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World Elder Abuse Day

Your View

June 15, 2026, is World Elder Abuse Day. Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging joins communities worldwide to raise awareness and highlight solutions to this systemic social challenge. As Americans, we believe in justice for all, but we fail to adhere to this value when we allow older members of our communities to be abused or neglected. Older people are vital, contributing members of American society, and their maltreatment diminishes everyone. Just as we have confronted the social issues of child abuse and domestic violence, we can also find solutions to address elder abuse, which also ...

Ernst silent on Trump’s fleecing

Your View

“Folks, the fleecing is occurring in plain sight,” wrote Joni “Make ‘em squeal” Ernst in a column in the T-R of May 26th. You may have wondered, as did I, why Donald Trump and his family has not been awarded her Squeal Award every month since his inauguration. Why hasn’t she ever objected to the billions of dollars Trump and his family have raked in since his second term began? Gifts and contracts from foreign governments, contracts with questionable construction businesses, dodgy bit-coin offerings, multiple stock deals with companies the Trump sons recently invested ...

Don’t expect cheap gas anytime soon

Columnists

There are flickering signs that the United States and Iran might negotiate a settlement to end the unprovoked war launched by President Trump earlier this year. A settlement would be welcome news. But even if a deal happens tomorrow, here’s the reality: Americans will be paying high fuel ...

Iowa makes history and civics great again

Columnists

This session the House Higher Education Committee was proud to champion reforms to our universities’ core curriculum requirements, and Governor Reynolds has now signed the legislation into law. House File 2800 requires every undergraduate student at Iowa’s public universities to complete dedicated courses in American history and government to graduate. This improvement is both necessary and urgent. A 2024 national survey by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni exposed shocking gaps in civic knowledge among college students; only 31 percent knew James Madison is the Father of ...

The Farm Bill can help keep family farms alive

Columnists

No matter which way you slice it, the farm economy is in a challenging place right now. Farmers are running the numbers on their operations, and many are coming to hard conclusions: even after a good season, the numbers aren’t adding up. Fertilizer costs are up. Fuel isn’t coming down. Equipment payments aren’t stopping. And the margins, that keep a farm in the family, keep getting thinner. For many folks, that means it’s time to start evaluating their options. Not to get rich. Just to stay afloat. One of those options is putting solar panels on a portion of the farm acreage. ...

It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up

Columnists

Here’s betting District Judge Adria Kester does not read the Aspen Daily News. That Colorado newspaper’s front-page slogan declares, “If you don’t want it printed, don’t let it happen.” What happened to Judge Kester occurred outside of her usual venue — the 22 courthouses of north-central and northwest Iowa where, until recently, she served as chief judge of the Second Judicial District. It happened when that Boone County resident found herself on the other side of the law, as a criminal defendant. Now, she is keeping the story alive by filing a civil lawsuit seeking ...