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Opinion

Letter to the Editor

Letters to Editor

To the editor, Twas the night before Christmas when all through the White House there arose such a clatter. Twas being torn down, but to Trump it didn’t matter. No stockings were hung by the chimney with care. Trump just laughed cause the voters put him there. The voters were nestled all ...

Concerned about funding public schools

Letters to Editor

To the editor, Now is the time to urge Iowa Senators and Representatives to end or cap the budget for Educational School Aid (ESA) as the Iowa Legislature begins its 91st session. ESAs, if you don’t recall, are coupons provided by Iowa taxpayers to parents of K-12 school students in private ...

It’s time to get re-wired

Local Columns

I have a confession to make. I don’t trust computers any more. Don’t get me wrong: I’m typing on one right now and I really appreciate many of the functions for writing and storing information. But I think we’ve gone too far. When I first started writing, I used a typewriter. An ...

Sit right down and write a letter

Local Columns

Back in 1935 when Fats Waller recorded “I’m Going to Sit Right Down and Right Myself a Letter” he had no idea that the written letter, a common means of communication for centuries, would be an endangered art form 90 years later. You don’t think so? How many handwritten personal ...

The gift of music

Local Columns

It was a pleasure to sit in the school board meeting this past week and listen to the members applauding the efforts of the high school music instructors, Kaitlyn Abens, the high school band instructor and Aaron McCullough who is in charge of the vocal music department. This week, there was a ...

Oom-pah-pah

Local Columns

Though I regret the embarrassment this may cause my loved ones, I must make a confession: I love polkas. In my youth, polkas were considered “square.” Today’s young folks might call them “dorky” or “pathetic” or another term of derision. After years of trying to hide my ...