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Category: Opinion

Do I dare think things are looking up?

~a column by Colleen O’Brien After a two-week hiatus from the political news in America, I return to being informed in a mind-blowing way. . . almost literally, the eerie light-headedness being very close to feeling the top of my head opening up and all logical thoughts flying off. For as lazy a president as he is said to be,…

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Let’s put things in perspective

~Sue Richardson of Jefferson, retired school teacher There were several statements made at the town hall gathering with legislators in Jefferson on Saturday, Feb. 14, that needed more context to give an accurate account of the bills currently being proposed. When talking about school funding, it was stated that the Democrats decreased funding   when they controlled the legislature and the…

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View from my window – The SAVE Act

It sounds so simple and reasonable. Persons voting in an election should be citizens. I think we all agree with that rationale. Iowa, along with the other states, has been given the right in the United States Constitution to have its own voting laws including registration, voter identification, early voting, mail-in voting, and polling hours. You may recall last year’s…

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Putting students first in higher education policy

~by Jesse Ulrich, president, Iowa Central Community College At Iowa Central Community College, our purpose is simple and student-centered: we want students to finish their degrees or certifications in the shortest time possible, with the least amount of student loan debt, so they can have a better life. This purpose helps us fulfill our mission by meeting Iowans where they…

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View from my window: Dismantling of the U.S.

February 1, 2026 I was recently saddened to read that the National Park Service is dismantling “Inappropriate disparage” exhibits about slavery from the President’s House at Independence Park in Philadelphia. The Washington Post first reported the orders handed down by the President to require the Interior Department to identify and change any “memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties that were…

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Presidential projecting of liars and pigs

~a column by Colleen O’Brien Freelance reporter Don Lemon, two weeks after having covered a rally in a Minneapolis church, was arrested and indicted in Los Angeles for being at that protest. It is illegal to arrest a reporter for being a reporter. What they do for a living – report – is protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution,…

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Stupid is as stupid does?

Times like this cause me to examine the picture of my cultural experience. While consuming newsworthy events in these United States I am oft-distant and dependent on the news media to paint a picture of what is happening. But is the picture I am receiving a Rembrandt or a Picasso? Words are written, interviews enacted, and cellphone videos captured but…

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The List from just one city

~by Colleen O’Brien Trump is untruthful, and so he and his administration need show no interest in investigating I.C.E. actions in Minneapolis because it’s the Democrats’ fault there is ‘chaos.’ Minnesota governor Walz, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frye and  U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar have asked the Trump administration’s Department of Justice, headed by another person who plays with the truth, Pam…

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Bits and pieces and a dash of Amendments

~a column by Colleen O’Brien A new US Postal Service rule, which I just discovered became effective on Christmas Eve, 2025, is cunning: it changes postmarks to regional processing centers, not my local post office. The date stamped on the outside of the envelope might be days after I actually put it in my own mailbox to be picked up, impacting deadlines for…

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