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Bed Pan Comes Out, Book Opens

I'll take and tell you, if there's something beneficial about being incapacitated, in addition to the handicap sticker, it's that it's given me more time to read. The bedpan comes out, book opens. I couldn't help but notice the Barbara Kingsolver book Ginnie was reading, “Demon Copperhead.” I had never read any Kingsolver books. Dunno why. She has all the credentials: Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, New York Times Best Seller List, etc. Ginnie is a paper-book reader, leaving her books scattered around to trip over. The tripping causes me to look down, and the book covers ...

What if factories had gotten the data center treatment?

When American manufacturing was truly coming into its own in the early 20th century, workers sometimes labored 12-hour days seven days a week and risked life and limb working near dangerous machinery, while factories blackened the skies of American cities. Yet some of the same people who ...

Insulting Canada is sick economic policy

Oh good, another war. This time a trade war with Canada and for no other reason than ... what? To give Donald Trump a new stage for big-league bullying? To divert attention from the Jeffrey Epstein files? Who knows. Whatever. Trying to humiliate our closest ally does not serve American ...

Community roundtable

On Thursday evening, August 27, the Marshalltown Planning & Zoning Commission will hold a “Community Roundtable” at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum (20 W. State St., 2nd floor), beginning at 5:30. Doors will open at 5, so come early and get a good seat at one of the tables. Yes, there will ...

One TV weather team – two devastating diagnoses

In all my years in TV news, I’ve never heard of a situation like the NBC affiliate in Des Moines is dealing with. This week, WHO-TV meteorologist Jason Parkin announced on Facebook that he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The news comes as a shock because it follows closely ...

An app a day keeps the parents away

Well, it's back-to-school season again, and parents across the country know what that means: It's time to download some new apps. Yes, you already have 10 apps; that's true. There's one for the park district, one for summer camp, one for your oldest kid's teacher to post weekly updates, ...