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          <div class="vt__article-meta" tabindex="2">VINTON TODAY<br>September 16, 2026 9:22 am</div>
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            <div tabindex="2">Dear Editor,Now that we are all properly tired of election season and the campaign marketing that follows us everywhere, I’d like to talk about something more important than the latest political ad: the Constitution.</div>
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          <div class="vt__article-meta" tabindex="2">VINTON TODAY<br>September 14, 2026 8:17 pm</div>
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            <div tabindex="2">Dear Editor, Do we dare say radical Islamists are the enemy of Western civilization?  It's time to recognize that, "death to America" means what it says.</div>
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          <h3 class="vt__article-headline"><a href="/articles/opinion/article1046648.html" tabindex="2">Letter to the Editor: Support Hantz for Supervisor</a></h2>
          <div class="vt__article-meta" tabindex="2">VINTON TODAY<br>September 14, 2026 8:12 pm</div>
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            <div tabindex="2">To the Voters of Benton County, Iowa:

I am proud to endorse Bethany Hantz for Benton County Supervisor, District 2, in the 2026 election.

Bethany was raised in Benton County, giving her a deep connection to our communities and a genuine understanding of the people who call Benton County home.</div>
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          <h3 class="vt__article-headline"><a href="/articles/opinion/article1046614.html" tabindex="2">9/11</a></h2>
          <div class="vt__article-meta" tabindex="2">VALERIE CLOSE, EDITOR<br>September 11, 2026 11:37 am</div>
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            <div tabindex="2">What can be said about 9/11 that hasn't already been said? In all honesty, probably nothing. If you were too young to remember or if you weren't born yet, Go look it up.</div>
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          <h3 class="vt__article-headline"><a href="/articles/opinion/article1046621.html" tabindex="2">Letter to the Editor: 25 years . . . really??</a></h2>
          <div class="vt__article-meta" tabindex="2">VINTON TODAY<br>September 11, 2026 11:27 am</div>
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            <div tabindex="2">Dear Editor,25 years . . . really?? 
7,000-ish military dead, 50,000+ wounded.  Peace is a tenuous thing . . . a resistant thing . . . a
never ending “goal” that few, if any, civilizations ever reach.</div>
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          <div class="vt__article-meta" tabindex="2">VALERIE CLOSE, EDITOR<br>September 10, 2026 11:43 am</div>
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            <div tabindex="2">There are several memories I have that are tied to September 10th. BeginningsThe most important in my world is the little boy who arrived in my life that day.</div>
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          <div class="vt__article-meta" tabindex="2">VINTON TODAY<br>September 10, 2026 10:54 am</div>
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            <div tabindex="2">Dear Editor, We are six weeks into the new structure of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, and I now dread going to church. I miss the people I used to see, know, and pray for.</div>
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          <h3 class="vt__article-headline"><a href="/articles/opinion/article1046584.html" tabindex="2">WARNING: SEWER LINE CLEANING – PREPARE FOR THE AQUATIC APOCALYPSE</a></h2>
          <div class="vt__article-meta" tabindex="2">VALERIE CLOSE, EDITOR<br>September 8, 2026 11:55 am</div>
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            <div tabindex="2">I’ll admit it. I have a rare (I’d say “weird,” but that makes it sound like a character flaw instead of a gift) sense of humor. The City of Vinton Water Department recently issued what they politely call a “notice.</div>
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