Eminent scientists reported in the eminent journal Nature last week that a crop catastrophe is ahead thanks to a warming climate. No kidding. Can you hear an echo? Corn yields could drop by …
As rumors swirled last week that immigration agents would raid Storm Lake meatpacking plants, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins got on the horn to President Trump to call off the dogs. “She …
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 …
What links Dwight Eisenhower, the Lincoln Highway and Greene County? nnLocal history buffs know. “Ike,” at the time a 28-year-old lieutenant colonel, volunteered to help lead an Army …
One of the issues that I have heard about most often and most consistently, throughout the past three years, concerns the carbon capture pipelines and the potential use of eminent domain to complete …
When you're 8 or 9 years old, you don't see the world as you will as a 50- or 60-year-old. Much of what seems perfectly ordinary to a child often becomes quite extraordinary with the passing of time. …
We’re on the road again with cinematographer Jerry Risius, not quite gypsies, trying to find out what grinds Iowa’s gears. Jerry and I toured the state from Alleman to Algona making …
Martial law was imposed last weekend on Los Angeles when President Trump ordered in the California National Guard to disband lawful protests over the deportation of Latino immigrants. The military …
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 …
Iowa’s DOGE task force, a Governor Reynolds’ creation channeling the 2025 federal DOGE Department headed until recently by Elon Musk, last week discussed the possible consolidation of …
In 1957 I was 12 years old. It was a beautiful summer night at the Little League ballpark, now named Jim Reese Field, next to East School. The lights were on. Fans lined the fence and filled the …
As a life-long marketer and consumer behavior professor, it’s interesting to observe how people’s opinions change as details of an issue become more apparent. Behavioral change — …
Despite all his accolades and achievements, Dwight D. Eisenhower remained modest and plainspoken. “The proudest thing I can claim” he noted after his triumphant return to the U.S. from …
The woman on the phone from the Mayo Clinic was growing exasperated as she ran through how to sweep up my medical records. “So, you got the CT scan in Storm Lake? And the hormone therapy …
The future of every Iowan’s right to own private property rests in the hands of Gov. Kim Reynolds. At question is whether the governor will sign HF639 into law to curtail the use of eminent …
Joni Ernst is a US senator because she understands Iowa voters and speaks their language, cynical as it is. She castrated pigs. Gonna make ’em squeal in DC. Roast and ride a hog. Wear bread …
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 …
Donald Trump got it half right about the recent omnibus tax-plus-everything else bill that the U.S. House passed on Tuesday last week. It’s big, but it ain’t beautiful. The bill …
For U.S. farmers and ranchers, Thursday, May 22, was right out of a Dickens novel: It was the best of days and the worst of days. Early — and I do mean cow-milking early — that …
In April, I met Nancy, a parent of a disabled child enrolled in Medicaid. With tears in her eyes, Nancy shared her story with me of her family being forced to deal with roadblocks and red …