Opinion
Chocolate milk and Cheer
Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."Because of a series of events which include a cancer diagnosis in the extended family, I get to babysit one of my preschool granddaughters. To do so, this requires four hours in the car of retrieving and returning with the said granddaughter, so it's not a mere run across town and pick up the child, this is a commitment.
We Must Eradicate Antisemitism in the Wake of the Israel-Hamas War
Editor's note: I've been wanting to write on this topic, but I just haven't had the time to do so. Instead, I will share the thoughts of Callista Gingrich on the topic. ...October 14, 2023 By Ambassador Callista L. GingrichOn Oct. 7, Hamas waged a savage invasion of Israel, displaying a level of barbarism not seen in modern history. Having no regard for innocent life, Hamas targeted soldiers and civilians alike with the stated goal of destroying the Jewish people and the state of Israel.
If you want to be on the ballot, Don't win the Caucus
I have been pondering the Iowa Caucus this year and what it means. For candidates it makes them look like they are doing good in the polls. In a way. it gives the winners a little bit to brag about. For Iowa voters, it gives us a chance to be in the room with the person who will be the next president, that alone is pretty awesome.There is no other state that gets the attention that Iowa gets because of our first-in-the-nation status.
Some quit the race, while others are joining up
Back in the good ol' days I had the chance to babysit one of my granddaughters from the time she was a few months old until she was I think three. Part of the babysitting included overnights. The time for bedtime stories and the little ditties that you sing to kids when you've run out of things to say. One of those was the song, "There were 10 in the bed. Vivek Ramaswamy was in town, Zzzzzzzz
As a reporter, I've been tossing around, how to report or whether I need to report that Vivek Ramaswamy was in town. He came. He saw. He left. Big deal.I will have to use Ramaswamy as many times as I can in this article. Why? Because he doesn't have a chance of winning, and it's just fun to spell out the lengthy name.As any good Republican type will tell you, Ramaswamy shared the same message, the same delivery. Letter to the Editor: We need to remember our foundation
Dear Editor,In the early months of 2014, I was very involved with the Benton County Republican Committee and was assigned to the platform committee. Frankly, the platform was a mess. There seemed to be little structure or cohesion to the document. It needed something to direct it, to guide it . . . it needed a FOUNDATION. I worked with a good friend – Tim Bush – and we wrote just that, a FOUNDATION for the Republican party.
Speed cameras to arrive in LaPorte City
Another neighboring town will soon be adding speed cameras to its streets. Citing excessive speeds of nearly 600 cars going about 10 miles over the limit, the local police chief Chris Brecher, hopes to lower the cases of speeding. The two cameras that will be added will be on 8th St. near the baseball complex and on Highway 218 on the south side of town, where all who are going from Vinton to Waterloo will pass.
"No Backsies," said Frances
When I was a kid, there was a book called, "A bargain for Frances." In the book, two friends have a falling out over some deals that were made. Frances was saving her money to buy a new tea set that she had been eyeing in the store, because she didn't have one. Her friend convinced her to buy her old tea set. Frances bought it. "No backsies," said the friend.
Letter to the Editor: Words of Hope
October 30, 2023EditorVinton TodayAs the first Benton County woman ever to be elected as a Benton County Supervisor - and coincidentally one of the first six women county supervisors elected in the State of Iowa, I had a double reason for seeking the job. In 1965 I had approached the Benton County Board of Supervisors, asking them to hire an activity director for the 50 mental patients who had been sent to the Benton County Home from the Mental Health Institute in Independence, Iowa, and given the brush off. Uneasy times as a librarian shuts out other ideas
By Randy EvansThe word for today is optics — but not the kind where your eye doctor is an expert.Instead of eyeglasses, I am thinking about the kind of optics that result when the perception of some person’s or some institution’s values are contradicted by the reality of the actions they take.Here’s an example. This involves poor optics.Librarians across Iowa have been put on the defensive by parents and grandparents who criticize some of the thousands of books that fill a community library or school library.