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A rose by any other name

Local Columns

Four centuries ago William Shakespeare wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This line from Romeo and Juliet is valid for today’s column, even if used out of context. We are largely who we are regardless of our name. I’ve been an Arvid for more than 78 years but if my parents had named me Ralph or Elmer I’d probably still be the same loud, outspoken story teller I am today. At some point of development we recognize and accept our name and then become protective of it. Some folks may choose to use their middle name or even change their name. Whatever we ...

Bleeding Disorder Awareness month in March encourages more knowledge about disorder

Letters to Editor

To the editor, March is Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month. Across the country and right here in Iowa, patients and families are raising awareness about rare inherited bleeding disorders that affect thousands of Americans. Bleeding disorders occur when blood does not clot properly. Conditions like hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, rare platelet disorders and factor deficiencies can turn everyday injuries into serious medical events. Something as simple as a fall, dental work or surgery can lead to days of pain, swelling or long term joint damage. Managing these lifelong conditions ...

Haymow Hoop Dreams

Editorials

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

Editorials

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 ...

Blizzard impacted paper delivery, but subscribers could still read the news

Local Columns

Winter wasn’t done with us yet. After we were teased with some beautiful sunny 60 degree days Mother Nature sent a blizzard our way. The snow fall totals weren’t that substantial but just a few inches of snow combined with sustained winds of 30 miles per hour and gusts in the 50 plus mile range made travel after dark nearly impossible. Many of you woke up the next morning to find the sun out and little snow on the ground and thought, “what was all the fuss about”. There were blizzard warnings and programming interruptions by your favorite weatherman telling you how bad ...

The challenge of small cars and ceiling fans

Local Columns

Several years ago a Facebook friend who is a past schoolmate from the mid-1950s sent me some copies of yearbook photos from that era. The photos included one of his class, the class a year behind him and my class, which was two years behind his. The first-grade photo (my class) brought back a lot of memories. Surprisingly, I remembered all but one of my first-grade classmates. Even more surprisingly, I had forgotten how large I was. Smack dab in the middle of the photo, in the middle of the second row, there was this boy obviously much larger than all his classmates. An old school ...