When something local changes, people notice.
They should.
A newspaper or a radio station isn’t just another business—it’s part of the identity of a community. These are the institutions that tell the stories of a place over time, day by day, week by week, name by name.

I came home this weekend, making the two-hour jaunt northwest from Grinnell on Friday evening.

 We are working full steam ahead on Primary Election prep in our office.  Friday (March 20th) is the deadline to file partisan nomination papers for anyone wanting to run for county office this year.  This 

means people wanting to run as a Democrat or Republican candidate.  If someone wants to run as “no party”, the deadline to file nomination paperwork is Tuesday June 2nd at 5PM.   

Renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War has made Trump an honest man.
We haven’t fought a war of defense since 1945 and our interests at that time can be questioned as well. Yet over 100,000 U.S. servicemen have been sacrificed to this “defense” cult over the last 80 years.

This week in the Iowa House, lawmakers debated 81 bills. Representatives advanced legislation focused on strengthening agriculture, improving public health, supporting Iowa families, and enhancing public safety.
Agriculture

This week, the proposed property tax mailers that were part of HF718 back in 2023 are being mailed out.

I had never heard of Charlie Kirk before he was killed in Utah. It turned out that he was very influential. In this vacuum of respectable leadership, he may have even been a future candidate for president. His skepticism of woke ideologies drew loathing from the so-called left, but agreement from “conservatives”.
 

Two headline-making bills that were passed by the Iowa House of Representatives in week seven of the 2026 legislative session include improving election laws and requiring commercial drivers to demonstrate English proficiency.

February 20 saw the passage of the first legislative funnel. This is a deadline lawmakers set to winnow down bills eligible for consideration for the remainder of the session. It doesn’t apply to spending bills, but does a good job of narrowing what lawmakers will focus on around the midpoint of their time spent under the Golden Dome in Des Moines.
 

Ghostie’s success has had glitches. I often evangelize about the benefits of electric fence.
 

Every year, public schools in Iowa spend billions of dollars to educate children, sparking taxpayers to ask school board members, administrators, and lawmakers: "Where does that money go?" The Hampton-Dumont Community School District is writing this article to help taxpayers understand how districts spend money and to dispel the mysteries surrounding school funding.
 

We sold last spring’s calves last week. Dawn wisely convinced me that feeding them to market weight when we don’t grow our own corn would leave no time for rest and be a little much for an old man. She’s wise and didn’t need to be propping me up in such overambition. Besides, every deviation from vertical integration (such as buying corn) is like a leaky bucket.

This week was packed with subcommittee and committee meetings because the first funnel deadline of Feb. 20 determines which bills survive for further consideration. With the exception of bills assigned to the Appropriations or Ways & Means Committees, bills that originated in the House had to pass through a House subcommittee and committee by Feb. 20 to remain eligible for floor debate.

By the time this story is put to print, just over one in every four people on this planet will have completed their first week of fasting for the month of Ramadan—and I am among that number.

I keep a jar and a postcard in the mudroom for spiders. I can plop the jar over the little guy, slide the postcard under him, and carry him outside. If I let him stay in the house he might get stepped on.