Opinion

I managed to slip one more in before the winter. That?s right. On Sunday, I grilled out.It was a nice 50 degrees or so. I wore a light jacket to cook my steak over the bed of hot coals and wood for flavoring. I really enjoy grilling and try to, every chance I get. After the last few weeks we have been having where temperatures dipped into the 30s, I figured that it was time to put the grill up for one more year. ...

Most people don?t know what their bodies look like. Mirrors don?t reflect an accurate representation, because mirrors show a reverse image, and people see what they want to see. Therefore, when people see a photograph of themselves, they are often shocked.Artist Larry Kirkwood, set out to change all that. He built body casts of people much in the same manner that a doctor builds casts for arms and legs, except ...

It is before daylight on Election Day as I leave my truck. I grab my gear and begin walking quickly down a mowed path toward my stand, without a light as always. As most people know, when you walk quickly in the dark, you see and hear very little. In this case, a very subtle sound very close startles me and I stop. Not 5 feet from me I immediately see the back end of a skunk, tail raised and stomping his feet. Uh ...

A little over two years ago, I moved into a new apartment.And even though I unpacked all of my belongings long ago, and I?ve lived there for two years, I?m still getting used to calling the place home.This fall, the new Washington High School opened on the south side of town. And while covering volleyball games in the gymnasium this fall, I noticed a sign above the scoreboard that reads: ?Home of the Demons.?I ...

After a trek through Iowa City/Coralville Friday night to see the new James Bond movie Skyfall, only to find it sold out everywhere I went, I finally managed to see it Saturday afternoon. Was it as good as the filmmakers promised? Almost but not quite. Is it worth rushing out and seeing? Most definitely.People with a particularly keen memory will note that during a column on the last Bond movie Quantum of ...

November 12, 2012Washington, Iowa Dear Editor:November 13-19 will mark the 90th annual observance of American Education Week. Our AEW tagline, ?Great Public Schools: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility,? highlights the importance of bringing together educators, support staff, parents, students, and communities in a unified effort to build great public schools.Today?s teachers and support staff do more than ...

Growing up in Monroe, my father had a Mobile station on the town square. The Mobile station later became a Shell station. Jack?s Mobile turned into Jack?s Shell. I worked for my father after school, sweeping the floor, pumping gas, and washing windshields. This was back in the days when service stations were real service stations. I wasn?t tall enough to reach the middle of the windshield, so I stood on a ...

The flip side of the business property tax discussion is the homeowner property tax status. Managing the balance between the two is critical to the overall success of our citizens. If business taxes are too high, they will not open new facilities and hire new workers. If residential taxes are too high, families will not be able to buy homes.We must compare the business and homeowner taxes and effective tax rates ...

To the editor:We?d like to take this opportunity to thank our donors and customers of the Habitat for Humanity ?Pre? ReStore (we are still working on Habitat?s requirements to be recognized as a ?ReStore? - thus ?Pre?). We have completed our first year of operations, having been open three days per week, every week since Earth Day 2011. We have had tremendous support from donors who have regularly brought in ...

October 23, 2012Richmond, Iowa To the Editor:I moved to Washington County from Texas with my husband seven years ago.Now, Texas politicians have always had a very unsavory reputation, and I was hoping things would be better here in Iowa. But after watching how my friends and neighbors in Richmond have been treated by their county government, I have to say that, except for Supervisor Ron Bennett, I am very, ...

October 23, 2012Chicago, Illinois To the Editor:I graduated from WHS as a Demon in 1980 and DePaul University as a Demon in 1991. I?m a double Demon. Interesting fact: Originally, the DePaul basketball men were called ?D-Men? and this morphed to Demons. Also interesting is that DePaul is a fine Catholic university. As I reflect on the meaning of this, I see the irony. As a comfortable, mature Christian now, I ...

October 25, 2012Brighton, Iowa Re: Brighton ? how they treat people To the Editor:In regard to Mr. Larry Turner?s letter to the editor that printed on Oct. 24, 2012, in the WEJ, I am sorry for his loss. But I feel compelled to respond to the comments (allegations) made. I feel that I have the qualifications to do so. I have been on the city council for 11 of the last 13 years. I also have been a fireman for ...