Opinion

Debate continued this week as we passed several bills that move on to the Senate to be voted on or to the Governor?s desk to for a signature. I am proud to say that we got a lot of work done in this 10th week of the General Assembly.On Wednesday, the Iowa House passed Senate File 2218, also known as Kadyn?s Law, which deals with school bus safety. The bill is in response to an incident last spring which took the ...

February 27, 2012Washington, Iowa To the Editor:People who know me are aware that all my life I have been involved with animals, especially pets.Whenever I?m enjoying a conversation with friends, sooner or later someone says, ?I would love to have a dog or a cat, but it would be so unfair to them because I work during the day and sometimes go out in the evening.?For anyone who really feels that way I would ...

There is a lot going on in the Washington Community School District. We are approaching the last quarter of the year. It has gone by fast. Perhaps the weather has had something to do with how quickly the year has gone. I would like to give a quick look at the things happening within the district beginning with facilities. I also will give a preview to the budget as well as possible impact proposed legislation ...

February 23, 2012Kinross, Iowa To the Editor:I have been a RUSS customer for almost five years. I have never had any problems with the way they manage the sanitary system in my little town. I am thankful that we have such a system in place. It was not many years ago that I lived in rural Washington County and the septic system for that residence had an outlet pipe draining directly into a small creek not far ...

Mom, exclaims my daughter, there is a new moon tonight! I need to go find it.I hate to dampen enthusiasm, but so does looking for something you can?t see.Fascination for the moon is nothing new. Cultures across history and the globe all have stories about the moon. We all have heard about the man on the moon, but there are also cultures who see a rabbit, Jack and Jill (before falling down the hill), or even a ...

February 20, 2012Richmond, Iowa To the Editor:Over the past year, residents of Richmond have learned quite a bit about Regional Utilities Service Systems (RUSS) and its relationship with the Washington County Board of Supervisors. I am sorry to say that almost everything we have learned has convinced us that we simply do not want RUSS involved in our community.This was confirmed in a spectacular way by a ...

The town of Riverside is abuzz over the proposed splashpad. When the issue came up last year, I had to do some research just to find out what a splashpad was because I had never gone to one. My hometown of Pocahontas is about twice the size of Riverside and is able to support a swimming pool, which I visited frequently as a boy.I took swimming lessons in early elementary school. Back then, in the mid 1990s, we ...

On Monday night I witnessed my 140th ? and last ? varsity basketball game in the current Washington High School gymnasium. Next season, the Demon hoops teams will move into a sparkling new gym across town inside the new high school that is currently being constructed.The Washington boys? basketball team lost the final game inside the gym on Monday night, falling to Keokuk 67-54 in a Class 3A District 11 semifinal...

There was extra hustle and bustle at the Capitol this week as preparations were being made for the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping. The first floor of our Capitol was set up with round tables, set for the State Dinner. Historians cannot document another State Dinner ever being held in the Capitol, so this was a very historic occasion.I?ve attended a lot of banquets in my lifetime, and I will have to ...

February 17, 2012Washington, Iowa To the Editor:Are we all really to believe that there was no special treatment shown to Sheriff Shipley on his OWI charge ? his second OWI charge, that is. Sheriff Shipley pleaded guilty on Nov. 25, 2008, to operating a motorboat while intoxicated.How does a habitual offender get a never-been-done-before (in Washington County ? maybe Keokuk County is different) ?deferred ...

To the editor:My publicist friend, Marc, said my recent letter to The Ledger [?Sidhas should have focused on Paul,? Aug. 18] describing Ron Paul as a product of higher collective consciousness was arrogant and psychotic because I didn?t connect the dots. Here?s my attempt. Ron Paul devotes himself to freedom of the individual. The individual alone knows what?s best for himself and in a free society learns to ...

I am so honored to be selected as a district court judge. I have no illusions about the difficulty, and the seriousness, and the rigor of the task before me. Yet, I am excited and energized about this new challenge in my legal career. I consider serving on the bench to be the absolute highest calling of the law. I am very proud to be part of a judiciary that I can say without reservation is one of the best in the ...