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Enough is enough: Let Iowa libraries do their work

Your View

Enough is enough. For years, Iowa’s libraries have faced a steady stream of legislative attacks, which are often driven by special interests and advanced through processes that avoid full transparency. The latest example, the library amendment attached to SF 2432, is not just concerning for what it does, but how it was done: quietly bundled into an unrelated health bill, limiting debate and obscuring accountability. Libraries are not a problem to be solved. They are essential infrastructure. At a time when communities are navigating an increasingly complex digital world, ...

Always money for war and oppression

Columnists

Last summer, all six members of Iowa’s congressional delegation voted for President Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut $1 trillion from Medicaid. As the Des Moines Register reported at the time, the cuts will result in an estimated 11.8 million people losing health coverage. The bill also cut food stamps by $300 billion, resulting in over 100,000 Iowans losing food benefits. To hear our Republican representatives tell it, these cuts were a necessary evil. For example, Representative Randy Feenstra said he voted for the bill to “make sure that we reduce our ...

Lawler Easter Egg Hunt

Columnists

It’s been going on for 28 years, the Lawler Easter Egg Hunt. It rivals the City of Mt. Pleasant’s Easter Egg Hunt which is on the same day, at the same time. But there’s plenty to go around. I caught up with Jean Lawler as she was frosting cookies for the Jerry Tolson Quartet, which is a benefit for the renovation of the 2nd Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, the oldest African American Church in Iowa. She’s baking 20 dozen cookies. So, Jean Lawler is known not only for her cookies, but also for the massive Easter Egg Hunt she and her husband, Matt, host each year at their rural ...

The MCO Medicaid mess — Why Iowans shouldn’t have to clean it up

Columnists

There’s a saying in business: “Where there’s mystery, there’s margin,” meaning complexity, confusion, and a lack of transparency create profit opportunities for those at the top. Sounds a lot like the privatization of Medicaid, and Iowa insiders’ plans to fund it. Medicaid alone is complex. The combination of federal and state money pays for healthcare and services for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Iowans — physically and intellectually disabled kids, veterans, seniors, and low-income families whose employers don’t offer insurance. The list goes on. Medicaid ...

Fortunate to have UPH hospital in Marshalltown

Your View

I recently visited the Emergency Room at UnityPoint Hospital - Marshalltown, then I was admitted to the hospital for a 15-day stay. What a gem we have here, right in our own city! I found the ER staff to be very capable and efficient with each person doing his/her job quickly and effectively, then getting out of the way for the next staff member. When I was admitted to the hospital, I found the same thing. All my caregivers were friendly, knew their job and performed it quickly and efficiently. I was very impressed! As I said, we are so fortunate to have this facility in Marshalltown! It ...

Nothing sweeter than Nebraska-Iowa in March Madness

Columnists

Early in Tim Miles’ disappointing tenure as Nebraska’s basketball coach, I was waiting for a connecting flight at Chicago’s Midway Airport when a bunch of tall guys sporting my alma mater’s logo deplaned at a nearby gate. I spotted Miles about 10 feet to my left, and in what must ...