~by State Senator Jesse Green January 13, 2023 Greetings from the Golden Dome. Members of the 90th General Assembly have been sworn in and the work of making your voice heard within the policy making process has begun. I could not pick a better time in Iowa history to serve than right now. I am so proud to be a part…
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Watching the watchdogs
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Because of the paucity of ideas in my fogged brain [do I blame Covid or my age?], I look at columns of mine from thirty years ago: “Watching the watchdogs.” It could have been written today. “So, who do you believe – CBS? CNN? The Gazette? Time Magazine? None of them? “Along with all else…
Read MoreView from My Window – Census data is telling
~a column by Mary Weaver Victoria Riley, publisher of GreeneCountyNewsOnline, is allowing me periodic opportunities to express views about events that are influencing Greene County. The first column two weeks ago generated dialogue. Thank you. This column continues to be offered to create conversations about issues important to rural west central Iowa and its citizens. This VIEW from my window…
Read MoreGov Reynolds delivers 2023 Condition of the State address
Tonight, Jan. 10, Gov. Reynolds delivered her 2023 Condition of the State Address. Below are her remarks as prepared for delivery: Condition of the State Address Governor Kim Reynolds January 10, 2023 Madam President, Mr. Speaker, Lt. Governor, legislative leaders and members, justices and judges, my fellow Iowans: This is the sixth time I’ve addressed you from this chamber to report on the condition of…
Read MoreThe writer’s reading list
~by GCNO publisher Victoria Riley As I’ve done in the past two years, I’m sharing the list of books I read during the year. I read fiction to avoid relying on television for entertainment, and I read nonfiction either to get smarter or to expand my horizon. I tallied 16 books in 2020 and 21 books in 2021. I was…
Read More‘I’m very thankful,’ Miller says as he prepares to leave office
‘We never compromised on our values and principles’ Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller shares his gratitude with Iowans after serving 40 years in office. He will leave office Jan. 3. “I’m very thankful to Iowa voters. I feel fortunate to have served 10 terms in a job that I love,” said Miller, who is the longest serving attorney general in U.S.…
Read MoreView from My Window
~by Mary Weaver Editor’s note – This week debuts a new column, “View from My Window,” by Mary Weaver of rural Rippey. Weaver is a fourth generation Greene Countian, a retired public health nurse/administrator, and chair of the Iowa Women’s Democratic Caucus. According to the columnist, her bi-weekly columns will serve as an opportunity to provide data and information. Readers are…
Read MoreSame news, different faces
~a column by Colleen O’Brien A quarter of a century ago, I wrote the following column: “Politicians could address issues” June 19, 1996 Among all the other indecencies in our lives, it’s an election year. We would welcome it, though, if politicians spoke to the issues and not the emotions. It started with the bombastic Buchanan, that scary guy who…
Read MoreTis the season to be crabby
~a column by Colleen O’Brien I have three friends who dislike Christmas in all ways: the music that starts before Thanksgiving; the over-shopping for presents that people don’t want or need; the blow-up plastic Holy Family scene in front yards; the Christmas cards with only a signature, no note; the tasteless cookies from the neighbors; the pleading for money outside…
Read MoreEnding food insecurity is possible – Patti Naylor
No one, not one single human being, should be hungry in this country, this state, or this county. Yet, as we have heard many times in recent years, food pantries are serving more and more people who are in situations of food insecurity, defined as lacking access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their needs for an active and…
Read MoreThe trouble with making books, writing columns, plotting novels…
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Lines upon lines upon rows upon – They pile up in the corners on the steps in the bathroom by my bed Hanging around hoping someone will need them Lines upon lines upon rows upon “Of the making of books there is no end.” Ecclesiastics 12:12 There are three manuscripts under my desk, bored with…
Read MoreDreams of a civilized species
~a column by Colleen O’Brien In March of 1986, I wrote a column about friends and strangers helping one another after two weeks of monster snowfall – more than 17 feet fell at Lake Tahoe in Nevada, where we lived. According to newspapers, “Several families were evacuated in front of an advancing onslaught of high winds, heavy snow and…
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