Columns

It's almost impossible to estimate the number of recent press releases and public statements that have began with phrases like "In these unprecedented times," "in these uncertain times" and "in these unprecedented and uncertain times." We can all feel the gravity of the coronavirus crisis weighing on our hearts with all its girth, but it's become clear that weight is bearing down on our community quite a bit more now that officials have confirmed a case of COVID-19 in Dickinson County...

As the situation in Iowa rapidly changes in response to the spread of COVID-19, I am getting a lot of questions about what resources exist to help Iowans who have been affected. The Iowa Economic Development Authority has put together a number of resources for both businesses and employees affected by COVID-19. ...

The footfalls of those who came before have not seemed so far ahead as of late. Once fall finally arrives in full, it will have been 150 years since this county was first home to a newspaper. Ulysses S. Grant was in the White House when the Spirit Lake Beacon first went to print. The paper changed editors, publishers, owners and offices over the years, but it eventually merged with its competitors to form the paper you're reading today...

Even though the COVID-19 virus hasn't yet made its way to this county, the fear it instills certainly has. Some of that's been beyond our control. Recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control are prompting schools, libraries, nursing homes and any number of public entities to close doors, cancel events or otherwise keep the general public at bay. ...

In the ninth week of the legislative session, we continued our work debating bills and sending them to the House of Representatives before the second funnel next week. I floor managed two important bills and I will highlight each bill below.      In the dark of night on Sept. ...

This week, the House and Senate finalized K-12 funding for the upcoming school year. Iowa's schools will receive almost $100 million in new money for the 2020-21 school year, with additional resources targeted toward critical needs like rural school transportation costs and per-pupil equity...

On Tuesday, the House and Senate announced an agreement on a K-12 education funding package for the next school year. Investing almost $100 million in new funding for schools, this money will include $7.65 million for transportation equity and $5.8 million for per pupil equity. I voted for the bill that passed out of the Senate on Wednesday and is now headed to the governor for her signature...

We have all seen the heartbreaking new stories where a young person has suffered or even taken their own life due to depression, bullying, or other mental illness. Many of us have been directly impacted by something of this nature. Mental illness is an issue that plagues not only Iowa families, but our communities as well...

After the flurry of committee work last week, this week's main focus was floor debate. Now in the seventh week, the halfway point of the legislative session is rapidly approaching. While many bills passed the whole Senate this week, a significant amount of work remains for the rest of this session...

The first week after the funnel brings a lot of floor debate. Typically these bills are "non-cons" or the bills that are not controversial — but others bring about a fair amount of debate. HF 2238 was a bill that received bi-partisan support. This bill seeks to encourage youth entrepreneurship. We are always looking for ways to unleash our small businesses and reduce the amount of burdensome and costly regulations that stifle growth...

We appreciate hearing from readers and, as a human being in a judgement-call industry, I don't expect inbox feedback to come with rose petals and candlelight. Sure enough, on Monday a reader asked us to put less emphasis on arrest or court reporting and focus more on entrepreneurs and neighbors helping neighbors. It's harder to snoop around the community and "find people doing something right," he told me...

Our country did something terrible. We stayed silent as hundreds of thousands of Americans were taken from their homes by the government and placed in detention centers for years on end simply by virtue of their heredity. Last week — some 78 years after the fact — the state of California is preparing to apologize for its role in the historic blemish...

In January, DCTB was awarded a Federal Recreational Trails grant for the next phase of Tatonka Ska Trace. The grant for $221,750 will help provide funding for a 1.15-mile segment of the trail starting at Highway 86 and heading west to the town of Montgomery. ...

The House Republicans and the Governor both released their priorities to start the 2020 Legislative Session. I would like to touch on the House priorities first, and then the governor's. You will find that both sets of priorities are complementary but take a different approach in reaching the end goal...


Last week, I described part of my experience covering the local caucuses. I ended that column with a challenge, saying we should discuss our differing politics with our friends and neighbors and promote healthy discussion. Well, that's exactly what's happened — more directly than I expected...

While we just wrapped up week five in the legislature, I spent week four in bed recovering from the flu’s nasty cousin.  It was great to be back at 100 percent and back to work in the Iowa Senate. Week five also saw the debut of a retro look: a two-day experiment with a mustache that my colleagues affectionately nicknamed "Young Terry Branstad." ...

Chances are I walked through the doors of at least one more caucus than most folks last week — as an observer in both cases of course, rather than a participant. With a news staff our size and three caucus locations to cover in Dickinson County, I pulled a little bit of double duty and took photos at both the local Republican Caucus at Arrowwood Resort and the Democratic Caucus at the Expo Building. ...

Week three has finished in the Iowa Senate and we remain busy as ever running from subcommittee to subcommittee and trying to visit with constituents between meetings. One of the highest profile news items this week was the release of our education funding proposal for the next fiscal year. ...

This week, we announced a K-12 funding package for the 2020-21 school year. This package takes into account many of the challenges that teachers, school boards and administrators have brought to lawmakers, and targets additional dollars to address these problems...

It's impossible to wrap up the events of the last decade without a look into what's ahead in the Iowa Great Lakes. Dickinson County was one of 30 counties in Iowa to show growth over the past decade and residents saw changes along the area's roads and highways...

The top story of 2010 centered on "Operation Broken Arrow," a law enforcement effort to break up a massive drug trafficking operation in the Iowa Great Lakes. "We'll never really stop it," O'Brien County Sheriff Michael Anderson said a the time. "But at least we can maybe slow it down a little bit."...

--- The well-worn saying among Iowans is: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes because it's sure to change." So it's no surprise strong winds, high waters and even an ice storm secure a high place as we look back at the last decade. Mother Nature didn't waste any time...

Looking back, I can see how unsure I was when first arrived as Managing Editor of the Dickinson County News. This DCN issue happens to mark the 10th anniversary of my arrival. A decade ago, I compared the experience to a bull ride. (I came from Spencer and my last story there was a bull riding event preview for the Spencer Daily Reporter.)...

From my family to yours I wish you a safe and prosperous New Year and new decade. May 2020 bring you blessings and Gods face to shine upon you. As I prepare to head to Des Moines for our 2020 session, I want you to know how thankful I have been to represent you these last five years. I look forward to doing great things in Des Moines this upcoming year and keeping Iowa on the right track...

At the start of 2019, I became only the second U.S. senator from Iowa to be sworn in as Senate president pro tempore, one of only two constitutional officers in Congress. As the most senior lawmaker in the Senate Majority, it's an honor to serve in this leadership position on behalf of Iowans...

First, let me tell you the kids at Harris-Lake Park are pretty special. I say this because it was my job to pick up some holiday-inspired writing assignments from the H-LP elementary earlier this month, so the Dickinson County News could publish some of the New Year's wishes from some of our youngest people. It was just a couple of small stacks held together by a couple of paper clips, but I've got to say I was pretty impressed by some of the sentiments expressed by the young Wolves at H-LP...

  As this year nears its end, the Grassley family is grateful for another fall harvest. Like other family farms across Iowa, our three-generation farming operation experiences many of the uncertainties blanketing our profession. For starters, our livelihoods are at the mercy of Mother Nature...

  As we wrap-up 2019, I wanted to take a moment to look back on some of the highlights of the past year. First and foremost, I completed my fifth 99-county tour, my annual tradition where I visit every single one of Iowa’s 99 counties within a calendar year, and hold public town hall meetings to hear directly from constituents. ...

On Dec. 11, the interim Public Retirement Systems Committee met to receive an update from IPERS, 411 system for police and firefighters, Judicial Branch, Department of Administrative Services-Retirement Investors Club, and Peace Officers' Retirement System. The state of these pension systems continues to be strong...

It was 1897 when little Virginia O’Hanlon wrote her famous query to The New York Sun, “Is there a Santa Claus?” The editor turned the letter over to Francis Pharcellus Church to answer. The result is a timeless piece of wisdom that applies as beautifully this holiday season as it did long ago...

Every American has the right to due process under the United States Constitution and more specifically the Bill of Rights within the Constitution. The right to due process, in fact, is in the Constitution twice. Due process is in the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights and it is in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution...

On Dec. 12, the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) held its December meeting. The three-member panel gathered to review Iowa's economy, revise budget projections for FY 2020 and set the official estimate for FY 2021. For the current fiscal year (FY2020), the REC raised the general fund forecast to $8.0146 billion. ...

Over the last several weeks farmers, homes and businesses who use propane for heat or to dry their corn have been experiencing a shortage due to significant transportation issues. This shortage is the product of a "perfect storm," of a late planting season this spring, early winter weather conditions and high demand for petroleum products throughout the Midwest...

During this season of Thanksgiving, Americans gather with friends and family to count our blessings. Blessed to live in the land of the free and home of the brave, we give thanks to the courageous sons and daughters who put their lives on the line to secure freedom and liberty from one generation to the next...

At the end of each year, the Dickinson County Trails Board goes through strategic planning that involves consideration of trail development and maintenance priorities. The process also includes going through what grants the board will apply to which projects. DCTB will be taking on several projects next year that comprise a substantial extension of the rail trail Tatonka Ska Trace and filling in a number of gaps throughout the Iowa Great Lakes Trails system...

First and foremost, I hope you and your families a very happy Thanksgiving. We have been entrusted with so much in this great country and state. I am thankful for my wife and family and the greatest nation on Earth. I recently traveled to China to discuss trade and other important issues that will affect Iowa. ...

Giveaways could be tricky attempts to get your money or your information Social media giveaways attract lots of “likes” and “shares”— and why not? Everyone loves a free shot at winning a valuable prize. Cars, tiny houses, vacations and other prizes are popular giveaways on social media. But before you click on that giveaway, check it out. It could be a scam, or at least, an attempt to collect your personal information. Instead of winning a prize, you could lose money and security...

Get out your ear plugs, because I'm about to toot my own horn again. Don't say I didn't warn you. As I've mentioned before, this paper participates in the Iowa Better Newspaper Association's annual competition. As great as winning those awards is, the true purpose of the competition is to cultivate — you guessed it — better newspapers in the state of Iowa. ...

Chief Justice Mark Cady passed away Nov. 15, 2019, from a heart attack. He was 66.  Chief Justice Cady of Fort Dodge, was appointed to the Iowa Supreme Court in 1998. The members of the court selected him as chief justice in 2011. Chief Justice Cady was a real judge. And I do not mean that he sat in a stuffy robe, on a high pedestal, with a wig, banging a gavel around. He was a real Iowan. A worker-bee, approachable and one of the people. Just as a judge ought to be...

Serving and honoring those who have selflessly served us and this nation through military service is important. The sacrifices our service members and their families make on our behalf is great and their efforts deserve our continuing respect and admiration...

In 2017, the Iowa Legislature passed HF 566 which merged municipal, school districts, community college districts (merged) and area education agency boards into one date. According to a fiscal note published by the Legislative Service Agency over the prior four municipal elections the voter turnout was 21.3%. During that same time, the voter turnout for the school board elections was averaged out to 6.5%...

It's too big, folks. The mental health situation is too big to condense into a column for you. Earlier this year, our family of papers did an entire series on mental health in northwest Iowa, and the beast is rearing its head again...

Every year Bob and Delna Mulhair spend their time here at the Great Lakes walking two miles a day as they journey every trail in the area throughout the season. This includes road shoulder trails around Big Spirit Lake along with non-trail areas like Francis Sites and sidewalks along Hill Avenue. ...

On Oct. 9, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) issued a press release announcing that this state agency is proposing administrative rule changes that would elevate the standard of care for companion animals in all licensed commercial facilities in Iowa.   ...

When Iowa attorney Stephanie Kozlowski began representing juvenile delinquents in court, she had no idea it would lead her to become a foster parent. She saw kids were entering the criminal justice system in many cases because of the challenges they faced at home. She also saw a significant need for foster parents and adoptive families in her community, caused largely by the opioid and meth crises. Stephanie knew she needed to get involved...

Halloween admittedly snuck up on me this year. I typically have a personality for my All Hallow's Eve column picked out well in advance of the especially spooky celebration. Not this year. This year, I gave it no thought, until just a few days ago. So I am forced to rummage through the leftovers of the dollar discount costume shop in the back of my own mind for the column's costume this year. Let's take a look...

I didn't know Heath Huberg personally. I only knew knew him through the stories I read and the things his friends told me. I know he was an accomplished singer from the Lakes Area. I know he was married with a young daughter. I know he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. I know all this because I wrote a piece about Heath and a fundraiser his friends organized after his diagnosis. So I felt truly saddened when his obituary came across my desk this week...

Last week was the October Administrative Rules Review Committee. I have the honor of chairing the committee that meets once a month to review rules put forth by the Executive Branch. This committee sees a wide variety boards, commissions, departments and agencies — and subsequently sees a wide variety of issues. This month, rules relating to the disinterment of human cremains were of particular interest...

On Monday Oct. 14, the three-member Revenue Estimating Conference held its fall meeting to revise state revenue projections for the current fiscal year (FY 2020) and the next budget year (FY 2021). Unlike most previous meetings, the REC had to find common ground between significantly different projections coming from the Legislative Services Agency and the Department of Management...

On Sept. 30, Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives Linda Upmeyer announced she was not going to seek re-election in 2020 and was stepping down as Speaker. This move effectively allows the incoming Speaker an opportunity to take the reins early, while still having the former Speaker in the Chamber to assist with the transition. Former Speaker Kraig Paulsen afforded the same opportunity to Speaker Upmeyer...