When I was a kid, Halloween came and went almost as fast as the belly-ache did. Unless your folks were rich, you made a costume of what you could pilfer from other family members’ closets. You went around the neighborhood and filled your paper grocery bag with SweetTarts and candy corn, maybe a popcorn ball if you were lucky (they hadn’t invented terrorism)...

Scapegoats are easy to come by, when the daily news hits your pocketbook. “Biden Ruins Christmas” was the Fox headline that I saw, while I was job coaching at a local establishment this week. Sure, he did - brother. Like he is the only one involved? When it comes to the lack of workers for job, the supply chain clog, and lack of certain goods on the market, the players in the blame game are vast, far-reaching, and global. ...

Sorry Mr. Editor but it seems there are too many people in my old hometown that have somehow got their head on backwards. First is that spoil site near the lake where lake bottom sludge was deposited just a few years ago. Now the powers that be want to change it into a rec area for kids... essentially trying to make silk out of a sow’s ear...

I would like to thank all the kind people that have been calling lately and looking after me. Since I don’t always get a chance to reply - my car warranty isn’t expired on my new vehicle and my other vehicle is so old you wouldn’t cover it. It is nice that you are so concerned, that you have given me a final courtesy call 43 times in the last month. In the interest of useless energy consumption, turn off your Robo-call machine for my numbers...

Attention: Residents of Storm Lake and Alta. As newspaper readers, you are
probably aware of the proposed rezoning of agricultural land just south of Lake
Creek to industrial so that a soybean crushing plant could be constructed there.
You may have heard about our protests based on noise, odor, sight pollution,
increased truck traffic, hazardous intersections, and the fact that such rezoning
is contrary to the county’s comprehensive plan. ...

Not shedding tears here over Jon Gruden. He’s a closet racist, sexist and homophobe, if his leaked email is to be believed, and I haven’t heard him denying it. There’s no defending it. Nor does he particularly need our angst. Various sources put his net worth at around $30 million, and he will apparently get to negotiate severence pay of something up to the $40 million remaining on his contract, despite resigning in shame. ...

You might be surprised to learn that the upcoming city-school election may have a bigger impact on your daily life than who is elected president, senator, or governor. While races for those higher offices receive greater attention, the locally elected officials play a more direct and immediate role in your community...

Today, the Governor proved once again that she doesn’t care about Iowans living with disabilities. She promised that privatizing Medicaid would accomplish three goals – stabilize the Medicaid budget, provide better health outcomes for patients and save taxpayer money. It’s clear from the Auditor’s report that this is not the case at all...

I hear about the rising cost of prescription drugs at nearly every one of my town hall meetings. Three years ago, I began a bipartisan effort to lower prescription drug costs. Following Finance Committee hearings, a mark-up and bipartisan negotiations, Senator Wyden and I introduced the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act. The bill caps yearly out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors at $3,100...

Now that we are elbow-deep in the pumpkin guts of October, I’m starting to feel the holiday season kick-off excitement. It has captured my imagination ever since I was a young lad overdosing on Brach’s Mellowcreme Pumpkins and memorizing the Sears Holiday Wish Book when I should’ve been diagramming sentences or deciphering the dark sorcery of fractions...

It’s a bit unfortunate that prospects of a new soybean crushing plant near Storm Lake have turned into such a tug of war. Counties and small town all over the state would probably turn cartwheels to get a sniff of such development, jobs and tax base, especially one that would add value to a commodity produced in their backyard...

Well, certainly didn’t see this one coming - Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden resigns from the organization, since the exposure of inflammatory e-mails sent seven to ten years ago, to another NFL executive. Sure, call it the revenge of ‘cancel culture’, an overreaction, or just shrug, and say, “Well, who else says the same thing, in the NFL?” It’s not just one e-mail, by the way, folks, it’s several. ...

Every day when the alarm goes off and I peel open an eyelid, and take stock of which body parts hurt/decline to work today, I am sorely tempted to call it a career and go back to sleep. But I can’t. Because of #@%*! Chuck Grassley. Grassley is 387 years old, and he got out of bed and went to work this morning. And probably ran 400 miles and did a thousand pushups and fed chickens or something first...

Like some people these days, I worry about a common meeting ground, for folks who differ quite a bit on culture, politics, and the usual topics. For those who felt discouraged by technology failing to unite us, I happened to find an article on the Clubhouse app. ...

Imagine a family of six people coming to your house. They knock on the door. They look tired, frail, dirty and very hungry. They are desperate. Two of the six people are under six years old. Their clothes are rags and their shoes are barely still on their feet. ...

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Republican officials, opinion leaders, and former President Trump continue to reframe the January 6 US Capitol riot as an act of patriotism. Sadly, this insidious effort to rewrite history has been successful, at least among Republican voters. A poll taken in January, one week after the riot, found that 80% of Republicans opposed what transpired at the US Capitol on January 6. By summer, that percentage had dropped to 50...

Earlier this year, Washington Democrats rammed through a massive, nearly $2 trillion bill full of partisan pet projects and Democratic Party wish list items under the guise of “COVID relief” - all without any Republican support. Fast forward to today, they are looking to continue down their reckless tax-and-spending spree with another $3.5 trillion package, also without any Republican support. They are showing no signs of slowing down their irresponsible spending habits...

The 14th annual BVRMC A.W.A.R.E. 5K Walk/Run Event and Kid’s Fun Run was held Saturday, September 18. There were 328 registrations and over $10,500 was collected in support of cancer awareness. The funds will be used to assist patients receiving cancer treatment at BVRMC...

There is a lot of mis-information going around about the proposed soybean processing plant and how it affects the residents of Lake Creek, so I hope I can provide clarification. Most importantly, no one from Lake Creek has voiced opposition to having a plant in Buena Vista County that I am aware of. ...

A new feasability study shows what we shouldn’t need to be told - don’t screw up a golden opportunity. That opportunity is the former Storm Lake dredging spoil site, across the Lakeside blacktop from the back side of the golf course. A landscape architect this week told city leaders that you could build sports fields, trails, shelter houses, playground, gardens, a dog park, etc. on the site, but repeatedly urged against overdevelopment of a place with rare natural appeal...

Fall sneaks in, and even though the temps are still pretty moderate, you can see the leaves on trees get a brushing of color. School is back in session for most, and usually, a few area high schools support an educational work initiative that allows some upper class folks to spend a few hours or days per week, working at a job. ...

“If you don’t have time for things that matter, stop doing things that don’t.” - Courtney Carver

Face it - those of us who have pets, love them as family. We bond with our pets, and our pets grow close to us. According to some reports, some military service dogs were left behind in Kabul, in the evacuation of Afghanistan. After doing some fact checking on my own, this isn’t true - according to several military sources, at the least the ones that I have looked up, all military dogs were evacuated. ...

Once again, I’m reminded that I wouldn’t want to be in Stacey Cole’s shoes. I look awful in heels. Aside from that, presiding over one of the most complex, challenged, and fastest-growing school districts in the state is no small feat for her, the school board, the principals, and for that matter, the teachers. aides and staff...