It’s been a brutal, hellish winter. On that, we can all agree. Amidst this frozen tundra of icy roads, whiteouts and even a polar vortex, are some incredible people we often take for granted. I think about our newspaper carriers often because they serve as the final leg of a remarkable relay ...
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential announcement is scaring President Donald Trump. Why? Because he could win the election in 2020. Bernie Sanders wants to have a fair tax so that corporate giants and wealthy Americans will be paying their fair share. Two years before his death, Martin Luther ...
During a big winter storm, lots of people like to stay inside, sipping their favorite hot beverage while they watch the white stuff pile up outside. But one group of people goes out in every storm, and the work of these unsung heroes makes it possible for everyone to travel in snowy ...
Check the Sunday opinion section each week to see how some residents answered the question of the week. Sound Off is compiled and written by Ashlyn Ruiz, a junior at MHS.
Last week, a district court judge ruled that it is unconstitutional for only men to have to register with the Selective Service, opening the possibility that women might also have to register. The ruling may be fair in principle, but does it make sense? Would a universal draft best serve the ...
Recently I happened to see a program on TV with a nurse who worked in an abortion clinic. She stated that one day she was assisting a doctor who always used ultrasound in doing abortions because it was more accurate. The ultrasound showed at 13 weeks a perfectly formed baby with a strong ...
“I don’t want to hear about any of that freedom-of-the-press stuff.” That’s what the cop is said to have told the reporter when he stopped her and demanded I.D. She says she gave it to him and told him she was working on a story. Whereupon, she says, he threatened to arrest her. ...
Jesus’ ministry lasted just three short years before he was hung on a cross. But in that teaching-time he was able to tell/show us who God really was and how we needed to become like him. God’s truth is an eternal, uncompromising message for all of us. Jesus had many confrontations with ...
Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” a play in which two men sit around and wait for someone who never shows up, has been claimed by just about everyone: Freudians, Christians, existentialists. Who’s right? I haven’t a clue. But I have lived, all of us have lived, through a ...
When I got my cat, or as he calls it when “I allowed you the privilege of being blessed with me,” little did I know he would present me a list of rules that I would have to abide by if we were going to be roommates. Apparently, I was the one needing training. The following are those rules, ...
When I was 20 years old and living in Australia, my roommate persuaded me to go on a seven-day fast. I — someone who loves a buffet more than puppies on Christmas morning and who considers apple pie and Alison P., my best friend from elementary school, to be confidantes in equal measure — ...
Two books, both on the New York Times Bestseller List, were given to me free: the first was “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren and the second, “Radical Remission—Surviving Cancer Against All Odds,” by Kelly A. Turner. Eighty-nine-year-old Tommy Sinnott of Nauvoo, Ill. was my ...
May I share my perspective on the recent discussion of changing the judicial selection process in Iowa? First, the bona fides. My wife and I have been on the 2nd District Judicial Nominating Commission. I’ve also been on the 3rd Judicial Nominating Commission in Northwest Iowa, and on the ...
I have been waiting to follow other taxpayers on the audit of Marshalltown Schools on error of payroll taxes, but I haven’t read any more on the penalties the IRS imposed for payroll taxes not paid in a timely manner. How could this happen over that long and no one noticed? This person was ...
Michael Cohen was supposed to provide “bombshell” testimony against President Trump. Well, the bombshell didn’t explode. Not long ago, many were speculating that Cohen might have recorded conversations with Trump admitting that he had made payments to Stormy Daniels for political ...
As an upbeat Howard Schultz tucked into lunch here recently he was having a good week because Democrats were having an awful one. The former Starbucks CEO, who is contemplating a plunge into politics, knows that his narrow path to the presidency as an independent depends on the Democratic Party ...
Corn and wheat prices collapsed to new lows this week, disappointing farmers. Corn was especially damaged by a lack of a trade deal with China. That market had been hoping for increased corn and ethanol exports to China, but with no agreement so far, prices dropped to $3.58 per bushel on ...
Venezuela is a socialist country. Venezuela is also a dictatorship. Currently, Venezuela has fallen into open violence and complete chaos, with the strongman Nicolas Maduro ordering troops to open fire on those attempting to bring humanitarian aid into the country. Yet, strangely, Maduro ...
As Donald Trump brazenly attempts to rob Congress of its constitutional power of the purse, he seeks to divert public attention by assailing the large field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. He is eager to turn the run-up to the next national election into a premature campaign ...
The good news is that the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, did not result in a deal — because any deal would have been nothing but a scam perpetrated by Kim Jung Un. Selling this same rug repeatedly is a North Korean specialty. The Kim dynasty inked agreements to denuclearize in 1985, ...