Vinton-Shellsburg School Board member Megan Rickels sat next to the pool, her two young sons in her lap, getting splashed as she watched the Vinton-Shellsburg boys swimming meet at the IBSSS pool on Tuesday evening.

       Imagine reading a book from a century and a half and an an ocean away, and seeing in that book a name that you see every day on your way to work.

Have you ever been looking for something and can't find it, then you find it in your pocket? My favorite is when I'm looking for my glasses.

       Thanks to the wonder of the Internet, my grandpa’s little farm – which has been in years gone by a place to raise corn, watermelon and even pigs – is now also a library.

       One of my favorite humorous poems has always been an 120-year-old ditty called “The Mosquito Hunt.”      The poem, from a book of poetry dated around 1860, tells of the story of a couple trying to kill a mosquito that threatened to interrupt their sleep with a painful bite.

Most have seen or heard of the gold plate/diamonds in so called “Obamacare”, but where is the coal?   1.  The bribes to Nebraska and Louisiana for their votes.

The other night while driving into town, I came to the bridge and headed across.  The routine trip across the bridge brought back memories of crossing the bridge so many times when I was a kid.

        First, a question:       If a fifth grader can use a $2 magnifying glass to bring a piece of paper to 451 degrees Fahrenheit and start a fire, why has not our nation full of scientists and a government full of agencies dedicated to energy figure out how to use natural resources to replace our dependence on oil?       Whether you believe that our planet is in peril, or you think global warming is something that is long overdue in this part of the country…      Whether you think invading Iraq was a mistake, or you think we should have finished Saddam Hussein in 1991…      Whether you think government is too big, or too small…      … I think you will agree with this column.

  On Tuesday, January 11, 2011, the Benton County Board of Supervisors passed resolution #11-2, Prohibition of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in and on Benton County Buildings and Property.

    According to a recent CBS news poll, 86 percent of Americans think government needs to cut spending to reduce the deficit.     So why can’t – or won’t – Congress cut the budget?     Because Congress represents us, and we don’t want Congress to cut the budget.