On April 26 our beloved family member, Rebecca Rassler, passed away. On April 29, we held a funeral procession that traveled from Storm Lake through Newell and on to her final resting place in …
Somewhere along life's highway most of us learned to balance a checkbook. This task usually involved a pencil, the back of a used envelope, and some basic math. Today, however, a click or two in a …
On July 25, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a radio address to 125 million Americans in which he coined the term “first 100 days.” Today the 100th day of a presidency is …
In a newly released national report, Iowa maintains its top five ranking in preschool access for four-year-old children. The state’s national ranking in preschool access for three-year-old …
Iowans do not like change. It might be our strongest attribute. Sen. Chuck Grassley has been in politics since 1959. Terry Branstad holds the national record for longest tenure as governor. A third …
Solar panels create 31 times the energy from an acre of land that corn does in the form of ethanol, according to research coordinated at Cornell University in New York. Put another way: If solar …
Our representatives in Congress and Statehouse don’t really represent all of their constituents. They only represent the constituents of their own party. And that is way less than half of all …
Give Gov. Kim Reynolds credit for consistency. When it comes to wanting to hide details of possible misstatements or misdeeds, she treats Lutherans and atheists alike. Soon, Iowans may learn …
You may have heard about the White House’s ideas for raising the birth rate, but let’s be clear: Far-right Republicans don’t really care about the birth rate per se because for one …
While we usually think of God as masculine, and not everyone believes this to be true, the majority of us believe it. When it comes to Mother Nature it would seem God is female. It is my fervent …
We hear so much about scams and how they can happen to anyone. Here’s a first person account by Storm Laker Rick Wimer, 80, about an incident that happened to him about two weeks ago. …
It usually takes a while for specific changes by the federal government to work their way down to the local level. But after about 100 days of President Trump’s second term, executive orders …
As much as all of us try to plan for any unforeseen circumstances in our lives, there are times when the unexpected happens and we need to re-evaluate our financial priorities. Such is the case when …
If you are one of the millions of Americans who pollsters say “voted for change” last November, boy, are you getting it now. As of this spring, for example, illegal border crossings …
Last week, the Iowa House unanimously passed House File 988, which allows Iowans to open tax-free interest-bearing savings accounts to pay for qualified catastrophic expenses. The bill defines …
We’re nigh onto 100 days since Donald Trump swore on the Bible, and he already has done enough political damage to give an opening to the downtrodden opposition in Iowa. Stocks and pension …
It sounded like the roof was going to rip off at 1 a.m. Friday. Ferocious straight-line winds knocked out power to some 6,000 households in Buena Vista County. When daylight broke we could see the …
Mary and I missed last Friday’s straight-line wind storm that caused considerable damage in Storm Lake. We were on our way to our daughter and son-in-law’s home in northwest Indiana for …
As we approach the second anniversary of a tragedy that shocked the people of Davenport and brought national attention to the issue of building safety, government secrecy continues to cloud public …
Time was, you settled down, got married, had kids. Many women were told that that was the natural order of things, with mothers staying in the home to raise their children. The only problem was …