Mt. Pleasant News

Many people know Marie Hainline from the Bonaparte Retreat Restaurant in Bonaparte. If you?ve had lunch there, she has probably waited on you. Marie is the friendly one, the lady who will chat your leg off about most anything. She has a deep, clear voice, and bright eyes.If you attended the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater at Harmony High School this year or last, you?ve seen her. This year she was the star of ...

As a lover of history, I often find myself becoming fixated on certain times in American and world history, and for the last several months, the American Revolution has been on my mind. To add fuel to the fire, I have been watching the AMC original series, ?TURN: Washington?s Spies?, which although it takes some liberties with historical accuracy in favor of fictional drama, the series is actually centered around ...

Michael Mohrfeld stands in front of one of the four huge solar-panel arrays his company, Mohrfeld Electric, installed at Huffman Welding and Machine, Inc., in Ft. Madison.It?s late morning on a sunny day. The panels are supplying all of the energy requirements for the manufacturing firm. In fact, they are producing more energy than required. The excess energy is fed back into the Alliant Energy grid in the form ...

I was vacuuming out my car for a weekend trip to Missouri with Ginnie, when I saw shredded foil on the floor of the car. I thought it looked suspicious, but was in denial.The next morning, as we loaded the car for our little excursion, there was more shredded foil from a package of almonds that I had left in the car overnight. The evidence was overwhelming: I had a mouse in the car.This had happened once ...

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 36-year-old woman who is in a loveless marriage. We do not spend time together, nor do we have sex. For the past four years I have had an on-again, off-again affair with a guy from my church. He's 10 years younger and everything I have ever wanted.My No. 1 problem is that I know adultery is wrong and goes against everything I believe in. I always tell myself that this is the last time, but when ...

To the editor:The Mt. Pleasant News hit a new low in journalism with Bryce Kelly?s front page story on Monday about a presentation made locally by Dr. Duke Pesta. A key affront was the headline (which may not be the work of Ms. Kelly) that implies that what you are about to read is the last word in truth about Common Core which is about as far from the truth as one could possibly get.While Pesta twists thing to ...

We all need humor in our lives, it is said.Doing my part to put a smile on someone?s face, following are the annual Stella Awards for 2015.The Stella Awards are named after Stella Liebeck and include the most frivolous abuse of the American Justice System.You have probably heard about Stella, but if you haven?t, here is a synopsis of her story. She was riding with her grandson one morning to a McDonald?s for ...

To the readers:First of all, I would like to thank those who take the time to write a letter to the editor. We do read each and every one of them.In regards to the above letter, I would like to say a few words. First, the aforementioned article appeared in The News on Wednesday, April 13.As editor, I am proud of the work that each of my reporters does. We have worked very hard as a team to make sure our work ...

DEAR ABBY: I have a friend, ?Ed,? who dated a woman who put him down regularly. He was often depressed, and we would discuss what was wrong. Eventually I told him I didn?t think she was good for him and he should end it. Instead, he became reluctant to tell me if anything was wrong.When they got engaged, everyone was shocked. Ed explained it by saying they had been dating for several years so an engagement ...

As I am writing this column, it?s in the mid 60s, the sun is out and the weekend is in my sights. Yes, life is good when Mother Nature is kind and you have a weekend to call your own.This week, I got to spend some quality time with my cousin as his parents were on vacation in Florida. As a lover of Florida myself, I couldn?t help but wish they could have packed me into one of their suitcases so I could have ...

I don?t know if this is an omen or not, but this column is being published on April Fool?s Day.Wow, I could have a lot of fun with this one, but a publisher I worked for in another life, was totally against the April Fool?s stuff. So I am passing on my chance, although the temptation is there.But since I plan to include some politics in this column, nobody will ever know whether this is an April Fool?s column ...

What the lame duck?It?s a question I?ve asked myself a lot recently.Over the course of the past two months, I have heard President Obama labeled a ?lame duck? specifically in reference to Congress? decision to not to hold any hearings to confirm Obama?s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.Following Justice Scalia?s death, Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland as his replacement. ...