Most places I go anymore people ask about one thing: Dixie. Our new dog. So, I thought I’d give a small update. Dixie has settled into the house like the Queen in Buckingham Palace. She has made it hers, and she is spoiled. Not only does she have her favorite spot, sitting in the window ...
In my life as both a college student and a part-time community journalist, I often find myself at the whims of everything around me. This week, college has been a blur of finals, finals, and more finals—deadlines, expectations, and the constant feeling of being pushed from one thing to the ...
Craig Fish, a Toledo, Iowa resident of nearly 35 years, was recently recognized by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for his 50 years of volunteer hunter education instruction. At a meeting held in Linn County on March 17, Fish received an award for his 50 years of volunteerism. In ...
Q: How do government shutdowns fail the American people? A: The insufferable pattern of government shutdowns stemming from a lapse in approved funding needs to stop once and for all. Since 1981, failure to enact the 12 annual appropriation bills by the end of the fiscal year has resulted in a ...
Last week I made a grave mistake. In my Magic Mike from last week, I told a story about my Ma mistaking a dog for a deer. My Father has joked about and brought this up every day since its publication. Ma walks into the house, and my Father would go, “See any deer wearing collars?” My Ma, ...
Happy Spring! The month of March was filled with weekly budget sessions as well as union negotiations for Tama County. This takes several hours of time but is critical to ensure the best decisions are made with Tama County taxpayer dollars. The County has been discussing the possibility of ...
Alan Shepard, first American to travel into space, made that astute comment, “It’s a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one’s safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract!” Not to be outdone, Elon Musk made the brilliant observation, ...
You know how you’re going along, and then you have a pulsing black bump on your body that is leaking some unidentifiable fluid? No? Just me? Well, this year started out with a bang, or should I say a bump. I’m going along, and I notice a bump on my leg. A bump’s a bump, right? No big ...
As time continues to pass, my curiosity about Tama-Toledo continues to develop. Thoughts ranging from “How about this new roundabout?” to “I wonder what downtown looked like one hundred years ago?” keep filling my head and occupy my psyche. While a more random entry into the series, I ...
Public education has stood as a foundational pillar in Iowa for almost 200 years. However, in recent years public schools have received meager increases in yearly state aid which fails to keep up with inflation. This, while the number of private schools in Iowa has grown due to the voucher ...