Opinion

As I am sure many of you have heard we had a bit of a scare at the Capitol this week. Representative Ako Abdul-Samad received a threatening letter that included a white powder in the envelope. Luckily, the powder was not hazardous and no one was harmed. Despite this situation, we were able to continue our work in creating a better state for Iowans.This week we were able to pass a bipartisan bill that has been ...

I had never been to a mixed-martial-arts fight, nor any professional fight for that matter, except for kick boxing many years ago in Denver. So when my friend, Gabe Lemley, of New London said he could get me a press pass into the fight at the Arts and Convention Center in Fairfield, I jumped at the chance. Gabe is a mixed-martial-arts fighter, and friend/trainer for five other fighters. He is recuperating from a ...

?Think Globally, Act Locally? spouts one of the catch phrases of Earth Day. I am beginning to see that the first part is becoming easier every year.Recently, I taught a fifth-grade class my Global Perspectives program and although I didn?t design it with that slogan in mind, it fits well. We look at the wealth disparities across the globe and end with discussing what we personally can do to help ? such as ...

There are a few recent inventions that relate to cars that have caught my eye. They both could revolutionize transportation. One is a car that drives itself and the other is a car that turns into an airplane. I?ll give you a moment while you pick your jaw up off the ground.The self-driving car was pioneered by Google. It is well beyond the testing stage and the closed-course demonstrations. The car has already ...

To the editor:My name is Robert Miller. I am 96 years old. I live in Iowa in the little town of Batavia. My home is one short block from the BNSF railroad track.While many folks are complaining about the rumble and noise; about the whistles blowing day and night, I have to say, it?s music to my ears.There are many, many stories I recall about the interesting things that I had to do, because the railroad ...

To the editor:Hey?ever see that Iowa movie where they build a baseball diamond inside a cornfield, with the hopes some players from long past will appear? Well guess what? In March, F.A.C.T. put on a show called WAITING FOR OPRAH at the Walton Club. The play was about a book club waiting for Oprah to arrive. At the end of the play, they open the door and yell in unison ?Oh My God!? Well?it took a few months ...

To the editor:Our media in the United States has neglected to inform us of some very important information on the candidates for president. Most significant, I believe, is the attempt to blackout information on candidate Congressman Dr. Ron Paul.Dr. Paul has received more donations from military people than all the other candidates combined. He wants to end our unsuccessful attempts at nation building, ...

To the editor:With Christmas approaching, it might be a good time to do something special for those who are serving our country in the military. There is an organization, ?Operation Gratitude? that sends care packages to individual service members. To have a care package sent, to make a donation or to find out more about this organization go to OperationGratitude.com. ? LaVon Hostetler, Fairfield

April 2, 2012Richmond, Iowa To the Editor:For some time now, events in Washington County have been causing citizens to suspect that the Regional Utilities Service Systems (RUSS) has serious problems. In fact, it has become clear that it is a deeply flawed organization. Another piece of evidence surfaced recently in the March 20, 2012, ?Fairfield Ledger? article, ?Mahaska County seeks way out of RUSS.?Bryce ...

March 28, 2012Washington, Iowa To the Editor:I am writing this to let the people of Washington know about two safety items that I brought up at the council meeting last week. For some reason The Journal decided it was not newsworthy. The first one was about the building in the 200 block of North Iowa that was moved in last year and just last week the door on the north side of the building was torn off. This ...

The unseasonably warm weather has inserted a sense of urgency into the legislative process. Be they gardeners or farmers, legislators are ready to get into the dirt.Old hands were encouraged to see the first sign on the ?Legislative Wind-down? this week, when both the House and the Senate didn?t debate on Thursday, because there were no bills eligible for debate. A few eyebrows were raised, as many of us ...

As the session nears an end, there is limited debate, as the easy decisions have already been made. There is only heavy lifting left to do.The three major pieces of legislation left are education reform, mental health reform, and property tax reform. It will be interesting to see if the Senate Democrats and the House Republicans will be able to resolve their differences. The way I see it, the mental health ...