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Agriculture is at the heart of our community, and lowa Central is preparing the next generation of leaders in this vital field. The bond renewal includes a new Center for Ag-Science, offering training in animal science, precision agriculture, agri-business and veterinary science. These programs will strengthen lowa’s most important industry and ensure our region remains competitive for years to come.
At the same time, the bond helps all taxpayers by funding building updates that lower maintenance costs and avoid future tax burdens. With no increase in the property tax levy rate, this is a responsible, forward-looking investment in students, families and the future of lowa agriculture. This investment will strengthen our region for decades to come. lowa Central is building the pipeline for the jobs our communities need most in addition to agriculture-based jobs, from workforce training in trades like HVAC, plumbing, and welding, to healthcare programs in nursing and dental hygiene.
A YES vote (on Nov. 4) means stronger students, stronger communities and a stronger economy.
Access to a skilled workforce is a top-of-the-list issue when industrial assets such as Platinum Crush decide on where to invest and build. Simple logic leads to the conclusion that this community's commitment to workforce training was a factor in the creation of over 50 new jobs for the local community.
As a key driver of the lowa economy agriculture is at a critical juncture. The future depends on sound and well-reasoned policies originating from local and national levels. Renewal of this bond in an investment in the future success of this region.
Trent Biederman, Chief Financial Officer, Platinum Crush LLC
I’m writing another article using the same format as before. My hope is that by sharing these stories, we can all get to know our community a little better. I feel thankful to have met so many amazing people in the Storm Lake area who are working hard to build better lives. They are truly remarkable, and I believe their stories deserve to be shared.
We often think we know our neighbors. But how well do we really understand the journeys that brought them here? Some stories are full of joy. Others are marked by loss and challenge. All of them can help us see each other with more understanding. It’s easy to believe the struggles we see on TV only happen far away. But many of those same struggles affect people right here in our community.
The details in this story are changed to protect privacy, but the person is real. They might be standing next to you at the store or waiting in line for coffee. The purpose of the story is to help us connect with, and feel connected to, the people around us. After all, when we know each other’s stories, it is harder to hate or harm one another.
Our second neighbor’s story begins in another country where it was harder to find chances to learn and grow through school. Her dream was to become a lawyer — especially an immigration lawyer. After moving to the United States, she also started thinking about earning a master’s degree. She knows that no matter which path she takes, it will take time, money and a lot of hard work.
She already had one parent living in the United States, so she moved here to live with them. Even though she was excited, it was still a hard choice. It meant leaving behind her home, her friends and her community. She knew that living in a new country would change her, and that things back home might not feel the same when she returned.
When she first moved to the United States, she was finishing up her college education from an institution in her home country. She could do this because during the pandemic all classes moved online. She was required to physically be present for just a bit at the end of her college experience. When she returned to take face-to-face classes, she also got a job working for a lawyer here in the United States. Specifically, she was a process server, and it paid well for somone in her home country. However, she knew that moving back to the United States meant she would make less money for the same work. She realized she needed a higher income to afford the cost of living in the United States. So, although she enjoyed the job and valued what it taught her about the legal field, she ultimately decided to leave it.
Upon relocating permanently to the United States, others encouraged her to apply straight away to graduate school. But she chose to create her own path and finish her high school diploma first. After all, she already had a college degree yet knew that she needed a solid background in United States English reading and writing (which is not her first language), as well as U.S. history, government and economics. She’s been making steady progress toward her diploma and aims to acquire it by the end of this year. During her time here she’s worked, found a church community and has come to see the Storm Lake area as her community.
She is our neighbor.
Sarah E. Schoper, Storm Lake
Dear Mr. President, exclusively through this outlet, sir, if I may with tears in my eyes, state that you are without question the reincarnation at the Celtic god Lugh. What with you making Canada, and all its rich history, our 51st state and all. But please Lugh, before the editing of their history proceeds, and to help you get that coveted ticket to heaven most of us desire, Scottish born Tommy Douglas should serve now as your guiding beacon in the shutdown night to assure ascension up the proverbial golden escalator. Sir, Tommy Douglas is a Canadian national hero, revered as the "father of universal healthcare" for his role in establishing Canada's universal, single-payer medicare system in their national Medicare Act of 1966.
King Trump, your court jester in the Senate, Bernie Sanders, and Tommy Douglas are often compared based on their shared, dare I say socialist ideologies, especially relating to healthcare. I fear your court jester in the House, Mike Johnson, will stay too tied up with sex and money issues to offer any good ideas, so easiest to cede the moral high ground to Jester Sanders for your future healthcare dictates. Boom! Done! Ticket stamped.
Tim Humes, Storm Lake
It is not surprising that Donald Trump is not aware of the capabilities of the Defense Department. His focus is on military actions that gain the most attention and allow him to demonstrate power in exciting and flashy ways, such as bombing Iranian nuclear centers or destroying speed boats in the Caribbean or the Pacific.
However, Pete Hegseth, the person he appointed to supervise the “War Department,” should be aware that virtually every U.S. military headquarters commanded by a general or an admiral has the capability for secure video teleconferencing with the Pentagon and other U.S. military bases worldwide. These systems use secure DOD channels, as opposed to publicly available systems over the internet such as Zoom. How many millions of dollars could have been saved if all those senior leaders would have remained in their commands on Sept. 30, 2025, rather than travel by air, sea and land to Marine Corps Base Quantico to be insulted by two unqualified national leaders?
And consider the lucrative targets presented to any potential enemy by having all these senior officers leave their commands and gather for an hour in a single room in Virginia. Osama bin Laden would have liked to have access to such an opportunity.
Rich Crawford, Arvada, Colo.
Our covetous would-be-king desires to live in a 16th century palace, which explains why his unnecessary dance hall/ballroom so resembles the St. Petersburg Palace’s Throne Room.
His adoration of gaudy kitsch, of gold bric-a-brac, gold-sprayed frames, ostentatious ormolu, have made the Oval Office and reception room pretentious and tastelessly ornate. Only he would pave over the Rose Garden, thinking a cement lot with tables and gold umbrellas is an improvement. Unfortunately, the would-be-king is delusional, and oblivious to how his lack of taste is seen by a world of cultured people.
We cannot forget the cost of demolishing the classic East Wing and its venerable trees. Is that included in the rapidly-increasingly $300 million price tag of the grandiose, baroque, ostentatious palace dance-hall -built for the occasional wealthy donors’ dinner? It’s 90,000 sq. ft. and is over five times larger than the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago. We-the-People definitely do not want or need it, and we won’t be invited there!
We also know the would-be-king is a pathological liar, so don’t believe him when he tells us that we taxpayers won’t eventually foot-the-bill for this.
The would-be-king rails about waste, fraud and abuse, yet the would-be-king promises $40 billion to bail-out Argentina. And he extends tax breaks to America’s ultra-wealthy totaling $4 trillion. Neither should we forget that we taxpayers are also forking over nearly $1 billion to refurbish his Flying Bordello plane from Qatar.
Have we come to this? “Il Duce ha sempre ragione:” “The Leader is always right.” (Mussolini, fascist)
Susie Petra, Ames
In September after noting the regular funds for SNAP (food stamps) will run out by Nov. 1, the Deptartment of Agriculture issued a statement explaining they have a $6 billion reserve fund to spend during events such as shutdowns. However, that announcement has been eliminated from the department’s website because President Trump doesn’t want that reserve spent on SNAP, even though we continued SNAP payments during all previous shutdowns. And House Speaker Mike Johnson thinks cutting off food support to 42,000,000 people (half of whom are children) is reasonable.
Using the existing reserve fund is not a panacea. However, NOT using it is an example of epic, unprecedented mean-spiritedness. This issue is particularly poignant as we look forward to Thanksgiving, the celebration of a historic feast where indigenous people bestowed generosity to strangers.
Why are we in this situation? Because the Republicans passed the big ugly bill that among other things, reduces Medicaid and significantly increases ACA costs to subscribers, resulting in millions losing their health care, while giving additional tax breaks to billionaires.
Bloomberg reported recently on one new tax break that’s already resulted in a surge in private jet purchases; by deducting the newly expanded “bonus depreciation” billionaires reduce their tax bill. A majority of Americans believe making health insurance more affordable for farmers, small business owners and working people without employer-based insurance is more important than billionaire tax breaks. That’s what the shutdown is about. It is not about depriving people of food.
Sue Ravenscroft, Ames
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