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 MoreCategory: Opinion
At 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,…
Read MoreI grew up calling it Decoration Day
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Memorial Day, hurrah! It used to be one of my favorite holidays because the whole family would travel around the area visiting graveyards to wipe down gravestones and place fresh flowers and take a moment to remember the dead. More importantly to children, it was significant as school ending at last and endless summer beginning,…
Read MoreLetter to the editor – E. Thompson re: PTSD
To the editor, There are few things that remind us of the cost of freedom more than seeing a flag-draped coffin containing the body of a fallen service member being carried off a military transport plane. However, there are unseen costs of freedom: one of which is the emotional damage being carried within the service member who is able to…
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