~by Victoria Riley, GCNO publisher The Greene County board of adjustment has an opportunity to demonstrate foresight when it holds a public hearing this Thursday, July 6. Members of the board can show they’re able to imagine a future when electric vehicles are the norm rather than a novelty, and they’ll know they played a role in diversifying land use…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
The tracks of time
~ a column by Colleen O’Brien Nearly half a century ago, I wrote a column with the headline “Gracefully moving into wrinkles.” It is hysterically funny. The naivete of it, the innocence . . . oh my. I was 35 years old, for heaven’s sake. If I had a known then how many wrinkles I’d wind up with, I might…
Read MoreThe View from My Window
Unraveling the education vouchers ~a column by Mary Weaver Remember when you had a snag in a sweater and your Mom said, “Don’t pull it, it will unravel!”? I am sharing my concerns about the unraveling of Iowa’s educational system, especially impacting rural Iowa counties. Let us start at the beginning. January 24, 2023, Governor Reynolds signed the Students First…
Read MoreAt war again with ourselves
~a column by Colleen O’Brien In 1981, long before Internet, even long before computers for us commoners, I wrote a light essay about the unpredictability of nature. I mentioned that someplace in the world it was lightning and thundering, starting fires or floods. Someplace else the earth was quaking, the sky rife with tornado or cyclone. The forces of nature…
Read MoreWords again
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Calliope. Ratatouille. Aardvark. These are words that I like to say. I like how calliope rolls around my mouth, how ratatouille makes my mouth a kiss, how aardvark makes me think I’m speaking Viking. Some words have in their pronunciation a flavor of their meaning. Assuage sounds soft and soothing; originally it meant to sweeten…
Read MoreLetter to the editor – B. Banister re: HS principal payout
To the editor: I think the citizens of Greene County are owed an explanation as to why they are paying the ex high school principal a year’s salary plus benefits. He resigned suddenly and the whole thing wreaks. Why is the matter being swept under the rug? It doesn’t seem right, we are paying for this and we deserve and…
Read MoreAre you any sort of virgin?
~a column by Colleen O’Brien I love a mystery. Murder mysteries are a passion with me, a little passion, an offshoot of the big passion: my real and long-lived passion is words, for they are the most mysterious of all. We make them up for our own purposes, but at the end, who uses who? I’m not more adept in…
Read MoreThe view from my window
American history, racism, and wokeness ~a column by Mary Weaver I was awake early this morning. I am also WOKE. Ring around the rosie / Pocket full of posies / Last one down is a _igger baby. Eena, meena, mina, mo / Catch a _igger by his toe. / If he hollers make him pay / Fifty dollars every day.…
Read MoreIowa’s water quality progress continues to accelerate
~by Mike Naig, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture It may be an understatement, but these past few years have provided some unique challenges. Yet, despite supply chain disruptions, inflation, and unpredictable weather, we continue to see record engagement in our state’s conservation activity. The increased level of awareness and resources, coupled with an expanding list of public and private partnerships, has…
Read MoreCultural backtracking
~a column by Colleen O’Brien “Cultural backtracking” is simply nostalgia at work: longing for the past, living in the past, aggrandizing the past. We’re surrounded by it, involved in it, sold it by movies and Amazon. And it comes on faster the older we get. When times move too fast – as in life today – it’s easy to long…
Read MoreHonor the patriots
May 26, 2023 ~by Sen Joni Ernst Today and throughout the weekend, all across our state, Iowans will come together to place small American flags in the grass along memorial sites and roadways to honor our fallen military heroes. Patriots. It’s slow work—a minor sacrifice of time and comfort in recognition of the massive sacrifices we can never repay. By…
Read MoreThe view from my window
May is Mental Health Awareness Month ~by Mary Weaver Recently the Greene County board of supervisors issued a proclamation, encouraging Greene County citizens to increase their understanding of mental health. An internet search for a definition of mental health was found from the Centers for Disease Control. Mental health is…. “emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think,…
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