As we approach the second anniversary of a tragedy that shocked the people of Davenport and brought national attention to the issue of building safety, government secrecy continues to cloud public …

A constitutional showdown taking shape in southern Iowa’s Decatur County could put taxpayers on the hook financially to defend the county’s efforts to silence a critic of public officials …

Growing up in the 1950s, Evans family vacations seem typical by rural Midwest standards: car trips to the Ozarks, the Black Hills, Nauvoo and New Salem in Illinois, or St. Louis for a Cardinals …

As the president, governors and legislators elevate the stress and anxiety in higher education in the United States by seeking to change how colleges and universities operate and what they teach, the …

By Randy Evans Iowa taxpayers provided about $104 million last school year directly to parents choosing to send their K-12 children to private schools. The price tag for these education …

When Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and their pals set their quill pens to parchment to write the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Decatur County, Iowa, was still a half century off in the …

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird again tried to put herself in the national spotlight last week as leader of a group of Republican attorneys general who fixed their sights on Costco over the …

I was in Eagle Grove last week. Like many travelers in Iowa, I stopped at Casey's before leaving town. Eagle Grove is a meatpacking community, and many jobs are held by Hispanic men and women. …

I have been kicking myself since being reminded that procrastination comes with a price. This lesson arrived the week before Christmas when I spotted a small obituary in the Bloomfield Democrat. …

When it comes to freedom of religion and the rights enshrined in the 45 words of the First Amendment, the devil is in the details in Iowa. Gov. Kim Reynolds' administration recently revoked …

A public policy dispute over plans for about 1,000 miles of carbon dioxide pipeline across Iowa took a concerning turn last week. The pipeline company’s latest tactic demonstrates why Iowa …

When and why did the United States turn into such a cesspool of hatred? Some people may disagree with that characterization. But events last week have or should put those questions front and …

I was asked to speak last week at the annual conference of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. My remarks boiled down to a simple message: The public needs more information about their …

Last week, I bumped into an Appanoose County woman I have known for several years. She thanked me and the nonprofit organization I manage for shining the spotlight on the actions of Centerville …

Talk about lousy optics — and I am not referring to out-of-style eyeglasses. Public perception is the topic for today. There were a couple of recent news nuggets that illustrate in …

We are in the home stretch of another presidential campaign, and it is important for voters to be alert for the unintended consequences of candidates' promises. Office-seekers and their …

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 …

Some memories stick with you — like that August day around 1960 when my parents loaded my two brothers and me into our Dodge Coronet and headed to the Iowa State Fair for the first time. Our …

For the past couple of years, Republicans often accused Joe Biden of dodging the media — refusing to sit for extended interviews, declining to be questioned in regular White House press …

Do you remember that phrase our nation’s founders wrote in the preamble to the Constitution 237 years ago? The one about forming a more perfect union? We have hit some speed bumps in that …