It’s 36 counties covering 21,546 square miles of Northwest Iowa. It’s the largest congressional district in Iowa, but often overlooked, neglected and forgotten by politicians and pundits of every …

“Alternative facts,” the phase made famous by Kellyanne Conway in 2017, uttered in defense of a lie put forth by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, has always intrigued me, both as a …

Storm Lake’s workforce ecosystem already values learning by doing. Buena Vista University’s downtown Foundry connects students, entrepreneurs and businesses through mentoring and real projects, …

Ready or not, here it comes: They’re automating the packinghouse. Marble Technologies of Lincoln, Neb., uses artificial intelligence to eliminate human labor (and error) in packaging for …

President Trump toys with tariffs at our expense. He slapped a 50% tariff on Canadian goods and services despite a standing free-trade agreement. At the same time, Trump waived tariffs and cut a deal …

The United States of America reached a milestone last week that didn’t get the attention it deserves. Our national debt exceeded $40 trillion for the first time. That deficit far outstripped …

A couple of weeks ago, a local 53-year-old dad died. Two days later, a 59-year-old dad died. Both men had daughters who were my daughter’s classmates. Add to that, the father of two dear friends …

A series of ads on TV over the last few months haven’t tripped my trigger. I have finally figured out why. In those ads, an older guy with a trimmed white mustache tries to teach middle-aged …

“If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” The Buena Vista County Bar Association believes the citizens of Buena Vista County deserve to have their elected and appointed representatives …

A recent report from the Institute of Legislative Analysis reveals significant shifts in voting behavior across both major political parties in Congress has occurred over the past three years. …

Following the floods in Northwest Iowa in 2024, the House Local Government Committee, of which I served as Chair, reported out of committee a bill that would become SF 619, which provided additional …

Two guys roam Scheels in West Des Moines, a bromance in the brew. Zach confides to Bobby that he likes Mepps spinners. Chartreuse. Bobby goes uh huh. So cool. Just two guys, doing what …

Climate change is at the root of high food prices. Drought on the Great Plains, from the Dakotas down to Texas, is driving cattle producers out of business. The pressure has been building for …

Hey Boomers! How many of you remember Iowa’s old-style license plates that began with the number for each county according to its alphabetical order? So license plates on cars registered in …

Iowa’s official state motto is, “Our liberties we prize, our rights we will maintain.” The right to live our lives freely and truly our own is under attack. I’d love to see some “Iowa …

You would think a school district readily knows its A-B-Cs. nnNot the Des Moines Public Schools — at least not when informing the public what its 6,600 employees were paid during the academic year …

As if your TV set were not inundated by enough political ads these days, you can expect a whole other set of them soon. The new load, probably coming your way after Labor Day, will try to …

Rob Sand falsely states, “As it stands, the private school voucher system requires no accountability over how tax money is being spent. There are no audits to check.” The Students First Act …

There are places that disappear from maps but never from memory. For me, Storm Lake’s baseball fields and diamonds are among them. When my family moved from Aplington (then population around …

I am elated! Six months of surgery and rehab will be over soon, in about two more months of rehab. My left knee replacement in January and my right knee in June have been a temporary life-adjusting …