Addiction often begins with the promise of escape; a harmless experiment that becomes a habit, then a lifestyle, then a prison. Drug dealers market their product by normalizing it in culture — through music, film, and television — until the damage feels inevitable and normal. With a ...

Have you ever lost your temper at … yourself? Blamed and then beat yourself up a little inside for doing something you regret? Maybe you’ve been harsh with someone, only to be much harsher with yourself later? It’s easy to be tough on yourself — we tend to do it much more than we ...

The irony of it all. November 3, 36 years ago, I was so drunk I fell through the glass top of my coffee table at 2:00 am in the morning, cut myself to smithereens, and almost bled to death. November 3 of this year, 2025, I will be at University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics having a MRI of my ...

Interest in local elections in Jefferson this fall appears to be greater than usual. It’s a good thing. City council and school board elections in Iowa are held in odd-numbered years. In both 2021 and 2023, out of about 3,100 registered voters in the city of Jefferson, only a little more ...

When there’s crime, I blame the criminal. But Dallas politicians blamed a business. Dale Davenport owned Jim’s Car Wash. But five years ago, after a shooting at the property, the city ordered him to shut it down. Why did they target his car wash? When I first investigated this ...

As Iowans headed to the polls this week to elect local school board members, they faced an issue beyond the usual ones of taxes, student achievement, teacher pay, curriculum and enrollment. This year, school board and administrators’ performance and trustworthiness were front and center in ...