Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
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There's been a lot of hand-wringing in recent years about the death of local newspapers, those bastions of democracy and chroniclers of community. While the loss of any newspaper hurts the people they serve, residents of rural areas and small towns are hit especially hard when a newspaper shuts down. When a local newspaper closes, citizens lose impartial news and information about town and county government, school boards, local athletic teams, academic awards, county fairs and the mundane and...
To the editor: The difference between 33 and 32 is 1. Let’s call 1 a small number. When you put the word billion behind that small number, it becomes huge. A billion is a million thousands. Nine hundred ninety-nine compared to 1 is enormous. When that small number 1 is followed by the word trillion, it equals the huge billion MORE than the enormous 999 huge billions. In the House, there is a (small number of right wing holdouts) and the rest of the members. The two groups can’t agree on a funding package. When you understand simple ari...
My coaching portfolio grew this fall with addition of flag football. This wasn’t exactly by choice, but my stint on the sidelines has been an interesting one nonetheless. I coached my son’s T-ball team here in Hartley for the past two summers. While it’s hard to measure progress of 5- and 6-year-olds, they seemed functional with a baseball, bat and glove by the end of the season. We coaches sometimes felt like we were herding rabid cats, and the young sluggers certainly kept us on our toes – never cast your gaze astray when kinderg...
Accentuate the positives when you can Progress comes in all shapes and forms. Just look around at our local communities. In Hartley, progress took the form of demolition last month when city’s never-opened new pool had its never-used deck torn up. The goal is to pour a new one with proper electrical bondings in place and inspected. Failure to inspect the bondings one year ago led to its indefinite closure, which has been a sore topic here in the City With a Heart. Everyone just wants the pool they paid for and hopefully we’re on the right track...
Many decades ago, Mrs. Gentry and Mr. Halferty put up with an inquisitive kid’s classroom questions about American democracy and the workings of government. I did not imagine back then how the meaning of some words could take on such importance in government. Take, for example, a much-talked-about word in Iowa last week, vexatious. It means abrasive, aggravating, annoying, irritating or nettlesome. Whether you vote for Democrats, Republicans or Whigs, everyone should have access to government re...
Roughly three months after our country exceeded $32 trillion in debt, we have surpassed another grim milestone and broken another unfortunate record. Our national debt has officially eclipsed $33 trillion, which is now the highest debt burden in American history. To put this figure into perspective, every single American – all 340 million of us – shoulders nearly $100,000 of this debt. Even worse, at a time when our federal budget deficit is projected to double to $2 trillion this fiscal yea...
Q: What’s your take on the budgeting process in Washington? A: It’s broken. As a taxpayer watchdog and ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, I continuously look for ways to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure the government is working effectively for the American people. As Congress approaches the end of the fiscal year, lawmakers are chewing over annual spending bills that fund government operations - including federal agencies, the military, and the judiciary – and a number of federal programs. This funding is referred to as discr...
Safety is something many of us take for granted. We have video cameras at our front doors, our vehicles remind us when to buckle our seat belts, and our cell phones alert us of any rain cloud within a 100-mile radius. Still, danger lurks. Nowhere is that more evident than for our area farmers. With harvest season looming, we're reminded to be extra careful during National Farm Safety and Health Week. The event runs Sept. 17-23 and raises awareness about the many dangers farmers face in their...
I've had billions of great ideas in my life, but rarely have I carried through. Last weekend, I carried through. I got a wild hair two weeks ago after the annual Cy-Hawk matchup. Iowa was slated to play hapless Western Michigan the following Saturday, and I figured tickets would be pretty cheap. I was right. $20 off face value had me sold to take Oliver to his first Hawkeye game. I reached out to a friend to see if he wanted to come and bring his son, who happens to be Oliver's best friend....
Although I can't start this off by telling you how many rounds of golf I got in this weekend like Eddie would have, I can tell you about a few of my favorite memories of Eddie Robinson. I first met Eddie a few weeks after Billie passed away. I was the first person to sit in her chair directly across from Ed in many, many years. I knew I had big shoes to fill, but he also had a job in my life that required some big shoes. I had come home from college after my dad left and I didn't know it at the...
There is only one thing that gets a Midwesterner out of school that's not a holiday, snow day or in-service day – the Clay County Fair. The World's Greatest County Fair has a reputation for inducing joy, excitement, the need to purchase a larger belt, and the enthusiasm of children and adults alike. The fact that we have such pure pleasure so close to home is not just luck, but a true blessing that we long for at the end of the summer and relish for the short nine days it is here. How many p...
To the editor: There’s nothing as majestic as the American flag waving in the air! The past winter and summer season has damaged many of the flags around Hartley. The Hartley American Legion Auxiliary has decided to help provide a flag for those in need of a new one. We have purchased USA-made nylon flags in two sizes, 3x5 and 4x6. Purchase of either size is $25! All money raised is used to benefit veterans. This will be an ongoing service project for our unit. Flags are available at Jackie’s Floral Shop here in Hartley or by contacting Kat...
There were more disclosures in recent days in the ongoing saga involving the ethical standards of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court – or, more accurately, the lack of ethical standards. With each new disclosure about our nation’s highest court, the reputations of justices here on the Iowa Supreme Court take on more luster – and deservedly so. The nonprofit news outlet ProPublica reported that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has received millions of dollars’ worth of luxury travel...
Two years ago, I warned against the risk a hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan would cause. Now, the consequences of a Taliban takeover are a reality. Even against the advice of his own military advisors, President Biden doubled down on a rushed process to meet his arbitrary exit deadline, resulting in the greatest U.S. foreign policy disaster of my lifetime. By abandoning Americans and our allies, emboldening our adversaries, and making the world a less safe place, President Biden sent a...
Recently, Bankrate rated Iowa the No. 1 state for retirement after consideration of affordability, overall well-being, cost of quality healthcare, weather and crime. Bankrate stated that affordability was weighted most heavily and given the massive tax cuts the Legislature has passed recently – it is no surprise that Iowa scored well. The other states in the Top 5 after Iowa were Delaware, West Virginia, Missouri and Mississippi. The worst? Alaska. It was No. 50 largely because of weather and af...
Watch any sporting event broadcast in America, and you’ll be bombarded with ads from sports books urging you to bet on the game. “Deposit your first $5, get $250 in free bets!” “Refer a friend, get $100!” “Cast your first $50 bet, get $500 in bonus bets!” America has gone bonkers for online sports betting thanks to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down laws banning its existence. Now, basically anyone over the age of 21 has the opportunity to bet on a game from the comfort of their own couch. Making things easier is the fact that...
To the editor: When questioned about eminent domain during the 2022 gubernatorial candidate debate, Gov. Reynolds answered many times that “there is a process in place.” That process is playing out now at the Cardiff Event Center in Fort Dodge where Summit Carbon Solutions is making the case for its hazardous CO2 pipeline and landowners are being forced to defend their land. Seeing events unfold, it’s questionable if Reynolds understands the process. I was among 200-plus landowners and supporters who attended the opening day of the heari...
The following pieces were written by members of the Hartley Writing Group, who penned each submission during a writing exercise at a recent gathering. Members could choose to write a prompt on one of five topics: a cooking/baking failure; a good or bad vacation memory/experience; a flat tire experience; summer gardening; or summer storm memory. A flat tire experience By Roger Brockshus My wife, Rita, and I were planning a short trip to Branson a couple years ago. Our daughter, Hillary, and her family live in Platte City, Mo., just north of...
To the editor: North Dakota’s Public Service Commission threw a major roadblock in the path of Summit Carbon Solutions’ Midwest Carbon Express on Aug. 4 when it voted unanimously to deny the company’s hazardous CO2 pipeline permit. According to PSC Chair, Randy Christmann, Summit “failed to meet its burden of proof to show that the location, construction, operation and maintenance will produce minimal adverse effects on the environment and on the citizens of North Dakota.” Summit’s proposed route in North Dakota is part of a 2,000-mile, five-st...
I love college football. Specifically, I love the stupidity of it. I love watching a PAC-12 game at 1 a.m. on Sunday morning. I love that Iowa can win a football game 7-3 with two safeties and a field goal. I love watching Kansas beat Texas in overtime on a two-point conversion. I love watching a pointless game between Western Michigan and Central Michigan on a Wednesday night during a blizzard. It’s all so beautifully stupid. Last week, however, things became the bad kind of stupid. The PAC-12 collapsed in a day when Utah, Arizona and Arizona...
The idea of congressional term limits has been a pie in the sky for both American voters and ambitious candidates for eons. Recent incidents from some of Washington’s most tenured lawmakers have sparked worthy debate about just how long our elected officials should be allowed to rule over us. On Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.) appeared to go completely blank for several seconds while answering reporters’ questions at the Capitol. The senator, 81, was whisked away by colleagues and staffers, later returning to the podium and stati...
Silly me. I thought I had been paying attention to the issues about which Iowans feel strongly. You know, things like inflation, taxes, government spending, the war in Ukraine, a new farm bill, water quality, immigration, the federal debt. Those sorts of issues. But I have spaced off a vital issue in the minds of some in Congress — an issue that apparently has been flying under the radar of Iowans: That issue is aliens from another world. While Joe and Jane Iowan were fretting last week about dr...
Two of the most common concerns I hear are about roads not getting fix and too much road construction. Our local department of transportation folks are constantly reviewing road conditions, monitoring traffic flow and putting projects in the pipeline. Like everything else, costs have increased and so has transportation investments. Fiscal Year 2023 saw record spending on roads and bridges in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. DOT announced that spending on transportation...
A funeral service for Marion D. “Jay” Jaycox was held Monday, July 31, 2023, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sanborn. Pastor Joseph Bangert officiated. Pallbearers were Paige Malven, Melissa Carlson, Kieja Evans, Robin Steller, Shannon Pelham, Ryan Jaycox, Kimberly Renken and Nicole Long. Interment was in Roseland Cemetery at Sanborn, with military graveside rites conducted by the Sanborn American Legion, Earl T. Conaway Post #318. Sanborn Funeral Home assisted with the arrangements. Marion Delbert “Jay” Jaycox, the son of Delbert and Mary...
Ronald Reagan famously said, “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.” Apparently the late president’s 11th Commandment doesn’t apply in the Hawkeye State. Just as summer’s heat is about to peak, so too is the mudslinging from river to river. Alas, caucus season is in full swing. Many folks may greet this news with a loud groan. With incumbent President Joe Biden slated to make another White House run, Republicans from across the country have been coming out of the woodwork over the past few months announcing their campaigns. They’re a...
