Opinion

If something is not done soon there will be no human life on this planet. According to Stephen Hawking, world famous scientist, we are at a "tipping point" with climate change. Meaning if we go beyond this point, we will not return. Hawking also said there will no longer be human life on this planet in about 100 years due to overpopulation and climate change, if nuclear war doesn't take care of the population first. ...

Sometimes people in positions of political power lose perspective in relation to the common man and woman. Take the example of recent comments from U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross displaying his bemusement at the necessity for furloughed federal workers to feed themselves and their families...

On behalf of the Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, Spirit Lake Chamber of Commerce, and Okoboji Tourism, we would like to thank so many for making our 39th Annual University of Okoboji Winter Games another success for our business community...

Assuming the weather didn't freeze us all where we stood, a number of the faces in your local newsroom will have visited Des Moines to receive their various awards at the Iowa Better Newspaper Association Convention and Trade Show this past weekend. ...

The attention of many Iowans was focused on the work being done in the Senate this week. Several key issues being discussed this legislative session began to work their way through the process and have been the topic of many discussions at the Capitol...

We made significant progress on a couple of important issues this week at the Statehouse. Once again, weather was a detractor from our work on the Hill as it was across the state. All the while, we were working hard at doing the peoples work and making Iowa a better place. The two significant issues that were brought to light this week were school funding and judicial selection reform. ...

The Internal Revenue Service is officially accepting and processing federal tax returns for tax year 2018. The IRS expects more than 150 million individual tax returns to be filed this season and has already received several million in the opening hours...

Go ahead, list five benefits of corn. Let's see — nutrition, cleaner burning blended fuel, environmentally-friendly packing peanuts, seasonal home decor … that's more of a use, um … I need a little help. So, I'd like to take the National Corn Growers Association up on the offer they made to educate Bud Light on the benefits of corn. ...

On Monday, the House of Representatives held an election contest to settle a disputed election in House District 55. House District 55 was decided by nine votes. However, there were 29 ballots set aside because they were received by the auditor's office after election day...

This is the third newsletter I’ve written as your state senator, and unlike our Constitution, I view this newsletter as a living, breathing, and evolving document. [That’s a joke … you can laugh.] Sometimes I will go heavy and deep on particular policy issues we're considering. Sometimes I want to give you a peek behind the curtain and a more personal flavor of life in the week of a legislator...

Not too long ago, I was worried there would be no snow on the lakes for Winter Games. Then we got snow on snow on snow, as the song goes, and not a small amount was in everyone's driveway. I even saw some fill a mailbox that was left open when the plow came by one morning. So I, like many of us, shrugged on my warmest clothing and cleared the way before breakfast — or after dinner depending on which of this season's snowfalls we're discussing...

This week was a shortened week due to the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Dr. King was a brave civil rights leader who was the modern day Thomas Aquinas on issues of justice. Let us remember his example and legacy each day and not just once a year on MLK Day...

Poor Mercutio — a prime example of a man hurt most by the quarrel to which he's not part. Some have said the Shakespeare character's death in Romeo and Juliet is the point at which the classic story ceases to be an Elizabethan-aged story of two hormone-driven teenagers. In other words, it's the point at which things get serious. It's no longer funny. It's no longer adorable. It's serious...

The 88th General Assembly convened on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. I was humbled and honored to be sworn in as a member of the Iowa Senate shortly after 10 a.m. The first week in the Iowa Senate is a week of firsts – not unlike one's first week of a new school year or a new job. There is a great energy and excitement. There is a new building to get used to, new colleagues, new staff, new rules and customs, time with family and friends and a scramble to find the "perfect" desk in the Chamber...

The first week of the Iowa Legislature started on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019.  We heard from Governor Kim Reynolds, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady and the Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard Timothy Orr. Some regard these speeches as pomp and circumstance, but they are really a time for each leader to lay out their vision to better the State of Iowa...

Did you know that 94 percent of all traffic crashes are due to driver error? These crashes are preventable and the Iowa State Patrol will be working with our enforcement partners throughout the Winter Games period to reduce these crashes. The Iowa State Patrol will be partnering with the Dickinson County Sheriff's Office and Iowa Department of Natural Resources Enforcement to add an additional traffic enforcement presence to Lakes area roads during the event...

It's now official. This particular government funding gap has caused the longest continuous shutdown on record. However, this isn't the time to gloat. Not in my opinion anyway. I'm of the opinion this should be getting fixed as soon as possible. In fact, I believe most Americans are with me on that, it's just a question of how...

Big orange snowplows should be easy to see, but in the midst of a winter snowstorm, it can become difficult. The Iowa Department of Transportation continues to make accident prevention while plowing a priority. Snowplow trucks typically travel around 35 miles per hour or less. When they hit drifts, they can throw large snow clouds around them. This can disrupt the vision of drivers in vehicles traveling around the plows and potentially create increased risks for crashes...

Journey with me, reader. Picture the sentiments of today in the frame of an era not so long ago — an era in which history was being made. A story coming to light in the early 1970s revealed truths which were thought by some to be almost impossible. Yet, within two years, that same truth was undeniable. Journey with me, reader, as John Q. Public pens a letter to his local paper. The date is Thursday, Aug. 1, 1974...

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently launched its first health Application Programming Interface (API) that will power "Blue Button" features. Blue Button is a national movement that provides easier access to one's own health information in a format that they can use...

Our government has had budget legislation on the books for quite some time now, but it didn't lead to a government shutdown until Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" bumped "Shake, Shake, Shake" by KC and the Sunshine Band from the top of the billboard. ...

I often receive questions about the regulations of school lunch programs. While the state has very little jurisdiction here, the federal government recently announced revised school lunch regulations. The most problematic of the 2012 regulations included these changes: ...

Recently, House Republicans participated in the first of two Medicaid managed care oversight meetings. At this first meeting, members of the Health Policy Oversight Committee heard from the Iowa Medicaid Enterprise (IME) on how the capitation payments to the MCOs are calculated. ...