A deadly coronavirus continues to spread in China, with a death toll of 25 people and more than 800 infected so far, according the Friday’s update from the Chinese National Health Commission. Chinese officials are trying to contain the disease and have locked down transportation to and from ...
How can so many potential employers smart enough to invite you to a job interview turn out to be dumb enough to reject you? No doubt, they made a big mistake. Unless, of course, it turns out that the person making the mistakes is you. “13 Mistakes That Could Ruin Your Job Interview, ...
I’m often asked, by aspiring writers, how I got my column into so many newspapers. Well, I’ll take and tell you (as my grandmother used to say), for maybe the first time in my life, I listened to someone. The former publisher of the Mt. Pleasant News, Emery Styron, took me under his wing ...
As we begin 2020 the Emergency Food Box Board on behalf of the volunteers and clients says thank you to the Marshall County community for its generous support during 2019. Each year the board is overwhelmed with gratitude as they look back at the previous year and prepare for the new year. ...
January 2020 ushered in a unique new law in New York state that abolished cash bail for defendants arrested for nonviolent crimes. Activists in the bail reform movement called it landmark legislation that stops judges from locking up the poor while they await trial simply because they can’t ...
My family and I farm near Marshalltown where we raise hogs and corn. As a family, we’ve been improving our conservation and stewardship efforts for six generations and intend to keep improving our land for my children and future grandchildren. I’ve had conversations with people asking if ...
Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is a success.” In the recent needs assessment, the Iowa River Valley Early Childhood Area Board heard loud and clear that parents were struggling to find child care. When 76 percent of ...
I love definitions because they help focus the mind. For decades, we are said to have been in a culture war. As in any war, it helps to know one’s enemy. One online dictionary defines culture this way: “the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as ...
On Monday, singer John Legend, a star by any measure, tweeted his choice for president to his 13.2 million followers: “I’ll be voting for Elizabeth Warren in the CA Democratic primary.” Whoo-boy. Soon after, Legend felt the need to add this: “Some of you Bernie supporters do ...
Since 1965 fighting for family farms and workers, I realized the underlying threat to democracy was the impulse of nations towards authoritarianism or fascism. I sensed that authoritarians would destroy all elements of human solidarity. Fear, confusion and division was their modus operandi to ...
Elections are a form of communication. Voting tells politicians, and the press if they’re capable of getting the message, what citizens will tolerate and what they won’t. The Democrats haven’t voted yet, but they’ve been campaigning for more than a year and have just had their last ...
Just a few small examples of the obscene advantages enjoyed by the wealthy in our country. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon (a company I frequently use in order to save gas money re. shopping), who has an estimated worth of $110 billion dollars and paid no taxes, has nearly completed his newest ...
Another Democratic debate...does anyone watch these anymore? What a snoozefest. The best part was a Daily Caller tweet that had a promotional photo of the six Democratic debate participants and asked: “What’s the name of this album? Wrong answers only.” (Find it. The commenters will keep ...
While visiting Marshalltown on the morning of Jan. 14, I witnessed the most wonderful act of kindness. As we were parking our car on Main Street, I saw an elderly gentleman inching his way across the street in slushy and icy conditions. He hesitated with each step, assessing the condition ...
A Google search for “paying school lunch debt” reveals a long list of recent news stories about good Samaritans paying off the school lunch debt of children whose families cannot afford it. A Fredonia, New York man paid off $2,000 in school lunch debt in his area, helping 140 families. A ...
Representative Dean Fisher, Iowa House District 72, is holding up a House debate on a bipartisan bill. The bill will end the further construction of factory animal confinements until the state government fixes the current pollutant mess. Legislative support comes from scores of House ...
Before he died, Martin Luther King, Jr. joined a campaign to unify working people of all races. Today, nothing could be more powerful. As we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., it’s natural to remember his courageous advocacy for racial equity. But before he was assassinated, ...
About the impeachment of President Donald Trump she engineered with her Democratic majority, Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday: “It’s not personal. It’s not political. It’s not partisan. It’s patriotic.” Seriously, Madam Speaker? Not political? Not partisan? Why then were all eight ...
Retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis, the former secretary of defense and an exceptionally well-read warrior, has said, “Throughout history, we see nations with allies thrive, and nations without allies wither.” Mattis’ words brought to mind those 13 fateful days in October 1962 when, ...
I know that he was technically impeached when the House voted to do so in December. But the truth is, as a political and historical matter, Thursday was the day. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s strategy — brilliant to fans, incomprehensible to foes — of sitting on the articles of impeachment ...