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Columnists

District 53 Newsletter from Rep. Dean Fisher

This week, Iowa House Republicans released a slate of tough-on-crime legislative proposals to ensure Iowa does not become a haven for career criminals. The first bill, which is awaiting a bill number, is the House Republicans Career Criminals bill. We are implementing a “Three-and-Done” ...

Three Crosses

There are three crosses on the hillside, above a pond, with crops of soybeans or corn in the background and the rising sun if you should pass by early in the morning. They’re right at, exactly, Mile Marker 76 on Highway 218, going north to Iowa City. It’s a mile or so north of the Highland ...

Exactly what business are we in with Measles?

Measles is a “cost of doing business,” says a highly placed official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I’d like to know what business that is. To be fair, let me finish the CDC principal deputy director’s quote. Ralph Abraham said that measles is a cost of doing ...

Iowa’s farm income projected to plummet. Who is here to help?

Nick Larson and a quarter of Iowa farmers get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. When ACA provisions expired at the end of 2025, Larson’s family faced an immediate tax increase of $3,000 per year. Skyrocketing health care prices are only one challenge Iowa farmers are ...

Iowa does not need 4-year community college degrees

I love Iowa. After growing up in Ottumwa and graduating from Indianola’s Simpson College, I worked in South Dakota at the start of my career. I enjoyed my years in the Mount Rushmore State, but their higher education system pales in comparison to Iowa’s, and the same is true of other ...

All means all: Supporting students with disabilities at MCSD

If you visit one of our schools in Marshalltown, you will likely see students participating in unique learning activities. This may include baking for the Bobcat Cafe, learning phonics at one of our elementaries, or tackling complex problems for a business partner through our 3DE ...