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Local Columns

Dengler Domain: Football

There has been no final decision to drop from eleven-man football to eight-man football, but if it does happen, the North Tama Redhawks will probably be successful. When the Redhawks dropped from Class 1A to Class A – North Tama was competitive. When I entered high school, we became one of ...

Dengler Domain: Medical Care

One of my favorite times of harvest is being in Tama County. Traveling through Traer and Dysart, I am flooded with wonderful memories. Unfortunately, a recent experience saddened me about the state of rural Iowa. Late one night, I noticed my right eye was very red. It was pink eye which I get ...

On Nature: Inflation Reduction Act – the Conservative View

Although the Inflation Reduction Act passed Congress along party lines, according to information from republicEn.org, there are parts of it that conservatives can support. For example, the expansion of tax credits for wind and solar projects, green hydrogen, and electric and hydrogen-fueled ...

Dengler Domain: Harvest

Harvest is coming up, so this means fieldwork begins. Combines move, trucks haul, and dryers cook. With harvest, comes reflection for those in agriculture and those not in it. If not treated as reflection part of the year, it should be. While New Year’s Eye is looked at as a time of out ...

On Nature: Agriculture and Climate

The mechanism that can cause climate change has been known for over a hundred years. It is the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Today greenhouse gas concentrations are increasing, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels. Although in the past the effects of ...

Dengler Domain: Division

“America is more divided than ever.” This common sentiment is shared across people from all different political stripes. One reason for this sentiment across the United States is the death of local news, specifically newspapers. I apologize in advance if this is too much of tooting ...

On Nature: Birds warn of climate change

In olden days miners took canaries into the mine to give them an early warning if toxic gases were present. Now birds in the natural world are giving us a warning. Over the past 50 years, more than 60% of the wintering North American bird species have shifted their winter range northward, ...

Rural America needs investment in home construction repair

Communities in every corner of the country now struggle with a lack of affordable homes, an ailment long associated with fast-growing urban areas. I used to think that if the market would take care of any problem facing rural communities, it would take care of housing. If we could get jobs, ...