Pastor's Blog - RECKLESS GRACE: FORGIVENESS AND RESTORATION

PASTOR LANETTE S. VAN
March 8, 2012 2:33 pm

  Luke 15:11-32 Kate Braestrup in her book, Beginner's Grace, tells a story about her own "prodigal son," Peter (pp.

I'm from the country, and I like it!

VALERIE CLOSE, EDITOR
March 6, 2012 4:10 pm

So many time as I head out of the huge city of Vinton to my humble abode in the country, I ponder how privileged we are to live where we do. I marvel at the lack of whining you hear among neighbors who live on this road.

Letter to the Editor - Copper theft hits local REC; group asks for new law

VINTON TODAY
March 6, 2012 3:08 pm

  Dear Editor, Across the country and here in Iowa theft of precious metals (including copper, aluminum and bronze) is on the rise from abandoned buildings, empty houses and most dangerously, from power lines along rural roads, electric cooperative power substations and storage facilities.

How a traditional newspaper (which we are not) gets its funding...

DEAN & VALERIE CLOSE
March 6, 2012 10:30 am

  (Just in case anyone out there is still not sure about this: We are not, no more, not, not at all, not either, in no way, not even in the slightest little bit associated with any newspapers.

Sandy, Sherry, Candy, Jackie and the boys of summer

VINTON TODAY
March 5, 2012 8:58 am

  I was in the middle of one of those "buserable" -- busy and miserable -- February days last week. It was snowy and windy and cold.

Letter to the Editor - Concerns about The American Community Survey

MARY COOTS
March 4, 2012 12:10 pm

Dear Editor,  I have recently become familiar with The Community Survey. This survey is sent by the U.S. Census Bureau to 250,000 households per month.

Pastor's Blog - Mardi Gras or Easter – Choose

PASTOR JIM BLAIR
March 2, 2012 7:58 am

  Mardi Gras or Easter – Choose   Many of you probably know that the Tuesday just prior to Ash Wednesday is called ‘Fat Tuesday’ or in French, ‘Mardi Gras’.

Brad Wines

BRAD JOHNSON
February 26, 2012 2:35 pm

  Wine has an image problem.   Few beverages can make me feel as incompetent, uninformed and undeserving as wine.  It’s almost as if the wine bottle on the shelf is teasing me with its nearly indecipherable label, unintelligible grape names, and ancient etiquette and protocols passed down through the ages.

Why we did not cover the news that did not happen

VINTON TODAY
February 22, 2012 11:50 pm

  There is just one reason why we at Vinton Today did not write about the threat of armed intruders that led to students coming home to tell their parents that they had heard about an armed intruder in Vinton, and to wide-spread worry throughout the town on Wednesday: It did not happen.

Backyard Reporting

VALERIE CLOSE, EDITOR
February 20, 2012 12:42 pm

Sometimes I still have to laugh at our lack of common sense.  As I've admitted before, we are city folks, just living in the country.  For decades the Closes and the Stainbrooks have lived next to each other lending a hand whenever one is needed.