We strolled past the booths Saturday at the Blue Water Festival in Arnolds Park celebrating water quality and spotted a poster made by some kid that claimed wind turbines degrade water quality. …

During the “Progressive Period” in American history — two decades or so, from roughly 1896 until 1917 — a number of states adopted the “initiative” and …

Kamala Harris and the Democrats do well to have Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on their national ticket as the vice-presidential nominee. He’s rural, for real. Walz has broad appeal in Upper Midwest …

During the 40 years I was a newspaper editor/manager, I strived to ensure the staff incorporated context into their articles. Sometimes, in a journalistic shorthand, that was described “the …

Over the past few months, following the devasting storms and floods that have affected so many Iowans, I have traveled to communities, visiting farms, businesses and homes that have endured the worst …

Donald Trump is trying to run away from Project 2025, a legislative blueprint for the next administration drafted by the Heritage Foundation that collects in one place conservative thinking since the …

I’m not a big Olympics fan, but I find myself watching bits and pieces of the games because I guess I feel obligated. I’m a traditionalist when it comes to Olympic sports. I have …

Some memories stick with you — like that August day around 1960 when my parents loaded my two brothers and me into our Dodge Coronet and headed to the Iowa State Fair for the first time. Our …

For the past couple of years, Republicans often accused Joe Biden of dodging the media — refusing to sit for extended interviews, declining to be questioned in regular White House press …

Like most southern Illinois farms of my youth, my family had a closet filled with guns. It was just inside the living room and it held my father’s 12-gauge Marlin shotgun, his .22 caliber …

Sen. JD Vance didn’t drop his carpet bag in East Palestine, Ohio, long enough to make a difference before catching the first train to greater fame as Donald Trump’s running mate. The …

American government officials and political players regularly declare something to be “unacceptable.”   Russia’s attack on Ukraine is unacceptable. Hamas’ attack on …

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 28 ruling to overturn the Chevron deference was a business-favoring decision to upend 40 years of legal precedent and redirect federal power from agencies like the …

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump was not a conspiracy. It was the action of a lone, 20-year-old man armed with an assault rifle who somehow climbed onto a building just 175 yards away and …

As we endure the heat of a contentious presidential campaign this summer, a serene portrait of President John F. Kennedy gazes over the newsroom of the Storm Lake Times Pilot, a reminder of simpler …

  The Iowa Public Information Board’s staff made a swift and important determination that a flood committee created by the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors illegally met in …

God works in mysterious ways with a wicked sense of humor, I mused last week. God the Father, with the long white beard and big index finger.  Damn straight, I'm driving to Spencer last Tuesday …

Psychological scientists who study human behavior concur that past actions are the best predictor of future actions. If past actions caused no problem, then all is well. If, however, a person …

Do you remember that phrase our nation’s founders wrote in the preamble to the Constitution 237 years ago? The one about forming a more perfect union? We have hit some speed bumps in that …

This year, like last year, is a Farm Bill year and this year, like last year, probably won’t deliver any Farm Bill. The reason is the oldest one in Washington, D.C.: politics. Most …