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When agriculture is strong, Iowa’s economy is strong

Columnists

Iowa’s economy is built on agriculture. What happens at the farm gate ripples through our entire state. When farmers are doing well, Main Street businesses thrive, equipment dealers stay busy, manufacturers expand production, and rural communities remain strong. When agriculture struggles, the effects are felt everywhere. That’s why helping farmers succeed is not just an agricultural issue, it’s an Iowa issue. Every Iowan benefits from a strong agriculture. Our hardworking farmers and naturally rich soil make Iowa an agricultural powerhouse. Iowa ranks first in the nation in ...

Home Health is a lifeline, not a luxury

Columnists

Tama County Public Health & Home Care is more than a department—we are a lifeline for our community. Today, some people are asking whether Home Health should continue in Tama County due to our budget. But they have not talked with us, learned what we do, what revenue we bring into the ...

Columnists

Nick Larson and a quarter of Iowa farmers get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. When ACA provisions expired at the end of 2025, Larson’s family faced an immediate tax increase of $3,000 per year. Skyrocketing health care prices are only one challenge Iowa farmers are currently facing. An ag downturn hit Iowa family farms hard in 2025. Iowa recorded the second-most farm bankruptcies in the nation during the first six months of 2025. Predictions show things may only get worse this year. Iowa’s farm income is projected to plummet by 24 percent in ...

Selling US security: A Trump family business

Columnists

The U.S. makes artificial intelligence chips so special, so advanced, that the Biden administration limited their export for national security reasons. They didn’t want them to get into the hands of China or Russia. But days before Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term, go-betweens for an Abu Dhabi royal signed a secret deal that delivered $187 million into Trump family ventures. So far, as far as we know. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan — nickname, the “spy sheik” — had long been frustrated in his campaign to obtain this highly sensitive AI technology. The fear ...

Momentum grows to be Public School Strong

Columnists

I don’t think I could’ve been happier seeing recent news that Urbandale, South Tama, and Cedar Falls school districts passed Public School Strong resolutions. Cedar Rapids was a week before, and they joined Albia, Belmond-Klemme, Decorah, Bennett, and Keokuk who passed resolutions late last year. It warms my heart to see communities across Iowa voice support for our kids and their schools. These resolutions call on the legislature to fund public education at a 5% annual increase in supplemental state aid and gradually phase out private school vouchers. Our public schools have ...