Driving through rural areas like Northwest Iowa this time of year brings a hidden danger: tall cornfields at intersections create dangerous blind spots. Those “walls of corn” make it impossible …
Iowa’s midterm elections remind us that all politics is local as clean water and cancer emerge as prevailing issues, unique from other battleground states. Sure, stupid, it’s the economy. …
Reason and process prevailed when the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors last week reversed a moratorium on battery storage for renewable energy development. This will allow the Smith Brothers of …
The Advertising Guide, which has been published weekly for nearly six decades in the Storm Lake and Cherokee trade territory, is switching to a monthly schedule beginning now. This free …
I bank locally — except that’s not completely true, and it might not be true for you, either. I recently stopped at the bank during lunch, but after I left, the teller had a question and left …
In recent weeks, people from Cherokee, Des Moines and Ottumwa have contacted the Iowa Freedom of Information Council with concerns about the refusal of local officials to share documents distributed …
By the shores of Gitche Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water, . . . — from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Song of Hiawatha” Kathy and I are spending a few days at the beautiful …
It’s 36 counties covering 21,546 square miles of Northwest Iowa. It’s the largest congressional district in Iowa, but often overlooked, neglected and forgotten by politicians and pundits of every …
Proposed data centers are drawing justified concern over water and energy use. But Iowa has faced a similar resource issue for decades with far less scrutiny: ethanol plants. For better …
Ready or not, here it comes: They’re automating the packinghouse. Marble Technologies of Lincoln, Neb., uses artificial intelligence to eliminate human labor (and error) in packaging for …
President Trump toys with tariffs at our expense. He slapped a 50% tariff on Canadian goods and services despite a standing free-trade agreement. At the same time, Trump waived tariffs and cut a deal …
A couple of weeks ago, a local 53-year-old dad died. Two days later, a 59-year-old dad died. Both men had daughters who were my daughter’s classmates. Add to that, the father of two dear friends …
A series of ads on TV over the last few months haven’t tripped my trigger. I have finally figured out why. In those ads, an older guy with a trimmed white mustache tries to teach middle-aged …
A recent report from the Institute of Legislative Analysis reveals significant shifts in voting behavior across both major political parties in Congress has occurred over the past three years. …
Two guys roam Scheels in West Des Moines, a bromance in the brew. Zach confides to Bobby that he likes Mepps spinners. Chartreuse. Bobby goes uh huh. So cool. Just two guys, doing what …
Climate change is at the root of high food prices. Drought on the Great Plains, from the Dakotas down to Texas, is driving cattle producers out of business. The pressure has been building for …
Iowa’s official state motto is, “Our liberties we prize, our rights we will maintain.” The right to live our lives freely and truly our own is under attack. I’d love to see some “Iowa …
You would think a school district readily knows its A-B-Cs. nnNot the Des Moines Public Schools — at least not when informing the public what its 6,600 employees were paid during the academic year …
As if your TV set were not inundated by enough political ads these days, you can expect a whole other set of them soon. The new load, probably coming your way after Labor Day, will try to …
For months, Ashley Hinson refused to join a bipartisan push in Congress to release the Epstein Files. Despite being one signature away from forcing a vote on the release, Hinson chose …