Last weekend I took a little trip north for an overnight, driving on one of those wonders of modern transportation: the interstate highway. Fast, direct, no muss, no fuss. Not even any potholes that I noticed. There’s also not much to see. Oh, I do have landmarks that I study each time ...

May is National Foster Care Month, a time set to recognize foster parents, family members, mentors, volunteers and child welfare professionals for all the support they provide youth and children in foster care. It can also be a good time to consider how you personally can make a difference in ...

“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 ...