Opinion

By Jim and Peg Stephens[Copy of a letter to Ron Bennett, Chairman, Washington County Board of Supervisors]February 7, 2013Washington, IowaDear Ron:Thank you for the opportunity to candidly address The Board. We do not feel that the full voice and true will of this county?s voters and taxpayers has been actively sought by the Board of Supervisors for all too many years. Please express our appreciation to your ...

I saw the advertisement for the fox call in an old Outdoor Life magazine. A neighbor gave me all his old Outdoor Life and Field and Stream magazines, and I devoured them like candy. I was 12 years old. The advertisement read: ?Drives fox crazy. Guaranteed to bring fox to you, even in over-hunted areas, or your money back.? The price was $12.98. I couldn?t resist.It was the middle of an Iowa winter, and I had a ...

Four years ago, Mid-Prairie put eight freshmen on the floor in a non-conference girls? basketball game against a powerful Washington squad. The result wasn?t pretty.The Golden Hawks were blown out 69-15 by the ninth-ranked Demons in that game on Dec. 1, 2009. Erin Cayton, the only senior on that Mid-Prairie squad, went 7-for-9 from the field and scored all 15 of the team?s points. The rest of the team, including ...

February 7, 2013Brighton, IowaTo the Editor:After attending the Board of Supervisors? meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5, I have to state that I am more than a little amazed by the County Attorney?s assertion that if the Board of Supervisors do not follow his outline of the procedures to rescind zoning, then he will not represent the County in any lawsuit arising from their rescinding of zoning. To be sure, a few ...

To the editor:These remarks are concerning the proposed opt out provision for the New Neptune e-water meter bought by the city council and currently being installed in all the city homes and business.?The City Council has purchased the Neptune Meters without public input or a public hearing and apparently made the purchasing decision without research into the effects the meter has on the health of individuals ...

To the editor:Has it already been decided to go ahead with putting in more radio-read meters? Otherwise it seems a waste of time to be creating an opt-out program. And if it has been decide to continue putting in meters then that should be made clear to all citizens.I remember Ed Malloy saying that if in fact there was a health issue with these meters then he would have them pulled out. Also, he seemed to ...

To the editor:In your front page story in yesterday?s paper you quoted the Mayor as saying the City has taken no official position in favor of the now controversial radio read water meters. But the reason why the City chose to upgrade to these meters without informing the public remains unclear. City officials including the Mayor have been telling citizens as recently as April 29, 2012 that these meters "are ...

In 1856, the railroad had reached Iowa. Crossing the Mississippi at Davenport, it took a mere 11years for tracks to stretch across the entire state. Before the motorized vehicle, the railroad was the best method for overland travel and shipping. Now more than ever, a community need not have a river port for serious growth. The inland of the United States opened wide for settlement and a town?s survival now ...

85th General Assembly,January 14-18, 2013First off, I want to express how honored and privileged I am to continue serving Washington County and now Keokuk County in the new house district 78. I am looking forward to the next two years and I look forward to hearing from you.The first week is mostly filled with speeches, introductions, and bill drafting. We also had the important duty of desk selection. We moved ...

After a recent plea agreement involving a Washington County officer, I received questions from several people regarding the handling of bus stop arm violations in Washington County.The law regarding illegally passing a stopped school bus was changed in response to a tragic incident in Worth County, Iowa, in 2011. In that case, a 7-year-old girl was struck and killed by a driver who illegally passed a school bus. ...

Week three in Des Moines has been busy with subcommittees, committees, and continuing budget discussions. We have yet to have floor debate; I anticipate that will change next week. Don?t forget you can follow live debates by logging onto the Iowa House Web site; www.legis.iowa.gov.On Tuesday, in the House Public Safety Committee we heard comments from Colonel Dave Garrison of the Iowa State Patrol. Colonel ...

As a follow up to my request in April for old one-room school attendance and grades, this is to report I received l9 books. My destination was the new statewide archives at the Univ. of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls at their big library on campus. It makes a total of 293 for Jefferson County.They have received records now from 88 of the 99 Iowa counties and are alphabetical by county in long, long aisles. Some of ...