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 …

Rarely have I been so qualified for an assignment as I was last week. I got an email June 8 from a marketing guy in Des Moines. Would I be interested in visiting several farms near Havelock, …

Imagine punishing your kid for telling the truth by taking away their allowance years later. It makes no sense, but that’s the logic behind an assertion by Kraig Paulsen, the Director of the Iowa …

In the ongoing, years-long group text between my four brothers and sister, there was a brief exchange the Saturday before Memorial Day between me, son Paul, and my next younger brother Perry. I …

Chris Jones and his boss at the water works used to ask as they gathered daily to discuss the roiling river’s polluted water: “Where’s the outrage?” Iowans are freaking out over our …

Our neighbors living here under Temporary Protected Status from places like Haiti, Cuba or Central America are in immediate danger of deportation to places of chaos and mayhem now that the US Supreme …

On Saturday Storm Lake joins the rest of the nation in celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States of America. It was on July 4, 1776, that our nation’s founders, meeting in Philadelphia, …

In 2023, I left a long-term marriage and long-term home ownership and became a renter. I’m lucky that my rent doesn’t consume more than 30% of my salary. Even though I have money set aside for …

Donald Trump is the most consequential President of the United States in more than 75 years. He now controls, partially controls, or heavily influences most of the major sectors of American life. He …

Earlier this season, Mayor Meg McKeon announced an essay contest for Storm Lake students. The writing topic was “Why I’m Storm Lake Proud.” Several students responded with essays. The mayor …

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to terminate the tenure of an official in government, decent respect requires that the causes should be declared. We hold these truths to …

In yet another effort to explain the 2025 changes to the Federal Milk Marketing Orders, a mid-June headline in a widely respected farm newspaper carried this news: “Milk pricing explained: ‘New …

The Declaration of Independence states “that among these [unalienable rights] are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…” Simple, straightforward, basic rights — correct? Yes, but …