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You, with pain in your eyes

Local Columns

This is for you with pain in your eyes. Years ago, I stood where you stand. I wrote those words way back in 1987 when I was managing editor of a Connecticut newspaper and a volunteer rape crisis counselor. I remember it was in the spring because I had just announced I was leaving the job to head to England. Sometime during the three months' notice I had given my employer, I stopped at the local grocery and almost immediately was approached by a young woman who said: "Oh my God. I've been looking for you. I was raped." She was the young woman who accompanied her friend to the ...

Your legacy will live on through how you treat people

Local Columns

In my profession we are called upon to help, serve, defend and stand up for the unfortunate or people who can’t do it for themselves, for whatever reason that may be. It is kind of odd to think back and realize that is exactly how my dad brought me up to act each and every day. He did it through his words but, most importantly, through his actions. He lived what he preached. He was a financial advisor, but he was so much more than that because of the relationships he built with the people he helped. The people he served would be having the best or even the worst day of their ...

The Theory of Age Relativism

Local Columns

In some circles the term “relativism” is a dirty word. Moral relativism, for instance, holds to the belief that ethical truths depend on the people holding them. I disagree with this type of relativism. On the other hand (as a lawyer might say) there is a relativism that cannot be denied. I call it Age Relativism and I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately in light of another recent birthday. What we think about what we observe around us depends on our age. That’s Age Relativism. Former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes understood the concept. “Old age,” he ...

Without a strong Farm Bill, outlook is bleak for farmers and everyone who eats

Local Columns

March 14 is a big date this year. It’s the second day of the Big 12 basketball tournament (Go State!); it’s Pi Day – you can celebrate with math or dessert; and most importantly, it’s also the date set for a government shutdown unless Congress can agree to increase the debt ceiling. A big part of that shutdown is the ongoing negotiation for a long overdue Farm Bill. The Farm Bill is up for renewal every five years and is already almost two years past due. Luckily, Congress has renewed the Farm Bill through September 2025, but that doesn’t mean it’s without issue. Farmers ...

Why Iowa's repeal of anti-discrimination laws is unconstitutional

Editorials

Civil rights are not reversible. Once the ratchet of rights has been opened, they cannot tighten. This was the argument of Martin Luther King, Jr, who stated numerous times, including after the famous march to Selma, that “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Reversals on the protection of individual rights are not just ethically wrong, but they are also constitutionally impermissible. The Iowa Legislature’s decision to repeal civil rights protections for members of the transgender community is problematic for many reasons. For one, it flies ...

Sen. Guth, 'We will not forget or forgive'

Editorials

To the editor: In 2024, I spent 10 months running for the Iowa Senate. The district includes Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Humboldt, Wright and northern Story Counties (Roland and Story City.) It's a big, rural district and mostly Republican. I'm a Democrat, and like a lot of Dems in 2024, I did not win. Senator Dennis Guth was re-elected on a platform of: 1. No eminent domain for private gain; 2. Medical Freedom (freedom from vaccine requirements but zero freedom to make decisions about women's reproductive health) and; 3. Changing the basis of our currency to one based on the ...