The Oct. 31 issue of The Dickinson County News is the final edition before the election, and we do not plan to have political content on that opinion page. No one would have a chance to respond in print before the Nov. 6 votes are cast. We want to avoid that...

Imagine pulling up for some burgers and fries, when you see guys throwing hands, right in front of your eyes. That seems to have happened at McDonald's in Storm Lake, where a beef about rapping led to one big mistake...

I've been with the Dickinson County News since the start of 2010. There's never been a week when we've left out the opinion page. Sometimes, when we get a bumper crop of commentary, we'll even add a second page. That's not a wrinkle I brought to the table, by the way. I'm sure the uninterrupted string of opinion pages goes back much farther than my arrival...

President Trump experienced Sen. John McCain's withering disapproval during their shared time in Washington D.C. but he certainly wasn't alone. Congressman Steve King supported McCain during campaign stops in Iowa, but it's safe to say any alliance faded over time. King and the 2008 GOP presidential nominee from Arizona didn't agree about border and immigration policies. McCain ultimately returned to the Senate...

Marilyn Maye reminds us that a home isn't just four walls and a roof. And, she found a new one for her performances in Okoboji. "I'm thrilled to be playing the lovely Lakes Art Theatre for two nights," she recently told us, adding that she is glad the Pearson Lakes Art Center is part of the area landscape offering audiences wonderful music and entertainment...

Let’s test out a pair of statements that seem reasonable: • It’s hard to be a credible voice for national unity if you support the presence of Confederate statues in public places. • It’s hard to promote unity if you use our national anthem as a means of protest...

We hope you don't mind, but we'd like to reverse trends a bit and bring a little of the social media dialogue we see on Facebook back to the old-fashioned, black-and-white newspaper opinion page. Some comments we’ve seen recently raise a couple of issues that deserve some clarification...

Hank Williams Jr. had a pretty good gig back in 2011. Come up with a few lines to "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night" for ESPN's primetime football game each week. Get paid. Stay relevant. Then the country musician went on "Fox & Friends" to suggest that a Republican speaker playing golf with a Democratic president would be like "Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu." Obama and Biden were "the enemy," he blurted in 2011.. ...

Slate staff writer Isaac Chotiner tells us “we live in the world Roger Ailes broke.” The column was his keyboard dance on a 77-year-old man’s grave. And, to be fair, Chotiner was far from alone on Twitter as he waited in line to add fertilizer to the gravesite Thursday. That’s when Ailes, the creator and two-decade leader of Fox News Channel, died after falling at his home in Palm Beach, Florida...

A late-October visit to Milton Cycle in Fostoria included a few vintage motorcycles and a classic misconception. U.S. Rep. Steve King was in a room where bikes outnumbered constituents by a 10-to-1 ratio, so it was going to draw some attention when a guy with a camera, recorder and notebook arrived...

Terril is a town of 364 residents and it seemed like most of them were looking on from across the street as four fire departments tried to get a blaze under control the night of Oct. 12, 2015. Tim and Michelle Roth spent 15 years at 306 State Street. They moved there when their oldest sons, Kolton and Reese were only 1 year old...

The phone call only lasted a moment and for some reason, I confess, the name of the caller is escaping me right now. I guess I must have been so happy to hear what came after the introduction that it slipped my mind. The most important part is: Colleen Daly is getting a kidney transplant within the next couple of weeks. ...

It's time to talk about Page 4. It's as much more your page as it is ours. When students feel uncertain about where their next meal is coming from, you tell us about it. When the local blood drive or fundraising effort was a success, you tell us that, too...

Let's get this out of the way. A column on national anthem etiquette isn't plowing fresh ground. The first grumbles came in Rio de Janeiro, when a U.S. athlete or two didn't put their hand over their heart -- or didn't pay attention on the podium. Colin Kaepernick, a San Francisco 49ers quarterback, started taking a knee during "The Star-Spangled Banner" before games. An increasing number athletes have followed suit...

Stop us if you've heard this before: "West Okoboji is one of only three blue water lakes in the world, the others being Lake Geneva in Switzerland and Lake Louise in Canada." Dr. John Downing isn't going to debunk the magic of Santa or tell you how coins end up where that missing baby tooth used to be. But, the Iowa State and Minnesota-Duluth researcher is an expert in his field. He can tell you the "blue" West Lake Okoboji claim just doesn't hold water...

So, the other day I was trying to figure out just how many Poliwag I need to get one to evolve into a Poliwhirl ... Just kidding. I am curious about Pokémon Go and might one day download the app. The huffing and puffing I do when I'm bringing in groceries tells me the occasional walk would do me good. ...

Expect Monday to be a good day. The weekend's emails will pop up in the morning at the newspaper office and hopefully none of our funeral directors will have to send a high school senior picture to go with an obituary. The Spirit Lake Police Department faxes over information on larger crimes and crashes, but let's hope nothing with the agency's letterhead will be waiting at the editor's desk...

Congratulations to Roof Guard Metal Roofing. It was honored with the Shining Star award by the company's metal roofing supplier, Classic Metal Roofing Systems for its performance in 2014. Only a few roofing contractors across North America receive the honor. The Shining Star award is earned through superior customer service and sales volume...

If you see some increased traffic north on Hill Avenue in Spirit Lake starting Wednesday, they might be heading to the Gingham Inn Restaurant and Lounge. The eatery opens for the season Wednesday night and can boast more than 55 years of service on the south shore of Big Spirit Lake. They serve lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays and open at 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday...

Our update starts on a melancholy note this week. Condolences go out to the family and friends of Charles Shuck. He passed away on Feb. 15 and services were held on Saturday. Mr. Shuck inherited Okoboji Bait Farm from his father, Paul. You might know the business under its current name, Shuck's Bait and Tackle. ...