Dave Price  moderated our panel for Episode 4 of Iowa Down Ballot, where Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members discussed the Democratic National Convention and how it could impact Iowa …

Gov. Kim Reynolds is playing politics with child nutrition, much like her colleagues in   Congress who are trying to gut feeding programs in the long-delayed Farm Bill. Reynolds refused $29 …

It feels like the ground shifted under rural America since President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid. Vice President Kamala Harris is off to an electrifying start, tying or leading Donald …

Did the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. United States hold that American presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for all actions they take while in office? No. …

1: Who blocked Iowa kids from receiving $29 million dollars in federal tax money returned to the state to provide USDA Summer Childrens Feeding Program? 2: Who decided they knew best what our …

As Beavers return from summer break to their dens on campus, and we start to think about filling the backpacks and watching for school buses, we wax nostalgic for the good old days. Iowa was Number …

You think you have disappointments. A couple of months I dug into our back yard three Big Boy tomato plants that promised tasty fist-sized red tomatoes destined to sit inside BLTs about now. …

Milton Friedman, the patron saint of free markets and a founder of the Nobel-adorned Chicago school of economics, took a very dim view of all tariffs — ours, theirs, anyone's. Writing in …

We strolled past the booths Saturday at the Blue Water Festival in Arnolds Park celebrating water quality and spotted a poster made by some kid that claimed wind turbines degrade water quality. …

After reviewing the books through July, it seems like a good time to offer a mid-year accounting and make an earnest appeal for community journalism. We’re keeping our noses just above the …

During the “Progressive Period” in American history — two decades or so, from roughly 1896 until 1917 — a number of states adopted the “initiative” and …

Okay, so you've got this weird, old uncle who’s ruined your family's Thanksgivings for the last seven years (and he keeps coming, even after you deliberately disinvited him three years ago!). …

Kamala Harris and the Democrats do well to have Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on their national ticket as the vice-presidential nominee. He’s rural, for real. Walz has broad appeal in Upper Midwest …

Baby Boomers from across Northwest Iowa, including a bunch from Storm Lake and Alta, gathered Sunday night at the historic Roof Garden ballroom in Arnolds Park to listen to jaunty rock and roll with …

During the 40 years I was a newspaper editor/manager, I strived to ensure the staff incorporated context into their articles. Sometimes, in a journalistic shorthand, that was described “the …

Efforts to reduce the number of cats on the streets in Storm Lake may be well-intentioned, but putting cats back outdoors spells suffering and death for felines and wildlife and creates problems for …

A wave of layoffs is cresting over Iowa this summer as sharply lower commodity prices damp machinery sales. Most prominent has been John Deere, which has laid off more than 2,000 workers at multiple …

Donald Trump last week declared that millions and millions of immigrants “happen to be taking Black jobs.” He said this on stage at the convention of the National Association of Black …

Question: When is a bribe not a bribe, but a thank-you gift? Answer: When it’s paid after the fact, not before. So says the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s the setup: In 2012 …

Nearly 45% of all agricultural workers in the U.S. today — 950,000 of an estimated 2.2 million farmworkers — are “unauthorized” migrants working illegally on American farms …