As Americans celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday with parades, speeches, fireworks and other patriotic traditions, much attention will focus on familiar symbols of our history — monuments, battlefields, historic landmarks. Yet Independence Day also lets us reflect on lesser-known stories ...

I once read a story about the greatest danger any civilization can face. It wasn't an army. It wasn't a king. It was a people who forgot why they started. That is the danger America stands closest to on her 250th birthday. We do not turn 250 because we won wars. We turn 250 because fifty-six ...

I spent years as the Director of Marshall County Development. Part of that work involved sitting across the table from industrial site selectors — companies actively looking for places to put significant capital investment. Some of those conversations were about data centers. Marshalltown ...

One of the things I have been focusing on early in my term as Mayor, is making Marshalltown more resilient. What exactly does that mean? Being a “resilient community” means that we are ready for what Mother Nature throws our way. We can argue about why disasters are happening more ...

As a fifth-generation Iowa farmer, I understand the importance of making decisions that sustain a farm for future generations. My family has been farming and raising pigs in central Iowa for more than 155 years. Today, my wife and I, and our son and daughter-in-law raise pigs, corn and beans ...

The US Open Golf Championship is being contested this weekend. Participants are competing according to the United States Golf Association official rule book. Believe me, no one wants to be disqualified for not playing according to the rules. So who makes the rules for life? Society? The ...