Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
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A family, by definition, is a group of one or more parents and their children living together as a unit. Family ancestry is one’s origin or ethnic descent. I come from a large family, so my family tree is very large. My wife’s family tree is probably as large, or larger, than mine. Our joke is that large trees have lots of acorns, walnuts or fruits hanging on them. And if you shake a tree hard enough, you’re probably going to get hit with something. In our retirement, Rita and I frequent a cou...
My muted contempt for the Christmas season has not lightened as the holiday approaches. This time of year is hectic for everyone, and it just seems like it gets worse and worse. Maybe it’s just my attitude, which has admittedly aged like milk. Nonetheless, I did get my lights hung outside a couple weeks ago. Since I had already been up on the roof cleaning gutters the Sunday prior, I put in a subpar effort on the lights. That’s not my grade of the job, though – it’s my wife’s. There was supposed to be two sets of bush lights that drape ove...
Remember the "War on Christmas" some years ago? Because of the changing culture and the trend toward being offended at just about anything, some people who didn't like religion, in particular Christianity, reacted angrily at being wished a Merry Christmas. (They were fine with "happy holidays," which is ironic since the word holiday comes from the Old English for "holy day." But I digress.) Once this caught on, businesses started to tell their clerks not to use the phrase Merry Christmas. They...
When the world is flying by at the speed of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, we tend to lose track of how special the birth of Jesus is for those in need. He came into the world just for you and me with something that will never fit under the Christmas tree. God's love is so large that it reaches us all. What is often lost during this season as we come together is the reason for the season. Let us all find time to share God's love. You are God's chosen to deliver his most precious gift to the...
A young boy had to say just one line at his church’s Christmas program. It was the angel’s announcement of the birth of Jesus: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.” For weeks the boy worked on learning his part. The big night finally arrived. Just before he was to begin the program, the boy repeated those words to himself one last time. But when he went on the stage and saw that so many people had come, the few words he had to say were lost from his memory. But then the boy raised his arms high and said in a loud voice that rang th...
I was asked to speak recently at the annual conference of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. My remarks boiled down to a simple message: The public needs more information about their governments, not more secrecy from their governments. I explained a troubling trend I see worming its way through local governments in Iowa. This trend cuts at the heart of the public meeting law that has served our state and its citizens well for 50 years. Open meetings of government boards, councils...
On Nov. 5, the American people elected President Trump and Republican majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to deliver conservative victories for our country and put America first. With over 76 million Americans casting their ballot for President Trump, Republicans have received a mandate to undo the damage caused by the Biden-Harris Administration and get our country back on track. As the new year approaches, we are preparing now to hit the ground running and...
Thanksgiving. Giving thanks. It’s a special time of reminiscing about what we are thankful for. Have you ever written down on paper all that you have to be thankful for? If we could think of everything, it would no doubt fill up a book. I was born the oldest child into a loving family in Billings, Mont. I eventually had two brothers, Jerry and Ronald. Ron died at the age of 24 of Hodgkins Disease. I would wish he’d have lived much longer, but I am thankful for the memories we have of him. He...
It appears that most houses I drive by already have Christmas decorations up. These festive visuals don’t help my holiday vertigo, as they only work to confuse me further. We haven’t even had Thanksgiving...right? Another glance at the calendar confirms my hunch for the 80th time. I can’t keep anything straight this year – 2024 is flying by and will soon be gone. It doesn’t help that some stores have had Christmas decorations up since before Halloween. I am easily confused. We had an early Thanksgiving last weekend, which was my favorite...
Fall’s march towards winter progressed in earnest over the past week. The wind is biting hard and it feels like it’s dark by 4 p.m. most days. You’d think we’d be used to this sort of thing – after all, it happens every year. Still, it always comes as an abrupt change of pace. I’ve got plenty to do outside that I’m sure won’t get done prior to snowfall. Above all, I need to get our pumpkins to the dump and my gutters cleared out before it freezes. It’s hard to believe Halloween was already three weeks ago, but our jack o’lanterns sure a...
Ever get annoyed? I do. In fact, I’ve been getting annoyed so often lately that I’ve decided it’s time to do a little analysis to see if I can figure out why. I hope to determine if there is a geophysical reason so many things seem to annoy me or if...if I just like being peeved! A person liking to be perturbed is not such an outlandish possibility. When you are annoyed, you’re a little bit mad. Not crazy mad, not furious or enraged, just a little angered. The first thing that happens to your...
Author’s Note: This is the tenth in a series of from Psalm 146. “The LORD loves the righteous...” – Psalm 146:8c Continuing our look at Psalm 146 we find in the last part of verse 8 one more reason to put our trust and hope in the Lord God of Jacob, shifting our trust and hope away from a “prince,” or a “son of man” or “we the people.” The sixth reason we are to put our trust and hope in the Lord God of Jacob is because “the Lord loves the righteous...” How is this even possible, since God say...
To the editor: President John F. Kennedy’s last written words for a speech to be given at Austin, Texas in November 1963 are relevant in today’s political climate. Please read the following excerpt and remember the lies and the violent rhetoric that are a threat to our democracy today. “Neither fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a Party is not to our Party alone, but to the Nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom. So let u...
Rob Sand, Iowa’s state auditor, recently did what no statewide elected official in Iowa has done in a long time – he brought attention to problems in nursing homes. A report from his office discussed the lack of timely nursing home inspections by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL) and the staff shortages that impact quality of nursing home care. DIAL and the nursing home industry immediately dismissed the report’s data and conclusions. They want us to believe one of two things: that there are no problems with...
Fall is typically my favorite season. The weather is great, the football is good, and there’s not much that bugs me this time of year. Afterall, my weeds and grass quit growing a long time ago. Unfortunately, though, this autumn has proved to be an outlier. There have been several things driving me nuts lately, and I’m not sure when my annoyance will cease. My kids’ bad attitudes have been out of this world in October. If one is in a good mood, the other is totally sour. I don’t have time for their arguments and their fits never make me cave...
Nobody has ever confused me with a farmer. My agriculture resume includes picking rock as a teen, riding in the combine with my grandpa as a youngster and sorting chickens once in college. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve driven a tractor, and I wasn’t in FFA nor did I win ribbons at the county fair. Because it’s important to try new things, I got out of my comfort zone last weekend. A friend asked if I’d help him with harvest, and I obliged. I warned him of my thin experience – the last time I piloted a tractor was nearly 20 years a...
Did you ever have one of those days? You know the ones I mean – when you look back on your day’s activities and wonder what just happened? I have more of those days than I care to admit, and recently experienced one that was no exception. It started out as a normal morning, but as I sit here thinking and writing about it, I can’t say where things took a turn. My morning almost always starts with coffee and the news. After that I had a bowl of cereal, got dressed and then read a devotion befor...
To the editor: I am so grateful for a small town newspaper like The Hartley Sentinel. There was a time when smaller towns were once productive and prosperous. The Hartley Sentinel was the hub for all surrounding small town news. Decades later, some of these same towns are now “bedroom” towns. The Hartley Sentinel has remained the hub for reporting news from those towns. I really appreciate the “From Our Files” column. It takes me back to the days of Yager’s Department Store, Elsie’s Cafe, Russell’s Bakery, Ketelsen Hardware and Rose Furnitur...
A changing of the seasons is upon us here in northwest Iowa. Though my grass quit growing a long time ago, I’m noticing more leaves in the yard each morning. There’s an occasional bite in the air and the days are shorter now, too – fall has arrived. I’m pretty happy about it. I know that’s an unpopular opinion, as summer is usually most folks’ favorite season. I’m a fall and winter guy through and through – mainly because I can be a hermit. I’m tired of having an itinerary all the time. That doesn’t mean I have nothing to do. I keep making e...
Have you ever had times in your life that made you say, “What an adventure that was!” I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that some of my adventures came completely without warning while others came by design. Often the end result left me shaking my head, but sometimes it left me smiling profusely. I prefer the latter. My life has generally been pretty low-key, depending who I compare myself to. I was a farm kid who never really traveled, and without television until age 11, my world was pretty sm...
A brief glance at the calendar this week had my eyes popping. We’re nearly halfway through September and the calendar shows no signs of slowing down. Snow will be flying before we know it. The arrival of fall was welcomed in my house. While I know it’s still technically summer, school has started, which means it’s fall. My kids were more than ready for classes to begin and so were we – summer break had certainly run its course. The school year started out rough for kindergartener Cece, but it had nothing to do with the classroom. She fell of...
I have fielded a bunch of emails, text messages and phone calls in the days since the school shooting in Winder, Georgia. Each one is from Perry, Iowa. Each one had the same question for me and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. Each one came from a parent, teacher or other concerned person asking, why isn’t the public allowed to read the official findings by state agents about the shooting at Perry High School and Middle School last Jan. 4? High School Principal Dan Marburger and Ahmir J...
Author’s Note: This is the eighth of a series of devotionals from Psalm 146. “The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;...” – Psalm 146:8a We are living in a time when it seems that lies and deceptive notions are flooding every form of media – both conservative and liberal, Christian and non-Christian. The sad part is that there are many people believing the lies, the false narratives and ideologies that are leading this nation and even the world down the path of bondage, corruption and sexual pe...
During the 40 years I was a newspaper editor/manager, I strived to ensure the staff incorporated context into their articles. Sometimes, in a journalistic shorthand, that was described “the Iowa angle.” If there was a mass murder in Iowa, I would dip into my stash of clippings and find the list of the worst mass killings in Iowa history. That allowed us to give context to the magnitude of the tragedy. The same with tornadoes and floods. How does the number of deaths compare with the worst of...
Several years ago when we were still in Hartley, I went out to get in the van and it was covered with what looked like clear Karo syrup. I had no idea what it was. Our van sat in the driveway under a fairly large black walnut tree. But what in the world was that sticky substance? Was it something from the tree? I wasted no time getting to the car wash and then I called the garden center in Spencer. He had the cause right on the tip of his tongue. "You have aphids and the syrup is their honeydew,...
