Letters to the Editor: Small town paper, big ideas

I started subscribing to the Storm Lake Times Pilot in 2020 when it was just The Storm Lake Times. I had read Art Cullen’s book, “Storm Lake,” with my book group, and was totally taken with it. We even wrote a fan letter to Art, and received a lovely note back, inviting us to come up for a visit once we could travel. (We were still in the throes of Covid.) I started with a digital subscription, but soon changed to print, as I get tired of reading on the computer! In 2022 the Times purchased the Pilot Tribune, and merged the papers to become the Storm Lake Times Pilot.

Storm Lake is a small town (population 11,354 in 2024) in very conservative Northwest Iowa. I’m a very liberal resident of Johnston, a pretty conservative suburb of Des Moines (home of the erstwhile excellent Des Moines Register).

Like I mentioned, I could just get the online version of the SLTP (as I do with the weekday Register), but I prefer to get the paper edition in my mailbox twice a week. I don’t read the whole paper, but I am a dedicated follower of their editorials. I like tearing off the back two pages where the editorials are, refolding them, and sitting back in my comfortable chair to read. I keep a highlighter and pen handy for parts I especially love, or comments I like to add, before I pass it on to my wife or a friend.

I love spending this relaxing time with Art and Tom Cullen, Rick Morain and Randy Evans. They educate me, they make me think, and sometimes they make me laugh. They write about everything from education, to water quality, women’s rights, immigration, the office dog, climate change, personal health challenges, and the milestones of life we can all relate to. I feel like I know them personally. I’m ready to have a cup of coffee and a one-on-one conversation with any of them (not that I’d know what to say). But, of course, when I see any of them at a public event, they have no idea who I am, or if I’m even familiar with their writing.

I know they’re working hard to save local papers with quality writing along with coverage of local events. Local papers help communities thrive. I do what I can to support this one by subscribing and talking about them to anyone who will listen. I could read some of their pieces when they are published elsewhere — the Iowa Writers Collaborative or Iowa Capitol Dispatch or Bleeding Heartland (all online), or the Des Moines Register (generally online). But I like getting the physical paper, skimming the headlines and then flipping to the opinion page.

There have been huge changes to newspaper journalism since I was growing up in Des Moines in the fifties and sixties. Back then we had both the Register (in the morning), and the Tribune (in the afternoon). The papers were locally owned by the Cowles family. The Register carried breaking news from late into the previous night, and the Tribune carried what was breaking throughout the morning and early afternoon. The Tribune has been gone since 1982, and the Register goes to bed too early to carry any news from the evening before. At the time the Register was sold to Gannett in 1985, it was second only to the New York Times in Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting. Of the Register’s 16 total Pulitzers, 11 were earned prior to the sale to Gannett. My family knew some of those people personally.

The Register also had a long history of front-page award-winning editorial cartoons that started with Ding Darling in 1906, and later, Frank Miller, both of whom won Pulitzer Prizes for their work. Brian Duffy, the last Register cartoonist, was fired in a cost-cutting purge in 2008. I miss those seeing those right there on the front page. Luckily, the SLTP does carry an editorial cartoon — on the editorial page.

It's not that I DON’T read the Register. I do, but not as much as I used to. But it’s just not as fulfilling as it was when I was younger, when their reporting was fresher and more up-to-date. When they ran editorials every day. When there were fewer ads and more news coverage. When there were real people doing copyediting to find spelling and grammar issues. I just get annoyed with the poor quality overall. So I turn to public radio, and local and national TV news programs for my current events reporting. And I turn to the SLTP for great editorial writing. I subscribe to the Register partly for sentimental reasons, and partly because I believe in local papers. I hope someday it will morph into something better.

For now, I love and trust this statement from the Storm Lake Times Pilot website:

“We strive to put out a quality product because we are the only locally-owned newspaper in Buena Vista County and take good old-fashioned pride in our work. No corporate doublespeak here — just two brothers and a dozen employees working hard to support their families.”

Barb Royal, Johnston

Medicare fraud

I took a Medicare fraud report today. From the information I received, a number of local people who receive Medicare have been contacted to take part in a DNA study. They are told that their physician will not be present and there will be no cost to themselves.  Likely Medicare would then be billed. Fortunately, a family member contacted SHIIP and that person and I are reporting details to our Iowa State Fraud Unit.

Please be aware that these scams take place everywhere.  If you are ever concerned that you have been targeted for Medicare fraud, please feel free to contact either our local SHIIP office at 712-213-8683 or the state fraud unit: 1-800-351-4664. And never give anyone your Medicare number over the phone.

Kathryn McKinley, SHIIP volunteer

National Health Center Week

Community health centers are the backbone of our nation’s primary healthcare system. They design innovative, integrated primary care based on what services communities need most — ensuring access to affordable, quality healthcare for over 31.5 million people. In addition to creating jobs and saving lives, they save the U.S. healthcare system money by preventing and managing chronic diseases.

Health centers are not ordinary medical clinics; they are also problem-solvers that reach beyond the exam room to care for the whole person by providing access to necessities like food and housing. Health centers care for everyone, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. During hurricanes, floods, fires, pandemics, and job loss, health centers are first on the scene and are vital to keeping America healthy. From behavioral health services for those in area communities impacted by recent flooding to regular dental and medical exams for chronic or acute conditions, United Community Health Center in Storm Lake strives to provide affordable, quality, and culturally sensitive healthcare services to the diverse communities we serve.

Congress must pass long-term mandatory funding for health centers. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our United States Fourth Congressional District House of Representatives member, Randy Feenstra, for his continued support of community health centers across the state and nation. United Community Health Center is grateful for Congress’s longstanding, bipartisan support for the health center mission, which allows us to continue to provide comprehensive primary care services to our neighbors who need it.

As part of National Health Center Week 2024 (August 4-10), we invite you to support a health center in your neighborhood and celebrate its mission and accomplishments. 

Matt Brostad, United Community Health Center

Abortion ruling

The Supreme Court did not ban abortion, it returned the issue to the states where it belongs. There have been abortionists practicing illegally for years. That alone doesn’t make it okay.

Harley Weitenhagen, Scottsdale, Ariz.