Library. Our guest will be Ron Gruber from Stuart. Ron is the new regional representative for the Iowa Genealogical Society (IGS) for Adair, Boone, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie…
Read MoreBe afraid. Or not.
~a column by Colleen O’Brien The news from some sources is bent on making us suspicious, judgmental and frightened of everything from ants to Zulus. I’ve always thought the world was getting better as we went along from century to century, but the 24/7 news cycle of this modern era cautions me to beware at all times of germs, gays,…
Read MoreAt Sierra Community Theatre: Monuments Men
The Monuments Men is showing now through Feb. 27 at the Sierra Community Theatre in Jefferson. The Monuments Men is based on a true story of a special task force ordered by President Roosevelt to rescue 10 centuries of artwork stolen by the Nazis and return it to the rightful owners. Comprised of museum directors, curators and art historians, the…
Read More~a column by Colleen O’Brien
A Hundred Years from Now a poem by David Shumate I’m sorry I won’t be around a hundred years from now. I’d like to see how it all turns out. What language most of you are speaking. What country is swaggering across the globe. I’m curious to know if your medicines cure what ails us now. And how intelligent your…
Read MoreAt SCT: “12 Years a Slave”
“12 Years a Slave,” which is nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, is now showing at the Sierra Community Theatre in Jefferson. The movie is based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man and professional musician in upstate New York, who is abducted and sold into slavery in the pre-Civil War south. Northup (played by…
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