250 years of freedom

July 3, 2026

As we celebrate America's 250th anniversary, we gather as one community to express our gratitude to the veterans, service members, and military families whose courage, sacrifice, and commitment have helped preserve the freedoms we enjoy today. This celebration honors our nation's history, recognizes those who have served, and inspires future generations to embrace the values of service, unity, and civic responsibility. Together, we celebrate 250 years of freedom with thankful hearts and a renewed commitment to our community and our country.

What is a moratorium?

July 3, 2026

During Marshalltown's recent discussion about data centers, I noticed something unusual. People were using the word moratorium often, but not always in the same way. Some speakers described a moratorium as a temporary pause that would give the city time to study an issue and develop regulations. Others described it as a signal that Marshalltown is closed for business. Those concerns may both be worth discussing, but they are not the same thing. At its most basic level, a moratorium is a temporary pause. Communities use them when a new type of development, technology, or land use ...

Attend Iowa Fraud Fighters event, protect yourself and loved ones from fraud

June 30, 2026

Every day, someone in America becomes a victim of fraud. Fraud comes in many forms — from investment fraud like Ponzi schemes to consumer fraud like identity theft. A 2015 True Link report on elder financial abuse estimated 1 in 3 Americans ages 65 and older are scammed, losing $36.5 billion annually to financial exploitation, criminal fraud and caregiver abuse. In this digital age, it is important to recognize that everyone can get scammed — even those running top-flight investment firms. I encourage you to attend the Iowa Fraud Fighters program hosted at Marshalltown Senior ...

Data center

June 26, 2026

Letters and a recent report in the TR made me feel there is a group in this community already planning to give away our future. It seems that we always see these reports pop up as a sudden event when some, not representing the citizens, already know it’s coming. That is not transparency in our community. I commend Marco Yepez-Gomez for having the forethought that we do not have enough information for making a wise decision for our community. I prefer a committee of computer professionalshttps://brockovichdatacenter.com/https://brockovichdatacenter.com/ and educators in overall ...

Data centers

June 25, 2026

Recently I attended the City Council meeting where a moratorium on AI Data Centers was discussed. I am all for economic development, but I wish we could have taken more time to research and actually discuss as a community the concerns with Data Centers. At that meeting we heard from our economic development representative and Alliant Energy representative, both who stand to gain from a Data Center in Marshalltown. No one from water works was there nor any environmental specialists, nor any other cities with experience were there. Some questions the community deserves to have answered ...

Telling a story

June 24, 2026

There was a time in human history when all we knew was what we learned, by listening to stories. This past Memorial Sunday, our pastor emphasized the importance of telling stories. Not only the Bible's story about the Kingdom of God, found in Matthew 28, but our own personal story. It appears that God meant for people to spread His truth by word and deed. Some time ago, I did my story from birth to the present day. That is ninety years of events that are wrapped around what God has done in my life. I think the old teaching system might have been a good pattern. At that time, all ...