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Local Columns

Dengler Domain: Vouchers

In the never-ending media circus the world lives in, news comes faster and faster. Whether it is through social media or television screens, new information comes and goes before one even knows it. Sadly, this means vital information can be missed. For Iowa, there is one piece of legislation ...

Dengler Domain: Plants

As I walk through the fields of corn and soybeans looking for any creature, leaf disease, or random imperfection, it is surprising how much each plant grows in a week. While humans do not grow at this exponential pace because humans have years to live and not a few months, these plants serve ...

On Nature: Hydrogen Fuel

Hydrogen has long been recognized as a possible alternative to fossil fuels because it has a high energy content and its combustion does not produce any greenhouse gases, just water. However, the difficulty of producing it has kept hydrogen from widespread use. This is changing with at ...

Smash Your Smartphone, Part 4: Drastic Measures

Admittedly, “Smash your smartphone” is a bit of a dramatic exaggeration, meant to shock you into paying attention. I didn’t smash my smartphone. It wasn’t until I dropped my smartphone in the toilet that I finally got rid of it. My wife still uses her iPhone 6 for a camera. My ...

Dengler Domain: Weather 2.0

It has been a wacky spring. One day the weather wants to be 55 degrees and sunny, and the next day it wants to be 25 degrees and snowy. It is like a toddler at a candy store taking forever to decide. The last couple springs have been warmer than we currently sit at this point. There was no ...

On Nature: Energy Innovation

I am convinced that the way out of our climate mess is through the development of new technologies and processes that may be aided by the government providing funds for research and development. For example, I have read about a couple of emerging technologies that may help reduce our ...

Dengler Domain: Farming

As the weather warms up and farmers pull the machinery out of the shed to make the final tune ups before planting, I am lucky, blessed, and excited to have this be my first year on my own farming. If you asked me when I was a kid playing my PlayStation 2 if I wanted to be a farmer, it would ...

On Nature: Alaskan Oil Drilling

In the recent State of the Union address, President Biden touted his commitment to reducing climate change, but there is concern that his administration is about to take a big step backward. The Bureau of Land Management is poised to approve the Willow oil drilling project in the ...

Smash Your Smartphone, Part 2: A Tool Like Any Other?

In last month’s column, I began to make the argument for “digital monasticism,” an intentional withdrawal from the temptations of digital technology into a more holy and human life. “But Seth,” you may reply, “Isn’t technology just a tool like any other? Can’t it be used ...

Pastor Column: Smash Your Smartphone Part I

Some call it digital minimalism. I call it digital monasticism. What started as an annual Lenten fast from social media slowly shaped my desires and called me to the desert. After COVID, I finally deleted my social media accounts. My wife and I ditched the smartphones and both use the Light ...