Government regulates business to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. That is the theory behind enacting and enforcing regulations, and it is a commendable mission. But, too …

Lyman Dillon resides in the dusty recesses of Iowa history for his role in 1839 in one of Iowa’s earliest infrastructure projects. Dillon’s work also figures indirectly in a …

One of the frustrations of being a **former** newspaper editor is no longer having a few dozen reporters to pursue answers to questions going unasked and unanswered each day. Two of my go-to …

My family has called Davis County home for 185 years, all the way back to when William D. Evans and William Henson climbed down from their wagons in 1839 and 1840, a half-dozen years before Iowa …

Andy McKean is a charming country lawyer from Anamosa. He grew up in New York and was drawn to Iowa by his family roots. He has owned a bed-and-breakfast, called square dances and played in a …

One longtime truism of journalism is “Names make news.”  That shorthand stems from the fact people better understand the significance and context of news when they learn about …

Several dozen people gathered last Saturday in Monticello for a citizen workshop the Grassroots Iowa Network organized to get more everyday Iowans engaged in the political process. They spent …

People living in central Iowa received a wake-up call last week that should drag water-quality back in front of the state’s 3.2 million residents. Iowa’s largest water supplier, one …

Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” focused on manners and goodness, two virtues sometimes forgotten today. Shortly before the novel was published, our Founding Fathers settled …

If an opinionated old guy from southern Iowa delivered the recent commencement address at the United States Military Academy, my message would have contrasted with the one given by another …

Last week, the Pentagon accepted the emir of Qatar’s gift of a Boeing 747, a $400 million bauble donated for our president to enjoy by a monarch whose family has ruled the tiny Mideast nation …

The Iowa Supreme Court gave citizen engagement and accessibility to public meetings a much-needed boost Friday in an appeal of a lawsuit against the Iowa City Community School District. The …

You may be experiencing whiplash this spring just trying to track the Iowa Legislature’s zig-zag movements. It comes from what some might charitably call a lack of consistency on a key theme. …

At least one member of the Iowa House appears to live by the mantra “Do as I say, not as I do” as he demands access to sensitive personal information and commands silence as he trolls for …

Give Gov. Kim Reynolds credit for consistency. When it comes to wanting to hide details of possible misstatements or misdeeds, she treats Lutherans and atheists alike. Soon, Iowans may learn …

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 …