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 …
Through the years, justices on the Iowa Supreme Court typically avoid harsh or overzealous language in their decisions. That is why two separate dissenting opinions jumped out Friday when the …
You know how some memories stick with you for no logical reason? One such memory involves my dad in the 1960s when I was a teenager. After World War II, my father worked for the City of …
Most people go through life never stepping foot inside a courtroom. Most people, that is, except for attorneys, judges, journalists, the few of us chosen to be jurors, and an even more select group, …
Here is a tidbit from my years as a newspaper reporter and editor: I never voted in a primary election, never attended the Iowa caucuses, never stuck a candidate’s sign in my yard, …
You don’t often hear anyone extol the benefits of the Covid pandemic. But I did few weeks ago — when I stood before the Storm Lake Kiwanis club and talked about government transparency in Iowa. …
The events of the past six months in Israel and Gaza have me wishing it were possible to have just one more lunch with a friend who died four years ago. My friend was Jewish. In today’s …
“Unsustainable” is a fascinating word, especially when it is used in government and politics. Merriam-Webster, the dictionary folks, tell us unsustainable means something cannot be continued or …
City officials in Davenport have managed to accomplish the impossible this year: They have brought Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature together to agree on something. The two parties …
No problem is so big that we can’t run from it — or at least avoid thinking about it. That’s human nature. There are many concerns that should command our attention but do not. Too often …
What were they thinking? That is a question I ask myself a lot lately. Those were the first words out of my mouth when the Manhattan district attorney had to postpone Donald Trump’s New …
Like many people who call this state home, I have long taken an interest in the careers and achievements of people who have gotten their start in Iowa. As a kid, I was fascinated to …
Voters have busy lives — families to care for, jobs demanding their attention, bills to worry about. So, they can be forgiven if they do not closely track their government leaders’ …
The increasing secrecy by Iowa law enforcement and their lawyers about identifying people by name raises important questions underlying public confidence in the critical work of first-responders. …
I really should not be surprised by some comments that represent what passes for civic dialogue in Iowa these days. The latest example leaves me shaking my head, not just at the events themselves …
City leaders in Davenport have forgotten that city government there belongs to the people. It does not belong to the folks who were elected to city offices. This reminder is necessary because a …