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Balance is needed in everyone’s online lives

Teenagers who once spent hours talking to each other on the phone now spend hours communicating on social media. Many adults do much of the same thing, spending hours scrolling through various web sites and social media feeds. Ironically, much of this is done using phones. Devices which were originally created to enable people to speak to each other in some cases now get used to do about everything but speak to another human being. The internet has a lot of tremendous benefits. It enables people to access all kinds of news and information that they could have never received ...

Buffer Pilot Project just got better

There are times when a good idea can be made even better. That is the case with the expansion of the state’s Streamside Buffer Pilot Project. It uses a comparatively small amount of money to help farmers plant vegetation along the sides of waterways, with the ultimate goal of cleaning up water downstream. And there is plenty of evidence showing that the all-natural processes of plants can make the nearby water cleaner. The buffers are the plant kingdom’s version of an NFL offensive line: they block things from getting through. But instead of protecting a quarterback, they ...

America at 250: A journey through time, told through our communities

What began as an experiment in self-governance rooted in personal freedom and liberty has grown into the world’s most unique and important nation: the United States of America. Here, we can, within the boundaries of the law, do, say and think what we wish; we can worship as we choose; we have taxation with representation; the American Dream remains a real, living concept; and so much more. As President Ronald Reagan so aptly said in describing America’s exceptionalism, we remain, in the eyes of the rest of the world, that “shining city on a hill.” But here at home, the mood has ...

Speed limit increase is a bad idea

Iowa’s lawmakers appear to be on the verge of raising the speed limit on the state’s two-lane highways. We think it’s a terrible idea and call on them to reject it. The bill now before the legislature would establish the default speed limit at 60 mph rather than the current 55 mph. But because four-lane highways have an established speed limit of 65 mph and highways that are part of the interstate system have a 70 mph speed limit, the impact of this bill would be realized on the two-lane routes like U.S. Highway 169. We see lots of bad things coming from this concept, and ...

Haymow Hoop Dreams

March Madness has begun and I can truly say this is my favorite time of the entire year. I grew up with a love of basketball that began in the early 1970’s on our small hobby farm located 30 minutes south of the state capital in Madison. Our large gambrel style barn was a working barn that housed sheep, black angus cattle, chickens, a couple of mutts, several cats, and dozens of bats that would emerge from the rafters at dusk. It also had mice, one of which ran up my pants leg when I was throwing bales of hay down the chute. The barn was large and had a cavernous haymow. The ...

Public notices must remain in newspapers

There are some in the Iowa Legislature who periodically toy with the possibility of eliminating the requirement that local governments print public notices in newspapers This is the wrong move today, tomorrow and for the future. Government transparency is more important than ever. In truth it is critical. While The Messenger, The Daily Freeman-Journal and other Iowa newspapers have an economic interest in seeing that the public notice publishing requirement remains, the issue goes far beyond a few dollars. Maintaining the legal requirement to publish government actions and meetings ...