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Make your vote count by making a plan to vote today

The State of Iowa and our county auditors have a reputation for always holding a professionally conducted election process and I have every confidence that this year’s midterm election will be conducted as honestly, fairly, and efficiently as it has in the past. Iowans have an impressive tradition of high voter participation, with 74 percent of eligible voters casting their ballots in 2024. Iowans understand that the best way we can maintain and preserve our right to vote is to actually cast a ballot. Iowans should have absolute confidence in the integrity of the Iowa system as ...

Let them eat cake — and candy too

I fell into a net loop watching old commercials the other day, reminiscing with videos of escapist Calgon bubble baths, roving dog food chuck wagons and smiling folks settling into bed with "The Clapper." At one point, I stumbled on an ad more anachronistic than any of its contemporaries: a ...

Shaggy lawns and free burritos

My riding lawnmower has been giving me dirty looks when I open the shop doors. Mowing should almost be ending, but like most of you it still seems like June. I need to catch up (again) with my mowing. After an entire month of rain, the trees have hardly begun to turn colors. I was starting ...

Don’t fall for the hype — data centers are a lose lose lose

Supporters and developers of a data center in Marshalltown keep promoting the tax revenues, jobs, and infrastructure boon that a data center will bring to town. These benefits are misleading and short-term at best, but data center expansion should be extremely worrying to anyone looking at ...

Round River: Why did the caterpillar cross the road?

I SWEAR! I am not distracted driving; I’m just trying to avoid the caterpillars! I have my speech ready in case I get pulled over. For the record, I do not drive recklessly or swerve over the line; I’m just trying to avoid killing every caterpillar that thinks the grass is greener on the ...

ASK AUGUSTINE

Is euthanasia ever morally justifiable? The term euthanasia is derived from two Greek words: eu which means well or good, and thanatos which means death. Many believe that certain kinds of voluntary euthanasia (those instances where a patient does request death or grants permission to be put to death) can be morally justified. The arguments these ethicists present are based on several assumptions. The first may be categorized as “person-hood.” They would argue that someone in an irreversible coma is no longer a person but only a biological organism. The distinction is often made ...