My buddy Walt Bradley of Algona asked me why we came back here from college in Minnesota over 45 years ago. That’s easy: Family. It’s the only reason. Walt was an art major who …

What a gorgeous Saturday in early May as Buena Vista University sent another class out into the world. Storm Lake was picture perfect. Most of these eager Beavers would like to burrow into a place …

Iowans do not like change. It might be our strongest attribute. Sen. Chuck Grassley has been in politics since 1959. Terry Branstad holds the national record for longest tenure as governor. A third …

Solar panels create 31 times the energy from an acre of land that corn does in the form of ethanol, according to research coordinated at Cornell University in New York. Put another way: If solar …

We’re nigh onto 100 days since Donald Trump swore on the Bible, and he already has done enough political damage to give an opening to the downtrodden opposition in Iowa. Stocks and pension …

It sounded like the roof was going to rip off at 1 a.m. Friday. Ferocious straight-line winds knocked out power to some 6,000 households in Buena Vista County. When daylight broke we could see the …

With colleges under full frontal assault, whiskey purveyor and Beaver great Keith Kerkhoff regaled the Storm Lake United annual banquet with tales of facing legendary Football Coach Jim Hershberger …

Iowa could return to its moderate good sense with Gov. Kim Reynolds retired. For nearly a decade, Reynolds presided over declining school test scores, banning books in schools, shaming of gays, …

It’s never been easy as a Democrat in Northwest Iowa. They are few and far between. Back when Dad ran for legislature from Buena Vista County on the Kennedy ticket in 1960, they burned a cross …

It came too late and is too little but at least we finally have an education funding bill to present for Gov. Kim Reynolds’s signature, allowing 2% growth for local school districts. Sen. Lynn …

Omaha’s humble Eppley Airfield looked bombed-out under construction but beautiful nonetheless Sunday after having breathed in 30Rock’s NBC Studios in the heart of Manhattan. It was …

The news can be daunting. A warming climate is worsening acute droughts in Africa and Central America. Food security is tenuous. It is the source of horrible conflict in places like Sudan. Assistance …

Not even the judges know for sure if the courts can hold up against a full-on assault over the next four years. They could use some fortification. Top law firms that once crossed The Donald are now …

Willis Hamilton was a great lawyer. He was a fearless advocate who was smart and took command of the facts. He was practical but liked to swing for the fences and often   knocked it out with …

The old hometown is proud of Storm Lake St. Mary’s alumnus Ben McCollum, 43, who was named head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team this week. We’re deflated for Drake, …

It may seem kinda nutty, professor, but RFK2 believes that just letting the flu ravage henhouses while we stand by and breathe it in may be the way to go. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins …

It makes us nervous when legislators commit themselves to historic property tax reform. If they knew what they were doing, the taxes on our humble offices would not be shooting through the tin roof. …

Big business might be waking up to who butters its bread. A think tank populated by bankers, builders and chambers of commerce called “Common Sense Institute Iowa” says that our …

Here’s something more to scare and depress you: An Iowa Senate subcommittee voted 2-1 to advance a bill banning mRNA vaccines like those used against Covid-19. The bill was put forward by …

Iowa farmers are about to plant into a seedbed of chaos. Tariffs on Mexico and Canada are on one day and off the next. Markets are whiplashed. Consumer confidence is tanking. Corn and soy prices …