“Hamilton The Community,” knowing your neighbors. This is what Rick Young, Hamilton County supervisor and Hamilton Hometowns board chairman, will work to do over the coming months. He will escort a few individuals “out of their own community silo” and take them to another Hamilton ...

I've been thinking about heroes lately. A hero may be your basic, everyday hero: the neighbor who plows out your driveway after a snowstorm without even a phone call to ask if he can bring over his big John Deere with the loader bucket, the old family friend who stops by with two $20 bills ...

As a kid I was an optimist ̶ a glass-half-full sort of guy, almost always looking on the bright side. That optimism included a healthy mix of naiveté. I was one chunky, happy sort of country bumpkin. Then life happened and by the time I retired I had become much more cynical. Over the ...

Our nation’s economy is booming. Last Friday’s jobs report far-exceeded anyone’s expectations, showing we added 263,000 jobs last month and unemployment is sitting at the lowest since 1969. And at the backbone of it all? Our small businesses. Just look at my home state of Iowa. 99 ...

It's a new fishing season for anglers across the Midwest and North America! Many anglers have already been fishing, others are looking forward to their first trip to the lake, river, reservoir, or pond. Following are some things to keep in mind when you get ready to go fishing. First of all, ...

It’s May Day. Of course it is, because it’s the very first day of this month. Have you ever wondered why we don’t notice February Day or maybe August Day? Or even October Day? My theory is because the two words rhyme. September Day, for instance, just doesn’t have the same ring ...

Driving through our suburban neighborhood a few Sundays ago I was struck by how Sundays have changed. The rush of traffic was far different than the quiet, lazy Sundays I knew as a child. I was raised in a home where the Commandment to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy was taken ...

The internet tells us that the first known deliveries of Meals on Wheels, in the United States, was in Philadelphia in 1954, and that currently the program serves 2.4 million seniors annually. It was a 1971 that Ray Roden, then pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, brought together a group of ...

Legislation currently being considered by the Iowa Legislature would hinder the ability of local elected officials to make budget decisions to fund the programs and services their constituents depend on and desire. House File 773 would place an arbitrary 2 percent annual growth limitation on ...

The first funeral I can remember was for a 3-year-old cousin who drowned in his family’s farm stock tank. I was 6-years-old. The service was at Ramsey Reformed Church north of Titonka in Iowa’s far northern Kossuth County. This is my extended family’s church; my parents worshiped ...

So there I was last week, paused at the end of the row where my seat was at the Civic Center in Des Moines. It was about three minutes before curtain, and all the seats were occupied between me and my seat. Although there was plenty of room for me to slide in front of those already seated, ...

Open water fishing has started in many areas of the Midwest, and where it hasn’t started yet, it will soon. I have a few plans for the upcoming open water season that I hope to start putting into action soon. Following are some of those plans. I plan and hope to go fishing more this ...

I am writing this on National Pet Day, So perhaps it is fitting that my cat Maxine is sitting on my lap, one of her favorite spots any time and almost any place I'm sitting. Sometimes she leaps up as soon as I pull out my chair before I can even sit down myself. She never even meows for ...

The prevailing image of Ebeneezer Griper in my mind is a grumpy old man frowning as he reads his daily newspaper. The other day I ran into him frowning at his cell phone. It was at Eb’s favorite coffee shop. I had stopped in for a cup o’ joe and saw him sitting in his favorite booth at ...

Many of the places where we go fishing across the Midwest are free of ice, or, with some warmer temperatures, wind, rain, or thunder, they will soon be ice-free. For those of us that are looking forward to getting back to open-water fishing, that means it’s time to get the panfish gear ...

Many walleye anglers consider early spring to be their favorite time of year to chase their favorite fish. Rivers across walleye country, and many lakes and reservoirs in the same region, are seeing lots of anglers after walleyes. There are some states or areas where walleye season is ...

When I was a kid ̶ like 5 or 6 years old ̶ I was afraid of physicians and the things they did to little boys like me. When getting my pre-school vaccinations I jerked away so badly the needle of the hypodermic syringe bent. As the doctor very carefully withdrew the bent needle from my ...

If you’re like me, little did you know that this Friday is World Piano Day. It’s a day all about the history and love of the piano. What I read is that the focus is on classical music that’s played on a piano on this special day. So that’s one way to celebrate, but I think about ...

“Territory folks should stick together, territory folks should all be pals.” So goes a line from Rogers and Hammerstein’s classic musical Oklahoma. Those born after 1985 may need to Google that. This is a phrase you will here from me over and over from this day forward. It is a fact ...

The winter of 2019 appears to be winding down, at least a little bit. I’m guessing that I’ve got a couple more ice-fishing trips in me, but I can’t get out now, so I’m getting ready for open water. Here’s what I’m doing. I almost always start in my jig boxes. I’ve got ...