Opinion
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.
Letter to the Editor: The squad and Hamas vs Israel
Dear Editor, Israel must defend the holy land given by God. There is no two two-state solution. Hamas must be destroyed to the last person. Same with Hezbollah. That is the only way for Israel to end terrorist attacks on its Arab and Jewish citizens (20% of Israeli citizens are Arab) - period. Iran is responsible for our troops in Iraq and Syria being fired on.
Letter to the Editor: Fundamental Truths
Editor:Fundamental truths:1. Some people tend to believe what they wish to believe regardless of facts or data.2. Some scientists will attempt to prove a hypothesis with data and facts that have a bias toward a preconceived conclusion arrived at before the experiment is even started.3. The bigger the input numbers to a spreadsheet the bigger the potential error.
"Something Wrong with That?"
In last week's regular meeting, the Benton County Supervisors seem to forget that the Benton County Auditor is their official records keeper. A copy of a contract was handed around for the Supervisors, yet the Auditor was not given a copy. Anything presented in an open session is considered a public record according to the Iowa Public Information Board.
Letter to the Editor: VOTE NO TO EMS
Dear Editor,How many of you realize that voting yes to ems will raise your taxes .68 cents per $1,000 of your land value? That is a lot of money! If your land is appraised at $100,000 you are paying an extra $68 a year...after they just raised our assessments 30%. It's already hard enough to live, and this is going to crush some people. How much mo