S-N Editorial

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 now.

Up the street on Central Avenue, more progress has been made with two derelict buildings. Asbestos and other hazardous material were recently removed from the old Capitol Theatre as well as the old Create-A-Craft building. The latter of the two will be completely removed this year, while the timeline for the old movie theater is to be determined. It may stink that taxpayer dollars had to be used to pluck both buildings from Hartley’s skyline, but the city was left with no other option. Hopefully a grant from the Iowa DNR will help offset demolition expenses of the theater in the future just as it did for asbestos removal there.

Down in Royal, progress has taken the form of a changeover – the city recently agreed to let Iowa Lakes Regional Water (ILRW) assume control of its water utility. While this will result in higher bills for residents, the council would have had to hike them anyway to make improvements to the city’s old system. Now, ILRW will be charged with upgrades, maintenance and billing.

Additionally in Royal, Clay Central/Everly Elementary is once again celebrating Homecoming week after resurrecting it in 2022. The event was shelved in 2019 after the district ceased offering grades 7-12 due to low enrollment, and it has been great to see the tradition revived for younger Mavericks to enjoy. Though CC/E’s enrollment numbers may be low, school spirit is still soaring high. Seeing community involvement and a plethora of offerings prove that you don’t need to be a huge district to provide great opportunities for students. Onward, Mavericks!

In Everly, progress has taken the form of property sales. The council this month sold three city-own lots with a fourth slated for sale during a special meeting tonight. While this development probably won’t turn heads, it did allow the city to get land of its books that had sat stagnant for years. Whether anyone builds anything on the lots remains to be seen, but at least they’re back on the tax rolls and the city made a bit of cash on their sale to boot.

While it may seem like very little happens in our corner of the world, positive things are happening right in front of our eyes – you just have to squint sometimes.

Failing to clear the lowest bar

Stop us if you heard this before.

For the second time in a year, the federal government is facing yet another possible shutdown if Congress can’t agree on a funding package before Saturday’s deadline. A shutdown would furlough millions of federal employees, leave the military without pay, disrupt air travel and cut off vital safety net services. It would also be politically punishing to lawmakers whose job it is to fund the government, which they no doubt deserve.

A small group of right-wing holdouts in the House have been charged with holding up passage of a spending bill. The same group caused headaches earlier this year when a potential shutdown was avoided by a last-minute deal. Alas, it’s set to expire, and it’s déjà vu all over again.

For its part, the Senate late Tuesday pushed ahead in sweeping bipartisan fashion to break the stalemate, advancing a temporary measure to keep government running through Nov. 17. It faces long odds in the House; however, where embattled Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been hounded by the hard-right flank that seems content to shut everything down to get their way and make headlines.

Most level-headed folks would tell you this is no way to run a government. In this case political posturing is taking a front seat while everything else, including common sense, is being shoved to the back. Nothing new, really.

While our elected officials play with their food in Washington as the whole system stares at a shutdown, Americans will once again be left to ponder how these people made it to Washington when they can’t even fulfill the basic duty of keeping the doors open. If they do agree on something, rest assured we’ll be doing this all over again in a couple months.