Opinion

Storm Lake’s tremendous dredging program would not be as far along as it is were it not for the locally organized work crew and infrastructure. As we have noted before, City Infrastructure Director Pat Kelly volunteered to ramrod the operation and the city council agreed. That pledge led to the creation of the Lake Improvement Commission, an authority formed by Storm Lake, Buena Vista County, Lakeside and the Lake Preservation Association with advisory support from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

By JOHN CULLEN

Twenty-five years ago this week we published the first issue of The Storm Lake Times, but for a while on press day it looked like it might not happen.

This editorial from the first issue of The Storm Lake Times, June 29, 1990, expresses the philosophy that gov­erns this news­pa­per. It is published annually on the anniversary of The Times founding as an affirmation of our principles.

By ART CULLEN

When I looked into the rearview mirror to see the sun setting over Storm Lake as I headed east on the Varina Road, on my way to college, I swore I was shaking the dirt off my boots. Never would I return.

As they say in politics, never is a long time.

By DON BEHM

Recently on TV and in The Times there was a picture of a girl with swollen lips.  I decided to write a Cracker Barrel Story about fat lips.

While researching our history we stumbled across the present: On March 11, 2006, Sen. Tom Harkin in an interview with The Storm Lake Times had this to say about the potential for a devastating avian flu outbreak: “We’re vulnerable. … A number of steps need to be taken to put up as many barriers as possible. But it’s sorta like Hurricane Katrina: ‘It ain’t gonna happen here.’ Well, I’m sorry. It could happen here. We’re in the flyway. And what’s coming could be devastating.”

By Manoocher Aryanpur

After a 35-day stay in Iran, I flew back a few days ago with a deep sigh of relief. Regardless of what we might think of the state of affairs in the U.S., this country is still — and may it always be — a beacon of hope, a land of the free and a home to die for.

By RANDY EVANS

The Iowa Republican Party is feeling pretty battered, bruised and under-appreciated as presidential candidates crisscross the state this year.

Our thanks to Gov. Terry Branstad for requesting a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Buena Vista and other Iowa counties stricken by avian flu. Branstad seeks to unleash every federal resource to help producers, industry and communities recover from the worst livestock crisis in US history. An important part of the request is to offer enhanced long-term unemployment benefits to food production workers who could be jobless for up to two years. Branstad has made this epidemic his priority.

By ART CULLEN

Over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we went once again on Sunday to mark Father’s Day. We would sing it the van with the kids and dog in back as we took the back roads out of Livermore and up to the old farmstead five miles west of St. Joe, the center of the universe.