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 …

Congratulations to the Storm Lake Boys Basketball team on a great season. It was wonderful to see the camaraderie amongst the teammates. There is a mural painted in Chautauqua Park saying …

For years thereafter whenever my family would drive through the city of Humboldt, it felt like I had been punched in the stomach, pierced in the heart and then the memories would all come rushing …

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 …

On Tuesday, March 9, the House passed a bipartisan bill that addresses classroom behavior, protects teachers and supports students with special needs. Although the bill passed this year, this …

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 …

Three state Republican representatives are flaunting an initiative this year with a serious “tough on crime” agenda. The most egregious of the three is one that requires a mandatory minimum …

Recently there was a full page of The Times devoted to some people walking barefooted on a bed of hot coals. The estimated temperature of the hot coals was 1,200 degrees. These people were not a cult …

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 …

Green Bay, Wisc., home of the NFL Packers, may claim to be Title Town USA, but Newell-Fonda can call itself Iowa’s Title Town. The Mustangs won their fifth girls state basketball championship last …

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 …

What would you do if armed federal agents were pounding on your door? Not in a movie or a history book — but tonight. Your house. Your family. History shows that free societies rarely lose …

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 …

We’ve seen it countless times across the country, career criminals who have never had to face consequences for their actions harming and even killing innocent people. Iowans have had enough and …