(DES MOINES) – Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg announced on Monday the launch of a new campaign to educate Iowans on the importance of reporting suspicious activity.
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History, a subject worth teaching
~a column by Colleen O’Brien A demand that grade school and high school teachers in the U.S. concentrate on math and literacy was written into law and passed in 2001 via a federal education bill called No Child Left Behind. That bill got left behind in 2015 when the Every Student Succeeds Act was passed. This bill also directed teachers…
Read MoreReynolds, Gregg unveil sweeping new tax policy
DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg unveiled the most significant tax reform package in decades on Tuesday, providing immediate relief to middle class workers, small business owners, famers, families and teachers across Iowa, making good on the commitment she made in her swearing in address last May and again in her Condition of the State…
Read MoreThe Behn Report
February 9, 2018 In the Legislature – Week Five is coming to a close and we have been busy working to get our bills through the legislative process. With the increase in subcommittee meetings, there are bills on a variety of issues at the capitol. One of these, Senate File 2086, allows a person with a permit to carry weapons…
Read MoreMemories of memories
~a column by Colleen O’Brien A friend wrote a story about her “memory of her first memory.” With this phrase in the first line of her essay, I was captured. It intrigued me in several ways – the combination of words that makes me read something again, ponder it before reading on, think about it just before sleeping; maybe dream…
Read MoreThe Behn Report
February 2, 2018 The pace has really started to pick up at the capitol as legislation works through subcommittees and committee. We had a number of groups visiting the statehouse to learn about the legislative process, ask questions on various bills and issues, and to get a tour of our beautiful state capitol building. There are several bills moving through…
Read MoreState imposed craziness in the courthouse
I learned something very surprising this week, so surprising that my response was, “that’s crazy.” And I said, “that’s crazy” a second time, and a third time. “That’s crazy!” I learned the number of criminal trials that can be held each year in Greene County is limited to 10. “That’s crazy!” may be what you’re thinking, too.
Read MoreTo be or not to be … addicted
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Last week I submitted to my writers group a possible column that I was calling “To be or not to be . . . angry.” It was about our president, and I had been struggling with it for days, ambivalent, writing and rewriting. I couldn’t understand my confusion, but I knew I could get help…
Read MoreLetter to the editor -Chris Henning
Re: Your voice and your vote matter – caucus with Democrats Feb. 5 To the editor, Much has happened politically since the 2016 caucus nationally and in Iowa. The election of Donald Trump as president; the re-election of Republican Steve King to Congress; the re-election of Republicans Chip Baltimore and Jerry Behn to represent Greene County in the Statehouse; the…
Read MoreNorthey releases Iowa Water Quality Initiative 2018 legislative report
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey on Jan. 24 highlighted the Iowa Water Quality Initiative 2018 legislative report during his presentation to the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee. “It is exciting to continue to see significant growth in the water quality efforts underway all across our state in both rural and urban areas. This report is an attempt to…
Read MoreFragile democracy
~a column by Colleen O’Brien I saw the film “The Post,” which in a nutshell is about our need to protect and champion freedom of the press. Then I saw “Darkest Hour,” which is about Churchill, the Prime Minister of England, who stood up to Hitler’s Nazis as they were about to push the entire English army out of France…
Read MoreNorthey’s statement on funding for water quality efforts
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey on Tuesday issued the following statement regarding final passage of SF 512, which provides nearly $300 million for water quality efforts in Iowa over the next 12 years. “Passage of this long-term water quality funding bill with bipartisan support is a tremendous next step as we work to continue scaling up the water quality…
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