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Pesticide and herbicide drift

As a lifelong Iowan, I have a great appreciation for our farming communities and the people who work hard to feed us. But I am becoming increasingly frustrated by a problem that seems to happen every year: herbicide drift damaging gardens, trees, and plants that people have spent time and money growing. Many rural residents put a lot of effort into their gardens, only to watch plants become twisted, stunted, or die after nearby spraying. There is nothing more discouraging than walking outside one morning and seeing months of work damaged because a chemical application traveled where it ...

In addition

In addition to Anne Michael's letter about what a Christian would do if his or her neighbor had a fire, we should also note what happened when the United States had a fire. Colorado had a fire called the Snyder fire. On Gold Mountain not only did Canada help us fight that fire, one of their helicopter pilots, Nicolas Dale, perished helping us. I think those Canadians were doing what Jesus would do, Philippians 2:4 ESV "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." On an unrelated note, Coloradans have universal vote by mail and they like ...

Remembering RAGBRAI’s rhythm

Morning rises over the main campground like a hymn whispered through canvas and corn. Tents glow in the dark, wheels murmur awake, and somewhere — always somewhere — a rider is already eating pie for breakfast. Because on RAGBRAI, fruit is not dessert unless it's tucked into a crust and handed to you by someone's grandma who calls you "hon." The road opens at six, and you drift toward the Breakfast Town where pancakes steam, bacon snaps, and the pie table is already thinning — a quiet truth of the ride: joy comes early and often. Pass-thru towns appear like small blessings, ...

RAGBRAI

Boy why city closed 13th street beats me. They tell management at the Embers that they will have the street blocked and residents can't get cars out of garage.  I got my lawn chair out and a cooler to set and watch the bikers go by.  All we saw was bikers going down main st. Just to let whoever was in in charge my opinion is  was you missed it. We got a nice Veterans home the bikers could see along with a closeup of helicopter from National Guard. It seems to me the bike route should have shown off 13th street, the Veterans home than up Summit to one of the south streets going south ...

Mysterious and massive drone invasion over Marshalltown

The date was a year ago, July 26, 2025. I was in my back lawn when I glanced up to the sky and see what appeared to be a huge flock of snow geese over Riverside Cemetery. I looked back up because something didn’t seem right. I’ve never seen a flock of snow geese attempting to land at the ...

Chain linked data chickens

Month after month it has been frustrating for me to see the agendas being discussed at the council meetings. The business of the day consists of chickens at the Appleberry Farm, what type of fencing to use on the Center Street viaduct and the possibility of a data center being incorporated into our community. I'm not saying these aren't important topics -most topics regarding a town of our size have their obligations- however, THESE are the things consistently discussed?? It is encouraging to see the council finally let the Mason family keep their chickens on the property even if it is ...