I watched the annual Memorial Day ceremony from our nation’s capital Sunday night on PBS, which highlighted the sacrifices men and women have made to secure our freedom and preserve democracy. …

Pipelines transporting carbon dioxide from Northwest Iowa ethanol plants to be sequestered underground in spent fracking holes are considered by the industry to be vital for its survival. Corn …

The Biden Administration’s trade agenda — mostly forgotten after three years of Covid, inflation, war in Ukraine, brutality in the Middle East, and a cantankerous Congress — recently surfaced …

Several recent news items seem unrelated but have a common foundation, corporate greed. Red Lobster, in business since 1968, has filed for bankruptcy. While the company’s decline has been …

Politicians do not appear to be serious about passing a new five-year farm bill before the November elections. The House Agriculture Committee controlled by Republicans last week on a 33-21 vote …

On June 27, about four weeks from now, we’ll get to watch the first presidential debate for the 2024 election. Or not. The announced changes to the debate process this year are so great that the …

Way back when, in the days before TV, Grinnell was a rival of Iowa on the football field, Iowa State played Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference, and Amos Alonzo Stagg dominated the Big Ten for …

Cutbacks in state funding are forcing social service agencies to reduce their services to the people of Iowa, including Buena Vista County. Area Education Agencies, including our Prairie Lakes AEA, …

It’s no surprise that Storm Lake has a feral (community) cat problem. Implementing a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program will decrease Storm Lake’s feral cat population while saving cats’ lives …

There are at least two good reasons that Buena Vista County District Court Judge Carl Peterson should not dismiss the City of Storm Lake’s lawsuit against Buena Vista County for the misallocation …

Prop 12 is proving to be costly for not only Iowa pig farmers but California consumers too. I am glad to see the U.S. House Ag Committee taking steps in the farm bill to protect producers from a …

According to the April 12-16 NBC News survey, 52% of voters have somewhat or very negative feelings toward President Joe Biden while 53% of voters have the same notion about former President Donald …

Here is a tidbit from my years as a newspaper reporter and editor: I never voted in a primary election, never attended the Iowa caucuses, never stuck a candidate’s sign in my yard, never had a …

Where does your primary loyalty lie: as a citizen of America, or as a citizen of Iowa? Probably seems like a meaningless question. But around the nation, more and more states these days are enacting …

Iowa is a leading exporter of soy and pork to China and other Asian markets. Many of the hogs raised here are owned by Smithfield Foods, a US subsidiary of a Chinese company. Agricultural producers …

With Gov. Kim Reynolds signing all this year’s budget bills, the state’s spending plan for the new fiscal year is now set. The Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bills were signed on May 9. The …

If I had studied Shakespeare, the Bible or Greek mythology I might be able to discern subtle truth through historical analogy from the trials of Donald Trump. The best philosopher I can summon is …

The slowest dance on Capitol Hill, the writing of a new Farm Bill, gained tempo May 1 when both the House and Senate Ag committees released versions of their bills. The House bill was a broadly …

You don’t often hear anyone extol the benefits of the Covid pandemic. But I did few weeks ago — when I stood before the Storm Lake Kiwanis club and talked about government transparency in …

If you think climate change is a hoax, check with your insurance company. Insurers have lost money each of the last four years in Iowa, according to a New York Times analysis, and are fleeing the …