The 10th week of the legislative session kicked off towards the last major legislative deadline. The final "funnel" deadline is this week, narrowing our focus on any legislation that will be …

House Study Bill 596 passed out of the House Ways and Means committee this week. The historic property tax reform bill contains multiple divisions and covers a breadth of topics that holds the …

Storm Lake is a portal for refugees in pursuit of happiness, whatever that may be. Lao. Sudanese. Karen. It ain’t easy trying to be free. That’s an immediate impression after a sneak …

It’s not fair to put the blame for ballooning property taxes solely on the Iowa Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds. They are responsible. So are local government officials who don’t know what they …

I’ve heard that climate change is wreaking havoc on our planet, but it didn’t hit me until a couple weeks ago when the girls state basketball tournament was played without its customary blizzard. …

NOTE: A few weeks ago, I wrote about how owning a reliable car is a privilege most of us take for granted. It is. Now I want to explore another kind of privilege. I grew up walking or …

City leaders in Des Moines are making it difficult to understand why they selected the new police chief, considering how they have imposed a code of silence about their recent $975,000 payout to one …

In times of war (and that’s what the U.S. is engaged in with Iran, regardless of what our government calls it), there is usually more than one cause. That’s true in spades for the current …

Congratulations to the Storm Lake Boys Basketball team on a great season. It was wonderful to see the camaraderie amongst the teammates. There is a mural painted in Chautauqua Park saying …

For years thereafter whenever my family would drive through the city of Humboldt, it felt like I had been punched in the stomach, pierced in the heart and then the memories would all come rushing …

In the end, it usually comes down to numbers. Figures scrawled on the back of an envelope, say, or blinking numbers on a computer spreadsheet. Maybe even 58,281 names inscribed on two, long black …

This week was the ninth week of the legislative session, and it was filled with debate and subcommittee work as we continue to see bills coming over from the House. Next this upcoming week is …

On Tuesday, March 9, the House passed a bipartisan bill that addresses classroom behavior, protects teachers and supports students with special needs. Although the bill passed this year, this …

Penpal David Yepsen senses a shift heading into the midterm elections: Rural folks are honked off and voting for change. The retired political columnist for The Des Moines Register and former …

Three state Republican representatives are flaunting an initiative this year with a serious “tough on crime” agenda. The most egregious of the three is one that requires a mandatory minimum …

Recently there was a full page of The Times devoted to some people walking barefooted on a bed of hot coals. The estimated temperature of the hot coals was 1,200 degrees. These people were not a cult …

Sure has been warm lately. Unseasonably so. Record-setting days every month in Des Moines. Above-normal, as they say. This week brought another record at 67 degrees. One day, one month, one year do …

Green Bay, Wisc., home of the NFL Packers, may claim to be Title Town USA, but Newell-Fonda can call itself Iowa’s Title Town. The Mustangs won their fifth girls state basketball championship last …

Silly me. I thought it was Jared Moskowitz who got Kristi Noem fired. You know Jared Moskowitz, don’t you? He’s the Florida Democratic representative who, in February, asked Attorney …

The offices of the Des Moines Register’s opinion staff were mostly empty when my telephone rang late one afternoon about 15 years ago. The guard at the lobby security desk said two men were …