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This letter is being written in regards to an article published in your paper last month referring to Storm Lake Senior Housing at 210 E. 13th St.
We are the “people” living here who do not deserve labels. The disabled you referred to are “people” who had misfortunes leading to their inability to live the life they had once been accustomed to. They are “people” who were born different, yet they are all “people” just the same.
The “indigent seniors” you referred to are “people” who have worked, raised families, paid taxes and contributed to society during their lives and have been blessed to be able to be seniors.
We all live here in the hopes of maintaining our independence. We are a community of people who take care of ourselves and each other. It is hurtful to be referred to as indigent as I don't believe many of us have ever been impoverished or unable to afford the basic necessities in life.
We move here to enjoy our lives, pay our rent and remain independent.
Through no fault of our own, the property, our home has been jeopardized.
We respectfully ask you retract your “labels” on us as it is unfair to us, the “people” who live at Storm Lake Senior Housing.
Respectfully,
Janet Balo, Mary Niehaus, Diane Stevens-Stone, Mary Carothers, Tina Frank, Velita Cox, Darryl Brown, Debbie Gloria, Lynn Linke, Karen Jensen, David Nielson, Derek Olveres, Mark Huddleston, Pat Hill, Elvira Jimenez, Andrew Ahers
President Trump and Iowa Republicans are working overtime to cut $880 billion in Medicaid funding to pay for a grotesque tax cut for their fat cat donors.
These cuts will hurt every Iowan’s access to essential health care services. Whether you have private health insurance from your employer, Medicare or Medicaid, we all share the same doctors, nurses, specialists, emergency rooms and nursing home workers. When Republicans cut Medicaid insurance, all our health care providers have fewer financial resources to hire and pay the salaries and benefits of all the people that care for all of us.
Iowa has a shortage of every type of health care provider, including doctors, nurses, direct care workers, pharmacists and emergency room staff. This is especially the case in rural hospitals, nursing homes and clinics. Cutting Medicaid insurance funding will only make these shortages grow and shutter rural providers.
Cutting Medicaid will also increase the number of people without health insurance. Uninsured Iowans still get sick, need and get care. More uninsured Iowans will increase the financial stress already on the health care providers we all rely on when they are forced to eat the costs of caring for these uninsured patients.
Iowa has a huge cancer problem. In 2025, 21,000 Iowans will be diagnosed with cancer. Do you think it will be easier to get cancer care for you or a family member by making it harder for fewer and overworked health care providers to care for you?
Trump and Iowa Republicans are slashing Iowa’s Medicaid insurance program to pay for more tax cuts so ultra rich people can become even richer. Meanwhile, everyday Iowans pay their taxes and struggle to get ahead and make ends meet. During his campaign, President Trump and many other Republican politicians promised that he would not cut Medicaid.
Contact Senators Grassley and Ernst now and tell them they have the power to keep Trump’s promise or make him a liar.
Joe Bolkcom, Des Moines
Trump’s “trumped up” military parade went over like a lead balloon. It was pitiful. Small crowd, no excitement, no grand spectacle. Not much of a birthday present for our nation’s man-child. And it cost us American taxpayers about $45 million. I want to file a complaint with DOGE — the fake government agency in charge of cutting waste, fraud and abuse from our federal budget. But I can’t find an address for Elon Musk now that he’s fled Washington, D.C. Maybe I should send my complaint to our Republican delegation in Congress. They’ll stand up to Trump, won’t they?
Hugh Espey, Des Moines
Trump supporters are incompetent. A claim is that he can secure deals, yet he has not achieved his goals for Greenland, Canada, Ukraine, Gaza, or Iran. What about Donald’s economic policy of imposing hefty tariff taxes? That isn’t a win for hard-working Americans. A third key goal of Trump and his supporters is to deport millions of immigrants from the USA. In pursuing this aim, Trump disregards the Constitution’s protections of due process, free speech, the arrest and deportation of U.S. citizens, and the prohibition against using U.S. combat troops on our streets. Furthermore, while stating a goal of eliminating fraud and abuse, his administration’s unprofessional actions have resulted in no savings and led to increased costs and reduced government efficiency. Trump isn’t the maniac; the culprits are the foolish citizens who support a blundering presidency.
John Clayton, Brooklyn
I recently read a Facebook link on which a commentator named Sam Horses noted that the Russians tattooed Ukrainian prisoners before the prisoner exchanges. I was unaware. But its meaning and purpose are obvious: Putin is committed to taking full control of Ukraine and is confident that the EU and NATO cannot (or will choose not to) ultimately provide Ukraine with the armaments, the logistical support and, yes, the boots-on-the-ground required to defeat Putin and the Russian military.
We already know that the U.S. will not participate in preserving Ukraine’s liberty and democracy, or that of any liberal, democratic country anywhere (think Taiwan). Rhetoric to the contrary from the Trump administration or from Congressional MAGA Republicans rings as true as a bell without a clapper. Once Putin is secure in Russian control of Ukraine, the tattooed will be located and executed. The tattoo is the mark of death, as was the Pink Triangle and the yellow Star of David.
Paine wrote: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
Indeed, now are those times as much as (or even more so than) in the 18th century. Of course, the relevance of Paine’s words escapes the sensibilities of the Trump administration and the MAGA Republican Party. To respond affectively and effectively presumes possession of a soul. But Trump and the Trumpsters have long ago lost their souls. They have become T. S. Elliot’s “hollow men,” — alive, but devoid of humanity.
Steven Pokorny, Urbandale
In 1957, when Rick Wimer was 12 and pitching the Cubs to the Storm Lake Little League pennant, I was only three. But four years later, I batboyed the Raccoon Valley Cubs to the Polk County championship. My big brother was a stalwart on that team, the best one I was ever a part of. My baseball career peaked right off the bat. I woulda slept in my flannel uniform if I’d been allowed to. Like Rick’s, it featured green lettering and a green cap. And like Rick’s, our Cubs too were “pretty, no, very good.” They, we, get better every year.
Mike Wellman, Des Moines
On May 14, the state legislature passed a bill that would have spelled disaster for Iowa’s economic growth. HF 639 was advertised by supporters as a bill protecting landowners from property rights infringement abuse. In reality, this legislation would have made Iowa’s future economic growth impossible.
While HF 639’s proponents claimed the bill targeted a specific type of pipeline, these regulations would have impacted all pipelines transporting liquid fuels across Iowa. The unreasonable burdens on pipeline projects would likely have led to increased construction costs and considerable delays in project timelines. This could have limited operators’ willingness to invest and do business in the state.
Liquid energy pipelines are vital to Iowa’s agricultural sector, which is one of the most efficient and productive in the world. Farmers rely on reliable fuel delivery to power their homes and equipment. Iowans use pipelines every day to heat their homes, cook family meals, power their appliances, and drive their kids to football practice. They are vital to our food processing, materials manufacturing, power generation, and heavy machinery industries.
Thankfully, Iowa is blessed to have a pro-energy leader in Governor Kim Reynolds. Gov. Reynolds’ veto of HF 639 prevented a harmful law that would have obstructed Iowa’s future economic and energy development.
Affordable and reliable energy infrastructure with consistent regulations is needed to continue to power Iowa’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
Thank you, Gov. Reynolds, for vetoing HF 639 and helping to ensure that Iowa’s low cost of living, Main Street economic vitality and attractive business climate are preserved.
Mike Karbo, St. Paul, Minn.
President Trump doesn’t like the idea of people protesting that he has become a king: “I don’t feel like a king; I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.”
I think the chief executive is on to something here. If he were really a king, his unilateral edicts would be enforced on the nation with little to no pushback from anywhere. He is up to speed with the regular publishing of edicts, but he is getting a little bit of pushback here and there on implementing them, so his crown sits just a little bit precariously on his head.
“He (a king) wouldn’t have to call up [Speaker] Mike Johnson and [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune and say, ‘fellas you got to pull this off’ and after years we get it done,” he added. “No, no we’re not a king. We’re not a king at all.”
Number 47 is clearly chafing at the fact he has to get the help of others to get things done and that stuff takes an extended period of time to get done. A true king would have the full faith and credit of the people for whatever he wants to do, and it would get done pronto. Yep, he would much rather be the real deal. The real deal has God, an established church, and all the fawning, ignorant people worshipping him, not protesting against him.
Also, a real king’s statements cannot be contradicted without risk to health and property, even when the dissent is made by a judge, a Congressperson, a newscaster, military brass, leaders of other nations . . . you get the picture. A real king is King! Trump is not quite there yet.
Kimball Shinkoskey, Woods Cross, Utah
I was thrilled to learn the Food and Drug Administration granted regulatory approval for San Francisco based company Wildtype to sell its cultivated salmon in the United States. The product will debut at select restaurants. For those who don’t know, cultivated meat is grown from animal cells, without slaughter. It offers a number of potential environmental, public health and nonhuman welfare benefits.
“Wildtype’s achievement is a watershed moment for domestic seafood production and for the cultivated protein industry overall,” said Dr. Suzi Gerber, executive director of the Association for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Innovation. “Food technologies meet the highest safety standards, and can play a vital role in healthy American diets, while strengthening our food system’s domestic production and resilience.”
Despite such progress, significant technological challenges remain for cultivated meat to reach price parity with incumbent, slaughtered options. Thankfully, these can be overcome with increased public funding for cellular agriculture research. Any politician interested in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, pandemic risk, and the suffering we inflict on animals should support this forward thinking effort.
Jon Hochschartner, Granby, Conn.
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