Breaking News

Opinion

Taking a two-lane vacation

Local Columns

For some, the joy of travel is the destination. For me, the joy of travel is the journey. So it was that Julie and I recently took off for Colorado Springs. Now, unless you don’t plan to return home you need a destination from which you can return home and our destination was a city we have both visited before. While Colorado Springs did not disappoint, the trip itself was pleasurable, too. We have traveled to Colorado a number of times, always on Interstate 80 and Interstate 76. This time we traveled on two-lane highways most of the way to Colorado Springs. We left West Des Moines ...

4-H is about helping youths achieve

Editorials

National 4-H Week, which began Sunday and concludes Saturday, is a good time to celebrate the enormous contributions 4-H makes to our community and nation. It’s hard to imagine anyone in Iowa who doesn’t know a bit about 4-H, but this week is an appropriate occasion to reflect on the important contribution this organization makes by helping young people develop skills and values that will serve them well for a lifetime. It has been more than a century since 4-H got its start in Iowa in 1901. Today it is the largest youth-development program in the Hawkeye State. About one-quarter ...

Fall for trophy walleyes

Local Columns

I’ve had the opportunity to fish in many areas across North America, from Ontario and Manitoba in the north to Florida in the south. I’ve been able to participate in lots of memorable bites, for big fish and for numbers of fish. But when I think about it, and I think about it a lot, if the ...

Fishing in the fall

Local Columns

The leaves on the trees are changing colors and the kids are back in school. The first few flocks of early migrating ducks are starting to show up. The people who hunt ducks are practicing calling and are checking their ammunition supply. And the people who like to catch lots of fish and big ...

The challenges and joys of a new school

Local Columns

My wife and I reside in the Waukee Community School District in Des Moines’ western suburbs. The big news here is that our second high school, Northwest High, opened recently. As one of the fastest growing school districts in the state, Waukee Community Schools needed another high school. For some 1,300 young people, back-to-school this year meant a brand-new school. We now have the Waukee High Warriors and the Northwest High Wolves. All of this brings back memories as 59 years ago this fall I was a freshman at a brand-new high school. The buildings were old but the school district ...

Late summer and fall fishing ideas

Local Columns

The nights are getting cooler and the early migrating birds are starting to group up as they prepare for the journey to their wintering grounds. These are reminders to me that autumn is on the way, and that’s a reminder of a couple of late summer and fall fishing memories of mine. There’s ...