I found reading Rep. Mark Smith’s column of April 20 quite interesting, in a laughable sort of way. Rep. Smith bemoans the fiscal irresponsibility of the current GOP controlled legislature because their conservative budgets exceeded the revenue forecasts provided by the nonpartisan Iowa ...
I would like to extend an invitation to all to join us in celebrating the spring season with food, fun, and fellowship at the 45th annual salad luncheon sponsored by the Methodist Women and First United Methodist Church on 2nd and Main in Marshalltown, on Thursday, April 26. Lunch is served ...
It’s a funny thing. Try to protect your home, you’re labeled. Expect to breath clean air, you’re labeled. Want a clean lake to take your kids to, you’re labeled. Fight for your rights, someone calls you names, someone “warns” you about what you’re doing. Ask your legislators for ...
Dear Dave, My husband and I are just starting Baby Step 1 of your plan. Prior to this, we told my two nephews we would buy them laptop computers for college. They don’t get a lot of encouragement or support from their immediate family, so we try to help them when we can. Should we go ahead ...
Shortly after Hawaii and Alaska joined the Union and I was still a semi-young wiseguy, smugly sure that a celebrity candidate whose prospective campaign had sparked public interest would become a serious White House challenger, a grizzled political reporter brought me up short with this ...
A fortnight ago, Viktor Orban and his Fidesz Party won enough seats in the Hungarian parliament to rewrite his country’s constitution. To progressives across the West, this was disturbing news. For the bete noire of Orban’s campaign was uber-globalist George Soros. And Orban’s ...
Editor’s note: This column was originally published in October of 2015. Believe it or not, Marshalltown is just like Miami. All right, maybe not exactly like Miami, where swaying palm trees, sandy beaches, cigars and mojitos are in order. But Marshalltown, in many ways, is the much ...
I learned about the Raphus Cucullatus … more precisely, I learned about their absence from this world. Just 400 years ago the Raphus Cucullatus lived happy, leisurely sort of lives on a tropical island about a thousand miles off the coast of East Africa called Mauritius. They were peaceful, ...
When you’re the parent of small children, the most difficult part is…ha…you thought there was just ONE thing? That’s adorable. The process to get children into bed, however, is its own nightly beast. You might as well scream into the ocean. There’s no “putting” four-year-old ...
Exodus 14:21-29 tells of the parting of the Red Sea and the “pillar of fire and cloud.” Liberal theologians explain all this as mere natural events; very high winds parting the sea and a volcano causing the pillar of fire and cloud. If that is correct, then don’t you agree that these two ...
Coffee and Sugar Swirl Lower Your morning fix of java and sweetener just got cheaper, thanks to rising production around the world. Coffee and sugar prices fell near 2.5 year lows this week as the markets adjust to oversupply. Hefty coffee harvests are expected this year in Brazil, the ...
Recipes in and out Let’s get those grills fired up! Or you can cook inside, since I have recipes today that accommodate both outside and inside cooking. The Ultimate Burger 2-1/2 lb skirt steak or sirloin flap steak Buns Accompaniments to suit: cheese, pickles, lettuce, and ...
Sal Wright Marshalltown, Iowa, USA I don't need diversity. I don't need to live in a nation so blessed, so admired, so many others wish to come here to live and work beside me. I don't need to live in a nation so gracious, welcoming, reflecting the heart of God. I don't need to live in a ...
Dear Heloise: Many people enjoy a COLA drink because it’s refreshing, but did you know that it has other uses as well? * Pour a bottle or can of cola in your toilet, wait one hour, then scrub and flush. * Dog get sprayed by a skunk? Pour a cola drink over the affected area — the cola ...
The modern day definition of diversity in my opinion is chaos. Diversity is a rallying cry for groups that want all the benefits of America, but don’t want to be American or assimilate into the American culture. The very culture that they ran from, and could not change at home, they bring ...
Keeping the farm economy strong requires that the business communities in the small towns throughout rural also thrive. That’s why a new partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the federal government’s Small Business Administration is an encouraging development. On ...
The 2018 Legislature was scheduled to adjourn on April 17 but it won’t happen anytime soon. That’s because another week has gone by and GOP leaders who control both the House and Senate can’t agree on much of anything lately, especially on the budget and taxes. It’s bad news for ...
On Monday, George Yancy, a black professor of philosophy at Emory University, wrote a lengthy piece in The New York Times detailing the awful death threats he has received from white racists. I can sympathize — throughout 2016, I received my fair share of death threats. But Yancy sees those ...
April brings attention and awareness to the prevention of Child Abuse. Local Early Childhood Areas and Child Abuse Prevention Boards are promoting #GreatChildhoods. There are so many experiences, interactions, learning opportunities, and people that go into developing #GreatChildhoods, but ...
The Marshalltown Community School District will join public education systems throughout the state to salute their local school board members and celebrate public education during Iowa’s annual School Board Recognition Month in May. The commemorative month is designed to recognize the ...