There's something special about the first day of school. Even now, I find myself anticipating the beginning of a new adventure when those first yellow busses appear, loaded with chattering children,...

We are in the home stretch of another presidential campaign, and it is important for voters to be alert for the unintended consequences of candidates’ promises. Office-seekers and their supporters...

Criticizing Tom Walz for not reenlisting into military service is a new low for Republicans. Walz served honorably for 24 years in the Army and was perfectly within his rights and responsibilities...

Here we go again. Don’t be surprised if there is a hard-fought campaign between now and the November election over a guy named David May. You may not recognize his name. But you will in the weeks...

I always looked forward to the unstructured days of summer, though I was reluctant to give up the pleasures of school. For some reason, except for the children who lived in our immediate neighborhood,...

By mid-August, Mother would have dug out the boxes of stored school dresses, raincoats, boots and the wool mittens, scarves and sweaters stored in her three cedar chests. One, a plain but lovely “hope...

DES MOINES—Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading a coalition of eight states in supporting Ohio’s lawsuit against the Biden-Harris EPA for authorizing California’s illegal ban on traditional,...

From the time I was about eight or nine years old, I spent a week or two every summer at my grandparents' farm. They lived in Clarke County, south of Indianola. Aside from my grandparents, there were three...

During the 40 years I was a newspaper editor/manager, I strived to ensure the staff incorporated context into their articles. Sometimes, in a journalistic shorthand, that was described “the Iowa angle.” If...

It’s happening. Thousands of area students are getting ready to go back to school this fall to start or take their next step in a life-changing educational journey. I want to remind you that it’s not...

When I first met my husband, he seemed older than most of the young men I knew from college. Actually, he was much the same age as most of the other young veterans who were then attending school on the...

Some memories stick with you — like that August day around 1960 when my parents loaded my two brothers and me into our Dodge Coronet and headed to the Iowa State Fair for the first time. Our excitement...