Iowa has reeked for several weeks as an armada of honey wagons sprayed their brown bounty on black dirt, followed by the white anhydrous ammonia tanks. They’re everywhere as I traveled …

Don’t expect too much from President Trump’s announcement last week that the Justice Department is launching probes into price-fixing among big beef processors, namely Tyson, JBS, …

Events last week in Chicago and Washington and at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport provide stark reminders that our nation’s leaders have seemingly forgotten a biblical command around for …

By the time you read this column, it may be irrelevant. I hope so. But I doubt it. nnAssuming the federal government is still partially shut down by the column’s publication on Friday, Nov. 14, …

My mother was born into dirt, poverty, and hunger on a tenant farm in east central Nebraska in April 1932. She was the third child — fourth, including her brother Gordon, who died before she …

In Marshalltown, the spirit of American entrepreneurship is alive and well. nnResidents have opened businesses, among them a grocery store offering fresh food that’s created dozens of jobs. …

Why can’t we all just get along? This country is subjected to enough political violence every year to make any sane nation reach a breaking point. We can’t stand idly by as killings and …

We keep hearing calls to “encourage thoughtful discourse” and “discourage violent rhetoric.” That’s true, and I have. One political party keeps crossing the line, …

As Iowans headed to the polls this week to elect local school board members, they faced an issue beyond the usual ones of taxes, student achievement, teacher pay, curriculum and enrollment. This …

Kathy and I live in an old house in Jefferson (apparent construction year 1901). It’s the house my parents bought in 1944, and it was my childhood home. My folks sold it about 28 years later …

Since the 1960s, think tanks and advocacy groups have been key influencers of presidential policymaking. For decades, Democrat and Republican presidents have relied on think tanks for research and …

Paradox seems to be the guiding principle of today's food policies. For example, the Trump Administration is arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court that the nation’s longstanding trade …

First impression of Keokuk: beautiful and blighted, drained away with the currents of time at the confluence of the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers on Iowa’s southeastern tip. You could …

Iowa is experiencing a tremendous amount of political change with numerous state and federal seats open for the taking. With upcoming special elections and legislative leadership and committee seats …

Not surprisingly these days, free speech on college campuses is back in the headlines. That makes it worthwhile to highlight the seven-page policy the Iowa Board of Regents wrote to proclaim how …

Earlier this year, the Congressional Research Service, the Senate and House’s self-described “exclusive” research and analysis group, “estimated 680,000 farmworkers are …

It sure smells like Gov. Kim Reynolds is cooking up something behind closed doors that will gut local government to make up for her bad fiscal decisions. The governor reportedly warned local …

Last May, I warned state leaders that their irresponsible budgetary practices, like using one-time federal funds for recurring obligations, had created a fiscal time bomb. Five months later, two …

This story is for the people in our age bracket, give or take 10 years. It seems like long ago, but not far away, flour came in 50 pound print cloth bags. Citrus fruit delivered to grocery stores …

Interest in local elections in Jefferson this fall appears to be greater than usual. It’s a good thing. City council and school board elections in Iowa are held in odd-numbered years. In …