Too many officials in the Trump Administration and several farm state Capitol Hill leaders believe that just saying something is true makes it true.  For example, on June 24, the White …

Imagine 1,500 foreigners showing up in rural Iowa who can’t speak English, are pacifists, refuse to take loyalty oaths, live communally with no pay, and shun social convention. Arrest them! …

With hope for the holidays in his heart, Sen. Chuck Grassley predicted — when the Storm Lake Times Pilot prodded — that a farm bill should pass by Christmas. It is three years overdue already. A …

Storm Lake’s Star Spangled Spectacular, Iowa’s biggest Fourth of July event, had another successful celebration of our nation’s birthday Saturday. The Big Day was kicked off by the Big Parade …

It must be a sign of desperation. Obviously, the president hasn’t stirred enough outrage in hurling the word “socialist” around. He wants you to be afraid, very afraid, and the s-word wasn’t …

Whether you work for the federal, state or local government, you best just accept that blame and criticism go with the job and move ahead. Decatur County Attorney Alan Wilson learned that lesson …

Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran, vows revenge on the “criminals” who assassinated his father, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had led Iran for 36 years. It must be assumed …

So the National 250th Birthday celebration was a flop. You must have been watching the main media networks who did not carry Trump’s Washington, D.C., 11  p.m. address or the national …

I’m old enough to remember when Congress — like most Americans — worked during the summer. Sure, the pinstriped, air-conditioned gang took a few weeks off every August but they usually …

“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law” (Appropriations Clause, Article I, Section 9, Clause 7, U.S. Constitution). Congress’s “Power of …

Midterm elections are less than four months away. Many Iowans are concerned that these elections may be tampered or interfered with, especially since the last person responsible for trying to …

In a column published in May 2025, we wrote about the allegations contained in a lawsuit filed by a former certified nurse aide at a nursing home in Fonda. The suit was filed against the Fonda …

A generation ago, parents worried about what their children might see at the movie theater or on a magazine rack. Today, a child with a smartphone and an internet connection can access obscene …

President Trump and the ayatollahs blew up any hopes of taming inflation with renewed bombing of Iran and the Persian Gulf, just as fuel prices were softening. Gas jumped and stocks slumped when …

Clean air and water should be non-partisan goals for Iowa, which has serious pollution and health issues. We’re encouraged by the discussion taking place across the state and across the political …

Have you ever noticed that whenever you do something nice for someone, it makes you feel good? Even little things, like holding the door at the Post Office for someone juggling an armful of mail. …

So it was decided: Chicago had won the bid for the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Better known as the World’s Fair, Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root were named as chief architects to great …

Buried words, like buried treasures, sometimes surprise and enrich. But buried landmines only create problems now, and later. Such is the case with a passage buried in a 71-page Iowa Supreme …

If the Confederate States of America (CSA) had succeeded in winning, or negotiating, its independence from the United States of America in the Civil War, this year it would be celebrating its 165th …

I love my country. That is why I am concerned. I was born and raised in Iowa. I know the values of our communities — hard work, faith, family, service and personal responsibility. Those values …