To the editor, I can’t believe that the construction of an indoor pool is even being considered. If built it would be another drain on us, the taxpayers. Property taxes here are high, to say the least. Years ago we were told that the rec center would pay for itself. Does it? I doubt it. Then there is the golf course,…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
Killer hurricane through a filter
~a column by Colleen O’Brien The weirdest thing – everything I watched about Hurricane Ian the Terrible I saw clearly. I was not in the way of Ian, I was a thousand miles away, mesmerized by the devastation, my behavior similar to slowing down on the freeway to see the dead bodies – something I never do, so why was…
Read MoreNational 4-H Week – ‘I Am 4-H’
“National 4-H Week is October 2 – 8. This is an important week to highlight the incredible experiences that 4-H offers young people,” said Linda Hedges, Greenbrier 4-H Club leader. “In the following poem, by an anonymous writer, the story of 4-H is explained so well from its inception to the present. This is what the Greenbrier 4-H members and…
Read MoreTaking the necessary step
~a column by Colleen O’Brien A 23-year-old hero takes on her life’s work early: “I have been changing things in my lifestyle for a long time to try and be more eco-friendly, but I had a realization a few months ago that it doesn’t matter if I go vegan or zero-waste if the government doesn’t do anything. There need to…
Read MoreNordman in Jefferson Thursday
The Greene County GOP is hosting an open forum with Iowa Representative Carter Nordman Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Jefferson Depot. A meet-and-greet will be from 5:30 to 6 pm, followed by the forum until 7 pm. Refreshments are available for the first 50 people. “This event is open to all Greene County citizens, so bring your questions,” a local…
Read More“Books unite us. Censorship divides us.”
~a column by Colleen O’Brien This is national Banned Books Week, and the headline above is the banner from a consortium [*see below], including the American Library Association, to save the banned. It is a week out of every year in which people interested in never banning books are backed up by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment: “Congress shall make…
Read MoreThe other side of the story
~a column by colleen O’Brien Humans are endlessly entertaining – what we do, what we think, how we operate, what’s important –and what engages each of us variously. Me? I like watching us and writing about us, even the politics of us – too much of the politics, I fear. Last week I wrote about the idiocy of politics and…
Read MoreA second Snowbird about early voting
To the editor, I am upset! The reason? Our Iowa legislature is trying to hinder people who want to vote. How? By not being able to get a mail-in ballot earlier than 20 days before the November election. I went to the Greene County Courthouse to sign up to receive a ballot in Florida, and, much to my dismay, the Auditor’s office…
Read MoreSnowbird tells of difficulty in voting with new laws
Plan to Vote in Iowa? Yes, we do too. However, it was recently brought home to me that we cannot receive an absentee ballot before October 19th. Our usual routine was to go to the courthouse sometime in early October and make out our absentee ballot and be on our merry way to South Texas. But this year is different.…
Read MoreLiving in a lying culture affects us all
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Who do I trust? Not Microsoft. I was hacked this past winter and nearly paid out a thousand dollars to update my Microsoft. It was not Microsoft emailing me and talking to me, even though the logo I was looking at was exactly like Microsoft’s, and the guy talking to me sounded authentic [What does…
Read MoreLetter to the editor, Mary Weaver
Dear Editor Riley, As I talk to my friends, regardless of politics, we all want similar things. A job that pays the bills and allows us extra funds for things we want, a safe community with strong public schools, and access to affordable health care and the prescriptions we need. But it seems like Republicans in Congress aren’t listening to…
Read MoreFrom pathos to bathos
~a column by Colleen O’Brien “Why are people so mean?” asks my preschooler. “Why are people so mean?” asks my junior high student. “Why are people so mean?” asks my first-year college girl. By the time she’s 21, she is no longer asking that question because she has a lot of required book-reading under her hat, is no longer within…
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