Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
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May 19-25 marks National EMS Week, where Americans salute our quiet guardians who are there for us in our time of need. Here in rural Iowa, their presence is an immeasurable blessing. This year marks National EMS Week’s 50th anniversary. It’s a time to show our gratitude toward EMTs and paramedics who provide lifesaving care across the nation every day. EMS Week is also a time to educate the public about EMS and the essential service it provides our communities. Paramedics, EMTs and other EMS professionals work diligently to care for their pat...
In today’s digital age, we find ourselves engulfed in what seems like an endless sea of information. Our social media feeds overflow with memes, news articles, and posts from friends, family, coworkers, and acquaintances. Streaming platforms bombard us with a new TV show every week, and even our text messages overflow with ads, links, and requests for donations. Among the deluge of information, we also contend with a rise in mis-, dis-, and mal-information, often from bad actors trying to sow d...
Robert Frost has a poem talking about promises to keep and miles to go before you sleep. Do you ever think about the things you need to accomplish in your day? It’s not such a big deal for me since I’m retired, but there are still days I wonder if it’s possible to accomplish all the things that need to be done. After a long winter, springtime is finally arriving. There will be lots of mowing, trimming, planting and fertilizing needed to make our corner of the world a prettier place. I still...
• May 26, 1949 Commencement exercises for the Moneta High School were held at the Moneta Hall. Rev. Harrison Dawes, pastor of the Methodist Church at Eagle Grove, was the speaker. Marianne Meyer was valedictorian of the class of six graduates and Renee Lynam was salutatorian. Kenneth Weber, son of Pastor and Mrs. A.C. Weber of Hartley, was one of five winners of the Kinnick Scholarship at the State University of Iowa. The one-year scholarship was renewable if the holder maintained a high level of scholarship, leadership and participation in c...
The events of the past six months in Israel and Gaza have me wishing it were possible to have just one more lunch with a friend who died four years ago. My friend was Jewish. In today’s vocabulary, he would be called an ardent Zionist. He had little patience for people who disparaged Israel. But he also was a proponent of dialogue and diplomacy. He never hesitated to call me for lunch after The Des Moines Register’s opinion pages published something he disliked. Our lunchtime conversations and...
To the editor: If you’ve driven around Hartley or anywhere in our area, you’ve seen flags in varying stages of weather/wind distress. The American Legion Family can help solve that problem. As a service to our community, we are selling United States flags. We have both 3x5 and 4x6 flags. We are selling both sizes for $25 each. Flags are available at Jackie’s Floral Center or by contacting Kathy Wacker at (712) 459-1179, or Renee Crist at (712) 229-2555. We will have flags available at the Memorial Day program. Please keeping flying your flag...
To the editor: Bill Barr stated that Donald Trump should never be back in the White House. He is dangerous to our democracy. However, he has also stated he will vote for Trump. Mitch McConnell has made similar comments. This is because they are Republicans, so they have to vote Republican. All citizens regardless of their party affiliation should vote for candidates that will work for the good of the country. As an Independent voter, one of the first things I look for with any candidate is their ethical and moral integrity. I guess individuals...
Reminders come in several forms. Sometimes it’s the ding of a phone; other times it’s a Post-It note. Last week, it was tornadoes. A scourge of dangerous twisters ripped across Nebraska and Iowa last Friday, wreaking havoc and leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, and many people are homeless now – they’re just feeling lucky to have escaped with their lives. That will count as a huge victory down in Minden. Drone footage from the small Pottawattamie County community revealed a harrowing scene a...
I’m always a day late and dollar short. That counts in life, and it also counts in the yard. We should have planted grass last week. There are plenty of barren patches in our yard – partially thanks to my heavy herbicide use last year, and partially thanks to other factors, like the two dogs’ “business.” Regardless, we did not get anything planted, and April’s showers are making me kick myself that I won’t have May grass. Still, there will be May flowers...if you count dandelions. That’s not to say I haven’t been busy. Thanks to the help of a...
To the editor: The Muslims will use my argument from my previous letter to the editor against me, so I apologize for my shortsightedness. Let me review history. Two and a half centuries ago, the Christian God wanted to show the world one more time what He could do, so He assembled a bunch of men who were just brilliant and then He greatly blessed our country. Our forefathers used the biblical understanding of the depravity and corruption of man to form a system of government with separation of powers and a bill of rights, to try to prevent...
On my 36-county tour, I have met with families, small business owners and childcare providers who are rightfully concerned about the skyrocketing cost of childcare. As a father of four, I agree that we need real solutions to lower costs for our families, especially as inflation eats away at paychecks and gas prices are on the rise. While my children have grown up, I remember the days when my wife and I had to balance our jobs with raising our four kids, and ultimately, sending them to daycare....
“Unsustainable” is a fascinating word, especially when it is used in government and politics. Merriam-Webster, the dictionary folks, tell us unsustainable means something cannot be continued or supported. But in governmental affairs, that definition sometimes gets changed. Instead of something truly being incapable of continuing, the word often means the person using the term simply does not want that “something” to go forward. Understanding this distinction can help us better parse the stateme...
To the editor: There was a story from many centuries ago about a King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who worshipped Baal, who let them do what they wanted. A prophet named Elijah challenged the leaders to a showdown. They built an altar on Mount Carmel and offered an animal sacrifice. Elijah thought the God who consumed the sacrifice with fire would be the real god. The leaders of Baal called out for their god to consume the sacrifice. Elijah mocked them saying maybe your god is in the bathroom or maybe he is asleep. Call out louder. When it was...
Author’s Note: This is the fourth of a series of devotionals from Psalm 146. “Who keeps truth forever, ...” ” – Psalm 146:6b As we continue our look at Psalm 146, we are finding our hope and trust cannot be in a “prince,” or a “son of man” or “we the people.” The solutions offered by man are temporary, self-defeating and oftentimes, self-destructive. Our hope and trust can only be in the Lord God, Jesus Christ, our Creator (John 1:1-5). Further, the Lord God is worthy of our hope and trust is in...
This will probably come as a big disappointment to all of you evolutionary scientists out there, but it was announced the other day by a leading expert in the field that we, humans, have evolved about as far as we are going to. That’s right – there are no huge, bulbous heads in our future. Eyes that can see through solid steel will not be forthcoming. Limbs that stretch to fantastic lengths are probably not in the offing for us. In short, we are what we are going to be. There is a reason for...
No problem is so big that we can’t run from it – or at least avoid thinking about it. That’s human nature. There are many concerns that should command our attention but do not. Too often, we hope or assume a serious problem will go away or will spare us. In the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, too many of us discount whatever the scientists tell us – as if the anonymous pundit on social media knows more than the people who have devoted their lives to studying a particular problem. But there is s...
Caitlin Clark’s legendary Hawkeye career will be remembered for decades to come The monumental career of Caitlin Clark came to a close Sunday when Iowa lost to South Carolina in the NCAA championship game. The defeat marked the second-straight year the Hawkeyes fell in the title game, but this one hurt a little bit more. This was the end of the road. Clark’s career is hard to put into words. Her stat line is five miles long and her awards seem too numerous to count. Phenomenal, fantastic, outstanding – no amount of superlatives do her justi...
Author’s Note: This is the third of a series of devotionals from Psalm 146. “Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; . . .” – Psalm 146:6a From Psalm 146, verses 3-6, we learn putting our hope and trust in a “prince,” or a “son of man” or “we the people,” merely offer temporary, self-defeating and oftentimes, self-destructive help. There is only one person that we can put our trust and hope in; that is, the “God of Jacob,” the “LORD”; that is, YHWH; the self-existing, et...
A report released last week should have Iowans thinking twice about their icy-cold vices. Health experts unveiled the 2024 Cancer in Iowa Report, and results were extremely concerning. Iowa once again has the second-highest rate of new cancer cases in the U.S., alongside the fastest-growing rate of new cancers. The state also reported the fourth-highest incidence of alcohol-related cancers in the country and the highest in the Midwest. Health experts at a news conference last week cited alcohol usage as a possible driver in Iowa’s cancer r...
I often feel like I don’t do enough to help my fellow man. Last week, I did the bare minimum. After delivering the newspaper, I swung over to the Hartley Community Center to donate blood for the first time. I really don’t know why it took me this long to do it, but it did nonetheless. Since I’m good at laying down and doing nothing, I figured this would be a breeze. I was right – the whole ordeal took less than an hour. A quiet crisis is what sparked me to get pricked and drained. The Red Cross last month announced an emergency blood shortag...
In our free-market economy, Americans should have the freedom to purchase the car or truck of their choice without the federal government putting its thumb on the scale to advance a specific policy preference and distort the market. However, President Biden doesn’t see it that way. He prefers government intervention and costly mandates that support his Green New Deal agenda and further his vision to cripple the American energy sector through executive orders, burdensome regulations, and red t...
The Iowa Taxpayer Relief Fund is an account in the state treasury that holds unanticipated state revenue to be returned to the taxpayers. In order for funds to be deposited in the Taxpayer Relief Fund, actual state revenue has to exceed what had been projected for state tax collections by the three-member Revenue Estimating Conference (REC). The difference between what was actually collected in tax revenue and what the REC had projected is deposited into the account once the fiscal year’s b...
Following our first legislative deadline, the seventh week of session in the Iowa Senate focused on debate and sending bills to the House of Representatives for their consideration. One bill that passed the Senate is Senate File 2161, which raises the penalties for swatting. Additionally, the Senate passed Senate File 2096, ensuring Iowa can have the most qualified applicants considered for appointments to a board, commission, committee or council, regardless of their gender. Senate File 2251...
To the editor: The Iowa House is considering a bill designed to combat “organized retail theft” of property from stores. Lawmakers supporting the measure said they wanted to deter looting, which has happened in some U.S. cities. Law enforcement has not always intervened. Iowans may naively think such lawlessness cannot happen here. But it can – and it is. Summit Carbon Solutions has been using strong-arm tactics to take farmland for a pressurized CO2 pipeline. Meanwhile, power players in the Iowa Senate, Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitv...
Author’s Note: This is the second of a series of devotionals from Psalm 146. “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God” – Psalm 146:5 In putting our hope and trust in a “prince,” or a “son of man,” or “we the people,” we have learned they can only offer temporary help and oftentimes, self-defeating or destructive help. There is only one person that we can put our trust and hope in and that is Jesus the Christ. In verse 5 of this psalm, He is referr...
