To the editor, Have you been diagnosed with a penicillin allergy? If so, you are among one in 10 Americans with this information included in their medical records. Unfortunately, the reality is an estimated 90- 95 percent of these individuals do not have such an allergy. In fact, a true penicillin allergy is actually quite rare. For the last several…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
A time to mourn
~guest commentary by Eric Coop, shared by The Scranton Journal The 1960s folk-rock group, The Byrds, said it best in their song, Turn, Turn, Turn, which in turn quotes from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. “To everything turn, turn, turn, There is a season turn, turn, turn, And a time to every purpose under Heaven.” Since the tragic shooting at Perry High School…
Read MoreWhat happened in Perry could happen anywhere, including here
I feel compelled to write about the fatal shooting at Perry High School Jan. 4. When I heard of the shooting, my first thought was, “Oh, please, don’t let the shooter be Latino.” I hadn’t lived in Jefferson long when I learned of a general attitude that Jefferson is somehow superior to Perry. People don’t often say aloud the source…
Read MoreSimple requests for the 2024 legislative session
With the 2024 legislative session just days away, PRO Iowa 24* is making a few simple requests of our governor and legislators: 1.Gov Reynolds, comply with the law and save taxpayers money. In 2023 the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled you violated Iowa’s public records law, causing us citizens to fork over $174,000 in attorney’s fees to settle three lawsuits.…
Read MoreSenior care remains on the front pages, for all the wrong reasons
Every day, we come across Iowa stories depicting instances of elder neglect or abuse: cases where gangrene leads to amputations, narratives of individuals choking on their saliva, and accounts of people left freezing outside in the cold of winter. A federal report shows Iowa as 49th AMONG THE STATES with a ratio of nursing home inspectors to care facilities. The…
Read MoreLetter to the editor: ‘Thanks’ from the Elks
Letter to the Editor: I would like to thank the Jefferson businesses that contributed prizes to the Jefferson Elks annual Christmas Dinner. Without your support, we couldn’t do this for the Bingo after the meal. We would also like to thank all the volunteers that gave up their Christmas Day to prepare, serve and clean up. Thanks also to the…
Read MoreView from My Window – Summer food program for kids
~a column by Mary Weaver I hope you had a joyous Christmas, and the year 2024 will be a positive one for you and your loved ones. Many of us did not see the impactful news release given on Friday afternoon, Dec. 22. Our children and grandchildren were gathering that afternoon at our home for our family’s Christmas weekend. The…
Read MoreLet me tell you about a book I read….
~a column by GCNO publisher Victoria Riley Sharing my reading list has become a tradition at the end of each year. I almost always have two books on my end table, one fiction and the other nonfiction. I used to think I read nonfiction to learn new things, but I’ve realized I learn as much from reading well-written fiction. Well-developed…
Read MoreView from my window
~a column by Mary Weaver Christmas 2023 Here is a different take on the nativity scene. Entitled A Christmas Bestiary by John Kenn Mortensen and Benni Bodker, it features whimsical descriptions of the animals of winter, real and imaginary. Excerpts from the book were included in a 2006 advertising brochure released for Atherton House in Adel. Along with Baba Yaga…
Read MoreHappy hols…. or have an unhappy….
~a column by Colleen O’Brien In this odd piece of history we’re living through – maybe not odd in its general bad behavior by humans (a million-year species flaw) but odd in its particulars of constant news, a continual, endless, loud, ill-spoken (bad grammar on a regular basis) blather of being kept informed –-phones, cars telling us what to do,…
Read More“Will you be a dictator?”
~a column by Colleen O’Brien This question was asked of once-president Trump this fall in an interview with Sean Hannity, as well as by countless political columnists, broadcast news folks and authors of books on Trump from both sides. He says, “Only on Day One.” This is when he will close the borders and “drill, drill, drill,” to cop a…
Read MoreView from my window: Iowa nursing homes are in crisis
~a column by Mary Weaver I am saddened, as well as shocked by the horror stories erupting statewide about the deplorable and life taking situations occurring in Iowa nursing homes. Stories of gangrene resulting in amputations, a story of a person choking in their own saliva, a story of a person freezing in the winter of 2023 when the alarm…
Read More