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Morel Madness

Columnists

Aimee Gauley was a Creative Writing student of mine. From Ft. Madison, she is a realtor, beautician, author, mother, wife and mushroom hunter! It doesn’t take much scrolling online to see that mushroom season is upon us! The elusive morel is a delicacy and the only thing better than eating them is finding them! There are many online pages and groups devoted to “shrooms.” The members share tips and tricks for hunting and cooking. Once spring hits we all wait with bated breath for the first confirmed finds of the year. We plan. We monitor the weather and ground temperatures, ...

The retention lab: Why great educators stay in Marshalltown

Columnists

Following my inaugural year as Director of Human Resources for the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD), I deepened my commitment to the field by joining the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). This began an intensive period of professional development that culminated in earning my SHRM-CP (Certified Professional) credential at the start of my second year. Beyond the certification, this journey sparked a specific interest in proactive retention strategies—leading me to pioneer “Stay Interviews” as a tool for fostering employee longevity and engagement. We are ...

The strategic mistake: Ignoring Iran’s indispensable global leverage

Columnists

Al Ries and Jack Trout are considered America’s foremost marketing strategists, where their seven solo- and co-authored books are bestsellers. Three of their books became standard readings for my senior-level Marketing Strategy students when I taught at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). All seven of their books were thoroughly discussed when teaching Marketing Management for UNI’s MBA program in Hong Kong. If President Trump, Pete Hegseth and their military advisors had consulted even one of Ries and Trout’s bestselling books, the Iranian war might have been avoided. Let me ...

Preparing a watchtower

Your View

In Old Testament times God encouraged the Jews to build themselves watchtowers. They needed to be aware because Israel’s enemies wanted to kill them. The enemy of God doesn’t want us to live, they want to destroy our relationship to the Creator. Living in this world is like that. We must watch for the devil, he wants us to fail at knowing who God is. In Genesis 3:15 we see scriptural proof that the devil has the right to test our faith as long as we live: satan is still running the show on earth. We are in his domain, he has infected his kind with disbelief and hate. Our poor choices ...

Lawmakers wag their fingers with new Ian Roberts Resume Fraud law

Columnists

Come July, Iowa employers may want to add an ominous warning on their job application forms: tell a lie and you could go to jail. That’s right — no more puffing the resume with false degrees from the University of Okoboji or Faber College. And do not claim to have chauffeur’s license when you lack the permit needed to drive a truck. That’s because Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 2337 into law last week, making it a crime to knowingly provide false academic degrees or credentials for the purpose of obtaining employment or other personal gain. The legislation does not ...

Consumers are left holding the bag

Your View

The Supreme Court recently ruled that “President Trump lacked the legal authority to impose those tariffs and that his administration is to pay it all back to American importers – plus interest.” The “tariff refund portal” is now open for American importers to apply to get back the $166 billion the U.S. illegally collected from them over the past year (with interest), plus reimbursement for taxes paid on those imports. Since only parties formally designated as importers are eligible to seek a refund, consumers will get nothing. So, the ruling suggests that the importers ...