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Local Columns

Slices of Life by Jill Pertler-Returning home

My husband and I recently indulged in a couple days away as a couple to celebrate our anniversary. When we partake on such expeditions (which isn’t often) we both understand the significance of the outcome. That is, the outcome upon returning home - to a house inhabited by our three sons, ...

Q&A: Flores Agreement With U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

Q: How does the Flores v. Reno agreement apply to detention policy at the southern border? A: For three decades, enforcement of immigration laws affecting unaccompanied minors entering the United States illegally was governed by an agreement first issued by the U.S. District Court in Central ...

Slices of Life by Jill Pertler-Razzle-dazzle berries

You never know the lessons you might learn from something as small and unassuming as a raspberry. The plants were a gift from a friend. A few clumps of leafy twigs, roots and the attached soil. You could hardly tell if they were alive, but I had faith in those little brown and green clumps. I ...

Q&A: Farm Aid With U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

Q: What is the Commodity Credit Corporation? A: The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a government-owned and operated bank first created to support farm income and prices during the Great Depression. Organized under the umbrella of the USDA, the CCC Charter Act was enacted by Congress as ...

Slices of Life by Jill Pertler-What’s in a name?

It’s one of the first things new parents do after counting to make sure there are 10 fingers and 10 toes. They name the baby. Names are chosen carefully and with great attention to detail. What sort of mean nicknames could kids in the schoolyard find to taunt little Dicky with? Will a weird ...

Slices of Life by Jill Pertler-The lost decade

We play a name-that-tune game in the car while listening to the radio. Whoever is first to blurt the title of a song and the name of the group or artist singing it wins. Last weekend I encountered a melody unfamiliar to me. When I fessed up to this, my husband said, “It’s a song from the ...

Tama Co. Economic Development By Heath Kellogg

Two old men had been best friends for years...and they both live to their early 90’s, when one of them suddenly falls deathly ill. His friend comes to visit him on his deathbed, and they’re reminiscing about their long friendship, when the dying man’s friend asks, “Listen, when you die, ...

Q&A: Transparency Matters With U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

Q: How does transparency hold government accountable? A: Sometimes I wonder if people get tired of this Iowa senator talking about transparency and accountability. Let me assure skeptics that these two principles of good government aren’t trite buzz words or talking points I use in floor ...