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EMPTY NEST

Columnists

My Empty Nest column is in 50 some newspapers, give or take, in three states. The reason I say “give or take” is because I'm not sure what all newspapers carry my column. I'm often surprised when someone calls and says they read my column in Yayhoo, Iowa. I had no idea I was in Yayhoo, Iowa. The way publishers spread my column around is sort of a mystery. Maybe because it's free. Ya think? The reason “Syndicated” is in quotation marks, is because, since I write for free, is it technically syndicated? Beats the pants off of me. I'm often asked how I got my column in so many ...

Data centers

Your View

Before the memories of summer are gone, I want to thank the city for the beautiful plantings around downtown, I hope they will be well cared for, honoring our nation’s 250 birthday with such a wide variety of activities and celebrations and putting a great face forward for our town in welcoming RAGBRAI riders, I heard such favoring comments from riders who were from all over! Great job city leaders, employees and volunteers! Now a fourth thank you to the city’s zoning commission for sponsoring an evening to listen to the facts and concerns regarding data centers. I know very little ...

A note of gratitude

Your View

On behalf of Iowa River Hospice, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to our sponsors, our donors, our teams, our volunteers, and our local communities who supported our recent fundraiser golf tournament. Because of your incredible generosity, we raised a remarkable $38,000 to benefit our Days of Care program. A special thank you goes out to everyone who supported our lawn mower raffle, which alone brought in $10,689. This raffle would not have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of the Heddens family and Central Iowa Farm Store. We cannot thank them enough for ...

Brass Tacks from Rural Iowa: The price is... high

Columnists

I have a habit of watching C-SPAN, with my coffee, possibly more mornings than I’d like to admit. That or RFD-TV, which has real-time updates on grain or fertilizer prices. But every now and again I take a break and flip through a few channels before setting about my day at hand. Not too ...

AI: A substitute for real intelligence

Columnists

I have a theory about the artificial intelligence craze that is delighting some and scaring others. It is that we are losing natural intelligence and thus risk seduction by something that can do the thinking for us. Never mind acquiring wisdom, which is defined as "the ability to use your ...