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Are we safe anymore?

It’s time to ask some serious questions. As spring travel ramps up, a record 171 million Americans are expected to take to the skies. Airports will be crowded, security lines long, and for many travelers, a fundamental question will linger: Are we safe? That question extends far beyond the airport terminal. It surfaces at the southern border, in major American cities, and in the wake of tragedies like the killing of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman in Chicago. Gorman, a student at Loyola University, was shot and killed while walking with friends along a pier in Rogers Park. According ...

Always money for war and oppression

Last summer, all six members of Iowa’s congressional delegation voted for President Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut $1 trillion from Medicaid. As the Des Moines Register reported at the time, the cuts will result in an estimated 11.8 million people losing health coverage. The bill also cut food stamps by $300 billion, resulting in over 100,000 Iowans losing food benefits. To hear our Republican representatives tell it, these cuts were a necessary evil. For example, Representative Randy Feenstra said he voted for the bill to “make sure that we reduce our ...

The power of biliteracy for our Bobcats

What does it mean to graduate not only bilingual, but biliterate? In today’s world, that distinction opens doors and our Bobcat students are rising to meet the opportunity. The Iowa Seal of Biliteracy is an official recognition awarded to high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in English and at least one additional language. Students earn the Seal by meeting rigorous criteria, including strong performance in English coursework and nationally recognized language proficiency assessments. It is a signal to colleges, employers, and the community that these graduates are ...

Lawler Easter Egg Hunt

It’s been going on for 28 years, the Lawler Easter Egg Hunt. It rivals the City of Mt. Pleasant’s Easter Egg Hunt which is on the same day, at the same time. But there’s plenty to go around. I caught up with Jean Lawler as she was frosting cookies for the Jerry Tolson Quartet, which is a benefit for the renovation of the 2nd Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, the oldest African American Church in Iowa. She’s baking 20 dozen cookies. So, Jean Lawler is known not only for her cookies, but also for the massive Easter Egg Hunt she and her husband, Matt, host each year at their rural ...

Nothing sweeter than Nebraska-Iowa in March Madness

Early in Tim Miles’ disappointing tenure as Nebraska’s basketball coach, I was waiting for a connecting flight at Chicago’s Midway Airport when a bunch of tall guys sporting my alma mater’s logo deplaned at a nearby gate. I spotted Miles about 10 feet to my left, and in what must ...

The MCO Medicaid mess — Why Iowans shouldn’t have to clean it up

There’s a saying in business: “Where there’s mystery, there’s margin,” meaning complexity, confusion, and a lack of transparency create profit opportunities for those at the top. Sounds a lot like the privatization of Medicaid, and Iowa insiders’ plans to fund it. Medicaid alone is complex. The combination of federal and state money pays for healthcare and services for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Iowans — physically and intellectually disabled kids, veterans, seniors, and low-income families whose employers don’t offer insurance. The list goes on. Medicaid ...