The Iowa Public Information Board is a good idea gone bad. It was created by law to hear complaints about open-records and open-meetings violations, but has never lived up to its task. The board …

Storm Lake’s city planners have proposed rejuvenating our downtown business district, reconstructing Lake Avenue with new traffic patterns that would accommodate bike lanes and improve traffic …

We’ve been talking for as long as we recall, say a half-century, about a Highway 71 bypass of Spencer. It was opposed by merchants who feared losing business if a proposed bypass on the west side …

If President Joe Biden wonders why his approval numbers stink, he should take a look at Storm Lake. For the second time in two years, the city’s application to the Federal Emergency Management …

Storm Lake has hired a Des Moines law firm to serve as city attorney. This is interesting from a few angles: The city council has preached “buy local” to the point of excoriating honest …

With great interest, I read (and have since re-read several times) the letter to the editor printed in the Sept. 13 issue of the Times Pilot from Mr. Jim Walters, Iowa City, stating his opinions on …

In last week’s column I discussed whether age limits are appropriate for federal officials: the President, members of Congress, and judges. This week it’s term limits: should the nation change …

Iowa is about as far removed from an ocean as you can get. But this state figures in recent news reports about the U.S. Navy — and not in a puff-up-our-chest-with-pride way. One of the reports …

I am a landowner in Cherokee County affected by the Summit Carbon Solutions Hazardous Sequestration Pipeline. I am opposed to this pipeline with safety being my primary concern. To better …

National news organizations continue to refer to Gov. Kim Reynolds as tremendously popular in Iowa as they drop in to cover the Republican caucuses. That ain’t necessarily so. No question, Reynolds …

I felt a little odd last week, writing about our trip to Ireland like it was some big deal to us. So many people today — including our own kids — travel across continents as easily as I go to …

Storm Lake City Council seats held by Tyson Rice, Kevin McKinney and Maria Ramos come up for election in November, but we won’t know who is running until the nomination period ends Sept. 21. You …

It’s been years since this weekly effort has used any time, muscle or brain cells to write, or, frankly, even care about any of the 21 costly, largely ineffective, and virtually bulletproof federal …

Awhile back we would have bet you that the Summit and Navigator CO2 pipelines planned for Iowa were a done deal. They are designed to capture carbon (and tax credits) for the ethanol industry, our …

Sen. Joni Ernst’s proposal to solve Iowa’s doctor shortage, by her Directing Our Country's Transfer of Residency Slots (DOCTORS) Act, to grant foreign doctors citizenship in exchange for …

The Board and Commissions Review Committee created by the government realignment legislation has continued its work to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of each board, council, commission, …

The image making the rounds after the Iowa-Iowa State game was not a pick-6 but a Cyclone fan dressed in red flipping the double-eagle bird fingers to former President Donald Trump, who was safe …

“Loitering slow, the future creepeth; arrow-swift, the present sweepeth, and motionless forever stands the past.” -Friedrich Schiller Except during pandemics, as the one we’re still spinning …

It’s impossible to forget: I was on the phone one dank morning in the spring of 2020 with Brother John, who lives just a block east. We were isolating at home trying to figure out what to do with …

Labor Day Week; maybe a time to take a break from the regular routine and do a little dreaming. No requirement for actual success of any given suggestion – just a chance to chew over a few ideas. …