A Jan. 9 Iowa Appeals Court decision could bring a major change to the conduct of meetings by Iowa’s local government bodies, including county supervisors, city councils, and school boards. …

This year marks the centennial of the notorious Scopes trial. The trial played out in 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, and addressed the question whether a state could ban the teaching of e - - - - - - - - …

A Jan. 9 Iowa Appeals Court decision could bring a major change to the conduct of meetings by Iowa’s local government bodies, including county supervisors, city councils, and school boards. …

Each of us probably has a list of family members and friends to whom we give gifts at Christmastime (and sometimes on other special days as well, like birthdays). It’s a heartwarming tradition, …

A share of Iowa’s Republican electorate appears ready to abandon Senator Joni Ernst in favor of a more Trumpian replacement in the 2026 Iowa Republican primary election. It’s yet another …

Grandfathers and clocks have a lot in common. Remember the “Grandfather’s Clock” song? How the clock kept accurate time for the old man’s entire life? “Ninety years …

A list of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for Cabinet positions suggests strongly that he envisions the U.S. Cabinet playing a very different role from those that key appointees have …

I played a role in a movie three weeks ago, without even so much as a screen test. Well, technically speaking, I suppose, I didn’t actually debut on the big screen. It was more of an …

President-elect Donald Trump after securing victory in the 2024 election: “It’s time to put the division of the past four years behind us. It’s time to unite. And we’re going …

What effect will the 2024 election have on the immigration situation? I’m writing this column on Sunday before the Tuesday election, so I don’t know its outcome. But the outlines of …

Pundits are fond of saying that elections are about the economy, and people’s relationship to it. “It’s the economy, stupid” and all that. It may be true — but …

Monday, Oct. 14, the state of Iowa observed Indigenous Peoples Day (traditionally   called Columbus Day), in recognition of the roles native tribes have played in the state’s history and …

Where are today’s Menachem Begins and Anwar Sadats? Or Yitzhak Rabins and Yasser Arafats? Without leaders of their stature and their willingness to compromise for the good of their people, …

Most Americans believe in democracy — or say they do. The United States operates as a representative democracy. That means we elect leaders to do the work of governing, and we get to vote for …

This is a nostalgia column. When you’re 83, you’re allowed some nostalgia, provided you can remember what you’re nostalgic about. And that it has some relevance to the current …