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Opinion

District 53 Newsletter: March 6, 2025

Editorials

This was week 8 of the session. This was the first funnel week, so we were busy with subcommittee and committee work to keep bills eligible for debate. Over the last several sessions the Republicans in the Legislature have done great work to lower income taxes. More recently, Iowans have been ...

Letter to the Editor: Carolyn Adolphs

Letters to the Editor

​​Former Board of Supervisor, Bill Faircloth, is complaining about a problem that will not exist once the new supervisors get the already approved, livestreaming system up and running, which should be soon. Presently, I can log on to the Tama Livestock Auction and watch my cattle being sold ...

Dengler Domain: Tariffs

Local Columns

These Trump tariffs are something. People say this is how we fix the economy. Others say everything’s price will go up. If they happen, it will be somewhere in between. When one wants to encourage domestic production, tariffs make sense. One also must have the right policies in place to ...

Letter to the Editor: John Howard

Letters to the Editor

I coached multiple sports when I was a teacher, and my teams were pretty successful. I coached in big games, had the opportunity to coach multiple ranked teams and even had the privilege of coaching basketball at the state tournament four times and golf at that same level five times. In fact, ...

A Fair View

Local Columns

After the February 24 Tama County Board of Supervisors meeting, it is clear that Supervisor Curt Hilmer does not want to be bothered with calls on his COUNTY cell phone even if you are an employee of the county. He will only answer calls from his district and does not care about any other area. ...

District 53 Newsletter: Feb. 28, 2025

Editorials

This was Week 7 of the session. We are quickly coming up on the funnel date when individually filed policy bills must be through committee to remain eligible for debate. Thursday, the Iowa House and Senate passed Senate File 418, a return to common sense by removing “gender identity” as a ...

Working for Iowans

Editorials

Most Iowans aren’t satisfied with their state government. That’s what we’ve been hearing at the Capitol, at town halls and legislative forums, on social media, and in our daily conversations. Your goals and aspirations aren’t being reflected by the choices made on your behalf. Your ...

Brass Tacks from Rural Iowa: A roundup of concerns…

Editorials

On February 10, I made it over to the state capitol in Des Moines to check out the “Defeat the Cancer Gag Act” day of action hosted by CCI Action, Food & Water Watch, and others. Bayer seems to be spearheading the effort behind Senate File 394 that, if passed, would make it harder for ...

Dengler Domain: Microcosm

Local Columns

What I love about rural America is how it is a microcosm of society. Everything is done on a smaller scale, and it shows how society works. When these small towns dot the landscape, they are each unique and self-reliant communities. While they lack chain stores, restaurants, and other ...

On the Record with Sheriff Schmidt

Local Columns

I am fortunate to have a great team of deputies, jailers, and office staff, but I want to take a moment to emphasize just how vital Chief Deputy Joe Quandt has been during these initial weeks of my time as Sheriff. There’s so much that happens behind the scenes at the Sheriff’s Office that ...