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Local Columns

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 ...

Slices of Life by Jill Pertler-Late Night TV Guy pays no heed to bedtimes

For the most part, my husband is a rational and logical human being. There is an orderly and predictable pattern to his days. He showers in the morning; brushes his teeth after meals. He rises early and goes to bed at a reasonable hour. He is a reasonable man - for the most part. On occasion, ...

Q&A: Immigration With U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

Q: What needs to be done to fix our nation’s immigration policies? A: By all accounts, the current immigration system is broken. The last major overhaul was adopted 32 years ago in 1986. Unfortunately, the Immigration Reform and Control Act did not live up to its promises. In exchange for ...

By Jim Bonser (jbonser@usa.net)Touring the Skies

Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. “Greetings, greetings, fellow stargazers!” This was how Jack Horkheimer always opened his show on public television. Like this column, Jack usually stuck to what you could see in the night sky with ...