While driving by the North Tama school building recently, I saw the new addition being constructed on the northeast-eastern side of the school. The wave of construction will help push the school forward. This is like all the other additions to the school which have been made over the years. ...
For those who do not know, Douglas Avenue and the road it turns into, Euclid Avenue, is one of the major thoroughfares of the Des Moines metro. Douglas runs from the western part of Waukee, turning into Euclid in the middle of Des Moines, before ending on the east side of Des Moines at the road ...
It has been a while since I have written about it, but the Robinson-Patman Act is one of my favorite laws. It prevents price discrimination. This means a truckload of potatoes that is being delivered to the grocery store in Traer is the same price as the truckload of potatoes being delivered to ...
When you have an issue, you go straight to the source. This is what I did recently by taking a trip to Washington D.C. I went to receive advocacy training and advocate for family farms at the expense of the Iowa Farmers Union (IFU). Done through their national organization, this was the first ...
It is pure poppycock when people ascribe that the way things are is the way things must be and will always be. There was a time in the mid-20th century when society did not let few companies gain too much control at the expense of others. Unfortunately, public schools are hollowing out, food ...
When I was a child, I wandered the small pharmacy near the end of Second Street, formerly known as Wright Pharmacy. Now known as NuCara Pharmacy, most memories are of being with my grandma, Mildred, at the pharmacy after or before she picked me up from daycare. While this was over 25 years ago, ...
It is like a secret language, but when I am out in the wild – meaning, urban or suburban places – sometimes I come across those who grew up in rural Iowa. They might still live in rural areas, or they might not. This is always fascinating. As we start talking, we size each other up to ...
While prohibitive costs and low commodity prices are due in part to the consolidation of the input providers and grain processors, the agricultural system is not the only consolidated industry negatively affecting citizens. Unfortunately, soaring prices throughout the economy are a symptom of ...
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 ...
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 ...