City leaders in Des Moines are making it difficult to understand why they selected the new police chief, considering how they have imposed a code of silence about their recent $975,000 payout to one …

In times of war (and that’s what the U.S. is engaged in with Iran, regardless of what our government calls it), there is usually more than one cause. That’s true in spades for the current …

In the end, it usually comes down to numbers. Figures scrawled on the back of an envelope, say, or blinking numbers on a computer spreadsheet. Maybe even 58,281 names inscribed on two, long black …

This week was the ninth week of the legislative session, and it was filled with debate and subcommittee work as we continue to see bills coming over from the House. Next this upcoming week is …

This week we celebrate National Ag Week. Iowa Farm Bureau is commemorating America’s 250th birthday with the theme “Roots of Freedom: Growing America for 250 Years” for this year’s Ag Week …

Penpal David Yepsen senses a shift heading into the midterm elections: Rural folks are honked off and voting for change. The retired political columnist for The Des Moines Register and former …

Sure has been warm lately. Unseasonably so. Record-setting days every month in Des Moines. Above-normal, as they say. This week brought another record at 67 degrees. One day, one month, one year do …

Silly me. I thought it was Jared Moskowitz who got Kristi Noem fired. You know Jared Moskowitz, don’t you? He’s the Florida Democratic representative who, in February, asked Attorney …

The offices of the Des Moines Register’s opinion staff were mostly empty when my telephone rang late one afternoon about 15 years ago. The guard at the lobby security desk said two men were …

Kathy and I attended a Greene County High School performance last Saturday evening of Anastasia the Musical. It’s based on the animated film Anastasia, about the Romanov princess who, according to …

Are you a Military Veteran searching for a way to continue your honored service to our community? I encourage you to consider an opportunity to volunteer with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars …

When something breaks on our farm, my first instinct is the same one my father had, and his father before him: figure out what’s wrong, fix it, and get back to work. That instinct is bred into …

For the past 14 months, Americans of all political persuasions have witnessed how Trump’s ICE-related actions have involved aggressive detention and demonization of immigrants and minorities. …

If you grew up on a farm, you know that milk cows show up to be milked, horses return to the barn to be fed and, like clockwork, chickens return to roost every night. In fact, chickens are so …

Fog set thick outside while serotonin ran thin inside on this early March morning of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in Iowa. If I had the gumption I would go jump in the lake. It only gets worse …

The world bears less of a burden with Iran’s supreme leader and his ruling junta dead in the rubble. Israel and the United States joined forces to decapitate the leading sponsor of terrorism in the …

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that the very rich “are different from you and me.” While that quote comes from a short story, his novel, The Great Gatsby, fully embodies that observation. We …

When it comes to the First and Fifth Amendments, I’m a Jeffersonian Jeffersonian. The amendments are two of the ten in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson didn’t write …

March is when most people’s thoughts turn to spring and most farmers start looking forward to another productive year of growing food, feed and fiber. Until then, though, there's weather to …

Last week was the seventh week of the legislative session. We are past the first funnel and the week was filled with floor debates. Last Monday we passed SF 2219 with a vote of 46-0. This bill …