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A letter to Jesse Green

Dear State Senator Green, You must have nothing else to occupy your time. For the second time in a month, you have introduced bills to restrict the rights of local libraries, first with SSB 3131, now with SSB 3168. You were rebuffed the first time, so you try a different tactic. This time you want the city councils to approve the hiring and firing of library directors and not the public. Your rationale? You have heard complaints from city councils about their library directors. You do not identify the cities who you say complain. I can assure you that Sarah Rosenblum is so popular that ...

Miracles in nature

Nature has a way to make long-distance trips enjoyable, whether it is cloud-formation, natural beauty or forest placement. Some years ago, we were traveling to Colorado. We saw some pretty interesting scenes on the way. Near the west corner of the Kansas border there was one, lonely, scrub-tree. Halfway up this twenty-foot twisted specimen, the constant wind had bent it forty five degrees to the East. For additional viewing, on the west side the bark was dead and the inner wood was bleached white, but the East aside was still alive. It was an amazing sight. How could it live in that ...

Let’s talk about global warming

If you’re unsure about climate science, you’re welcome to keep reading, but I’m not going to try to change anyone’s mind. For Marshall County residents who acknowledge global warming, let’s talk. According to the 2023 Yale Climate Opinion Factsheets, more people in Marshalltown are becoming aware of and concerned about climate change. Seventy percent of us believe in it, and 62 percent understand it will impact the weather. Concern is growing. So, what do we do? For starters, let’s talk about what’s happening in our own backyards. We’re seeing the signs of climate ...

There is hope

To you who are depressed, feel hopeless or desperate, listen. There is hope. Think positive. Things will be better. Go a moment, a day at a time. Write a list of positive things.

Community center name shouldn’t have been changed

In my opinion, MACC should have never requested to change the name of the Fisher Community Center with the Fisher family. What do you expect them to say? I don’t think they would brag up their name, but Marshalltown should have kept the Fisher name on the site.

Democrats are focused on the real issues

The Democratic caucus in the Iowa Legislature has introduced bills to accomplish the following: raise the minimum wage, expand the Sales Tax Holiday, expand affordable child-care for child-care workers, eliminate waiting lists for Home and Community-based services, lower tuition for university students, and reinstate the levies (for libraries, municipal bands, community centers and others) which were eliminated in last year’s tax bill. Contrast these ideas with the legislation passed in the last seven sessions under Republican control, and the bills currently under consideration this ...