Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
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To the editor: While the first of many CO2 investment companies are poised to seek a permit from the Iowa Utilities Board, several Iowa lawmakers refuse to meet with landowners to discuss concerns about the misuse of eminent domain. Legislators say these projects are to be decided by the IUB and are not the purview of the Legislature. They also point out that pipeline plans have been in the works for years and the rules should not change at the 11th hour. Doing so, they say, would be unfair to the companies that have invested a great deal of...
To the editor: I would like to express my objection to the CO2 pipelines in Osceola, O’Brien, Clay and Dickinson counties. I have 17 easements (natural gas, above and underground electrical, water fire line, rural water, etc.). Only one of these that I seriously objected to and took to “eminent domain.” It took 3 years to settle. I gained very little and spent a lot. One of my objections is safety. At Hartley, a four-way junction is proposed. At Superior, a three-way junction is planned. CO2 travels downhill and it replaces the air that we br...
Q: What’s up with the Biden administration’s alleged proposal to hand out crack pipes? A: This half-baked plan met with swift backlash on Capitol Hill when Congress got wind of it. Under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is managing a $30 million harm reduction grant program designed to minimize risks associated with drug use, including overdoses and disease transmission. In its notice of fun...
Iowa’s state parks are some of the most popular publically funded assets we have the pleasure of enjoying. After all, more than 16 million people used them in 2020 alone. It’s a wonder, then, why we aren’t adequately funding these refuges of natural beauty. This month the Iowa DNR announced it is evicting park rangers from government-owned houses in 23 state parks because it doesn’t want to pay over $1 million on repairs to bring them up to modern standards. According to a report in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, a lack of resident rangers on park...
I’m confused, and I have a hunch I am not the only one. Are government mandates a bad thing – or are they good? My confusion comes because I hear what leaders in the Iowa Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds have said for months. It certainly seems as if, to a person, they agree mandates are bad. The governor often talks about how she believes Iowans will “do the right thing” when it comes to COVID vaccines and wearing masks. She talks about the importance of defending people’s rights and liberties. She is confident Iowans will act appropria...
Feb. 18 is the last day of “Funnel Week.” This is the week the Legislature cuts off debate for bills that have not made enough progress to get out of committee. This process helps narrow down the scope of bills eligible for debate and moves the legislative session forward. The next funnel week will cut off bills that have not made progress on the floor of either the House or Senate. All tax and appropriations bills are exempt from funnel deadlines. But this is the time of the year where you sta...
I usually have a lot on my mind but not much to say. Such is the case this week. • Reverse jinx? My beloved Iowa Hawkeyes are on a 3-0 run (as of this writing on Tuesday) since my “fire Fran” column a couple weeks ago. Almost every talking head has them in the Dance barring a meltdown, which is fantastic. I’ll eat crow if it means my beloved Black and Gold get a shot in March. • Farewell, Fluff Florence “Fluff” Ihry died last week at the age of 93. The longtime mayor of Royal, Fluff was somewhat of a local celebrity for her political car...
If you keep up with the headlines, you're aware of a plethora of issues being discussed this session in Des Moines. From scandalous books in schools to K-12 vouchers and tax cuts, there's plenty on the table. However, none of that pointed discourse has been directed to a growing issue poised to plague the Hawkeye State for years to come. Many of our bridges are junk, and it's high time lawmakers create some sort of targeted plan before the ailing infrastructure hits the dirt. A recent report in...
To the editor: Senator Joni Ernst’s article on Jan. 20 that Democrats are gaslighting the American people regarding restricting voter rights needs some clarification. The Voting Rights Bill was passed in Aug. 1965. It was readopted and strengthened in 1970, 1975 and 1982. It was passed with support from both Republicans and Democrats. Sen. Ernst states that the Left is manufacturing a voting crisis. The fact is that 18 states with Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislators have enacted 30 laws restricting voter access as r...
To the editor: In regard to Pedley’s Ponderings last week, I agree whole-heartedly about your assessment of Fran McCaffery and the years of talented players with so-so results of the Iowa basketball team. I too am a frustrated Hawkeye, but I also think that Kirk Ferentz should have been gone years ago as well. I know that he holds all kinds of longevity records, but he has also been there for 23 years! We have gone through years of never being a real consistent football national powerhouse and when we have a good year, we blow the bowl game. H...
To the editor: In 1966, Ronald Reagan created “The Eleventh Commandment” during his campaign for governor of California. The Commandment reads: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. Today, despite my deep admiration for President Reagan, I must break this rule. I do so only because Reagan also famously said, “Trust, but verify.” A candidate for the Iowa State Senate in northwest Iowa, Anthony LaBruna, is asking Iowans to trust him to represent them in Des Moines. He’s crafting a message that he has deep ties to Iowa as well as t...
Every now and then, I’m truly surprised by the World of Sports. The Bengals are in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady retired. The Cubs actually won the World Series. Unfortunately, none of that amusement is ever extended to the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team. They always underperform and fail to impress, which has once again been the standard this year. My beloved Hawks are currently in a tie for ninth place in the Big 10 standings at 4-6 in the conference and 14-7 overall. With a crushing double-overtime loss at Penn State on Monday night, the...
To the editor: Driving past a certain cattle feeding operation 1.6 miles west of Moneta at 11:30 p.m. can be so hazardous to one’s health, if a driver is too inattentive or speeding much too fast. However, the most danger happens at night when visibility is at a minimum perhaps due to fog. Early in the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 13, my aging wife unexpectedly lost her balance and fell hard onto a hardwood floor near our dining room table. Letting out a scream, she was in pain, crying uncontrollably sitting on the floor. Ugly looking bruises a...
Everyone who owns an automobile knows that regular maintenance is required. You need to keep the tank full of gas, the tires full of air and the engine full of oil. People also need regular maintenance. They need food to eat, clothes to wear and a place to sleep. Growing up on a farm, I always had food, clothing and a place to sleep. I had duties around the house, as well as chores around the farm. I attended school during the week and church on Sunday morning. As far as I knew, I was living a n...
I stumbled across a statistical tidbit the other day that probably will surprise many people. U.S. Census Bureau figures show that between 1900 and 2000, the state that grew the least in population, on a percentage basis, was Iowa. Read that again. No state had smaller population growth between 1900 and 2000, as a percentage, than Iowa. Not North Dakota. Not Montana. Not Wyoming. Not any other state. The census statistics show Iowa's population increased 31 percent during that span of time. Whil...
To the editor: The letter to the editor on January 6, 2022 by Bonnie Ewoldt was well written and very informative. As a landowner this addressed concerns and issues for me. It is important that the public knows and understands all aspects of this proposed pipeline. Shirley Mori Sorenson West Des Moines...
I marked my 31st trip around the sun last Thursday. That’s just a fancy way of saying it’s been 10 years since my last fun birthday party. I’ve never been particularly fond of my “big day.” There isn’t much to do during the dead of winter, and I don’t really enjoy the added attention. It’s a day that ends in “Y” for me. That said, my 31st will be one for the record books. I didn’t have reservations at a fancy restaurant or bar, but instead had an afternoon date with the oral surgeon to get a molar pulled and my bottom lip dissected. Yep, two c...
Just last year, Washington insiders colluded to try to overturn the will of the people of Iowa in a fair and free election. The Speaker of the House of Representatives attempted to steal a House seat. Iowa's Second District congresswoman, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, won her election in 2020 and was certified by Iowa's secretary of state, 24 county auditors from both parties and the bipartisan State Board of Canvass. But in a total political power grab, the Speaker of the House spent over $600,000...
To the editor: As one of 15,000 landowners impacted by the proposed CO2 pipeline through Iowa, I recently received a letter from our former governor, Terry Branstad. In his letter, Branstad sings the praises of his current employer, Summit Carbon Solutions, and paints carbon capture and sequestration as a harmless process that will boost Iowa's ethanol industry. Having read Branstad's PR piece, I find it to be disingenuous. The target of his message is the Sierra Club, a well-known...
The "Where are you Christmas" song was playing in my head as I sat in my living room, looking at the debris from Christmas. New gifts sat freshly played with and game cards were left unshuffled by their box. Wrapping paper brimmed from garbage bags by the window. Gene Autry's Christmas album filled the room with Christmas classics from the record player in the dining room. The tree was still lit, but no gifts laid underneath. And then my eyes slowly moved to what was placed perfectly in front...
Kaity asked me what I wanted for Christmas a couple weeks ago. I told her new underwear, and I wasn’t joking. It’s funny how things change over time. I can’t remember the last time I ever really wanted anything for Christmas other than less debt. I don’t think Santa will be cutting me a fat check on Dec. 25, but that’s adulthood for you. Christmas is for the kids nowadays. Kaity was wringing her hands earlier this month over what to get Oliver and Cece. They already have enough junk, so we wanted to make it count. We’ll see how that pans o...
Anticipation simmered like apple cider on the back burner. The weeks before Christmas were filled with activities at school, church, home and the great outdoors. Our snow fort was frozen so hard that it would be spring before its walls would melt. Our stash of snowballs had frozen together, but a swift kick could separate those lethal weapons should the neighbor boys show their heads. The skating rink with its dirt banks had been flooded by the local fire department, but that gesture was the last adult involvement. Only a plank bench offered an...
Property owners in northwest Iowa have been subjected to a tsunami of information this fall about a "new" kind of pipeline that would cut through many miles of farmland in the region. While these carbon dioxide pipelines have been around for a while, they're certainly new to us here and pose many questions. Two have been proposed so far. Both Summit Carbon Solutions' project and Navigator CO2 Ventures' pipeline would cut through O'Brien and Clay counties, with Navigator's intersecting with...
My workday begins every morning when most people are settled in for a good night’s sleep. I usually wake up before my alarm goes off at 2 a.m. My morning begins with a shave and shower, then quickly changing into my YMCA work clothes. I then get my dog, Gabby, ready to go for her walk. She has a red-lighted collar she wears on our walk, while I wear a safety vest so that we both can be seen. After grabbing a bottle of water and its container, we are ready to go. Gabby’s leash has a 30 foot ext...
To the editor: Dave Rowley is a man of integrity and will be a voice protecting our rights and individual liberties in the Iowa Senate and I support him wholeheartedly. Dave has been a long-time advocate in the Iowa Great Lakes region and has lived here for over 25 years and calls northwest Iowa “his home”. Dave and his wife, Kris, have been married for 40 years. Dave was the Chair of the Dickinson County Republicans for several years where he invigorated the county party and brought a fresh face to the party. Beyond that, Dave hasn’t run f...
