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My battle with quicksand; well, sort of

Local Columns

Everything I knew about quicksand was what I had learned from action programs on television. As a young boy I experienced it; well, at least I thought I did. This is my story. My father was a hardworking man, but every now and then he took an afternoon off to tend to some family activity. One summer afternoon in the late 1950s Dad indeed took off an afternoon and announced he was taking his three oldest sons fishing. He wasn’t an avid fisherman but he apparently thought an afternoon of angling would be good for his ornery sons. Our nearest fishing spot was Little Wall Lake, a ...

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

Editorials

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

Editorials

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 ...

Sometimes new fishing ideas are old

Local Columns

In the world of fishing, it’s hard to believe that there is anything new when it comes to catching fish. But there is. It might be old news to some anglers, but it’s only old news if you’ve already heard it. There are new anglers entering the picture all the time who maybe are ...

How much does Jesus love us...

Local Columns

"Jesus Loves Me This I Know...," so goes the song many of us sang as youngsters. But how can we understand how much Jesus loves us? To comprehend, here's a real-life story of love and believing. It was 1961 when Lou Holtz had just married the love of his life, Beth. Lou was a graduate student and graduate assistant coach at the University of Iowa. Their main source of groceries were scraps from the Iowa football team training table. Spring training had just finished, and all the couple had was their love and a small apartment in Iowa City. One day Lou came home with a brand-new ...

A Holy Week pause

Local Columns

There’s something about this time of year that feels like it moves faster than it should. The calendar fills up. The weather starts to shift. There are baskets to fill, meals to plan, schedules to coordinate. And before we know it, Easter is here… and gone. But this week—the week leading up to Easter—was never meant to be rushed. In the Christian tradition, we call it Holy Week. It’s a journey through some of the most meaningful moments of Jesus’ life: celebration, betrayal, suffering, waiting… and ultimately hope. And if we’re honest, it’s also a journey that looks a ...