Provoking your New Year's agitations with force and persuasion

VINTON TODAY
January 3, 2011 11:21 am

       Every year at this time, we hear people talking again about "resolutions."      Lose weight.

Old Long Gone Song: An ode to resolutions soon forgotten

VINTON TODAY
January 3, 2011 11:21 am

       It only takes, according to people who like to count this stuff, about 17 days for the average American to say, "Oh, never mind" to his or her New Year's Resolutions.

The sights and sounds of a prison in progress

VINTON TODAY
January 3, 2011 11:21 am

       In a few months, perhaps, the unwilling occupants of the new Benton County Law Enforcement Center will hear the sound most-often associated with prisons: The echo of a door clanging shut.

Why many in law enforcement are concerned about Iowa's new 'Shall Issue' gun law

VINTON TODAY
January 3, 2011 11:21 am

       If – under the new law that went into effect Jan. 1 – Mark Becker had walked into the Butler County Sheriff’s Office on the morning of June 23, 2009, and requested a permit to carry a handgun, that sheriff would have been required by law to issue him one.

A friendly visit from the Ghost of Christmas past

VINTON TODAY
December 27, 2010 5:31 pm

       For Ebenezer Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas Past was sort of creepy and scary. And sad.      But for us, this year, it was kind of cool.

'The View' for men offers evidence there is no constitutional right to be heard

VINTON TODAY
December 27, 2010 11:06 am

       We were playing one of those “tell your secrets” board games.      The question I had to answer: Which of your five senses would you prefer to live without first, if you had to choose?      My wife knew what my answer would be: Hearing.

The little engine that could, and did...

VALERIE CLOSE, EDITOR
December 21, 2010 11:00 pm

A couple years ago, we had a discussion in our house about careers and how it seems that in the newspaper business nothing was a sure bet.  Businesses were constantly being sold, bosses get moody, and you are suddenly out the door over a typo.

Winter driving safety: Don't be that guy.... or that one..or that one...

VINTON TODAY
December 20, 2010 3:40 pm

    I once had the enlightening experience of working with a teenage girl who had already wrecked her car two or three times.      She did not seem to make the connection between driving decisions and unpleasant results.

Christmas classics: Let them renew your faith

VINTON TODAY
December 18, 2010 8:38 pm

     Saturday was a great lesson for me. It answered a question for me that many married people at times have in their mind but dread to voice outloud:     "What would life be like if I were still single?"      Well, I got one answer to that question Saturday.

11:45 and most is well....

VINTON TODAY
December 17, 2010 11:30 am

Last week, I wrote about what it's like on a day when there is no news. See that story, if you have not already seen it, HERE. Today seems to be a day very much like that one.