Opinion

To the editor:The recent closure of the swimming area of Waterworks Park has me mystified. Four years ago, my wife?s job brought us to southeast Iowa. Moving from Atlanta, I was convinced we?d find a place to live in Iowa City so as to not give up too many ?city comforts.? To ensure no options were left on the table, we decided to take a look at some of Fairfield?s real estate. In looking at a house tucked ...

To the editor:I am responding to the brief in Tuesday June 14th Fairfield Ledger: ?Vegetables won?t be allowed in city right-of-way.?This is the email that I sent to Ron Adam and the rest of our city council members. I agree that nothing should be growing in the right of way that would obstruct visibility for traffic and pedestrians, especially at corners.However, I disagree that just because you (Mr. ...

You all remember the heat and sunburn advisories in July when we were going through a streak of 100-degree days. I certainly remember them, because I interviewed public health officials about the dangers of too much sun. I learned about the importance of applying sunblock not just once but every few hours that you?re outside. And yet, even armed with that knowledge, I still got sunburnt. I?ll tell you how it ...

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) ran a story on its Web site earlier this month about words coined in the United States, which are known as ?Americanisms.? The author, Matthew Engel, says Americanisms are now omnipresent in British English and many Brits don?t even know it.I was surprised to learn that words such as lengthy, reliable, talented, influential and tremendous were all born in the US of ...

This week is the first full week of classes for the students in the Washington School District. I talked to a few high school students about how they felt about returning to school. Most of them were not thrilled.I am young enough that I remember well what it was like to return to school. Heck, I started to feel down in the dumps as soon as Aug. 1 rolled around, because I knew that later that month school ...

Before the high school baseball season began, Washington head coach Nathan Miller described what, in his mind, it took to become an elite baseball team.He said that the Demons were in the ?good category? in 2010, when Washington won the Southeast Conference title before losing to Mt. Pleasant in the district final. But he said ?elite teams? are the ones that make it to the state tournament, and that the four ...

To the editor:?Are Christians persecuted in Fairfield?? This was a question asked of me at a recent Bible Study we hold every Wednesday evening at Word of Life Lutheran Church. My answer to this question was ?yes!?You see for over 2000 years now Christians have traditionally worshiped on Sunday morning and for most of that history sporting events have recognized and respected their desire to do so. However ...

To the editor:A twelve-step program for our next president:1. Stop spending our children?s future ? cut salary in half for all senators and congressmen until the debt comes down.2. Stop supporting terrorist countries and start supporting people at home.3. Capitalism must be brought back, it?s obvious socialism is not working.4. Save billions ? abolish the IRS and go flat tax.5. Save billions ? ...

The hopes and dreams of high school seniors are at their peak as they walk across the stage and receive their high school diploma. But what lies ahead? For many, the option is college. Most parents nowadays have raised their children to just know that the next step is college. But, in contrast, as our college graduates are graduating, their outlook on life is vastly different than that of the college freshman ...

To the editor:Being an avid fan of Waterworks Beach and distraught over its recent closing, I attended meetings this week with the Park and Rec Board as well as the Safety committee meeting at City Hall on Tuesday. Based on what I heard there and the demand from people, young and old, meditating and not, I believe our beach will reopen. That is the good news. The devil is in the details. I agreed with the ...

I recently heard some guidance from a much wiser man than I.I do what I can to put these things to good use, but when I thought about it, it seemed like terrible advice.I was told to ?live every day like your last.?We?ve all heard it before, but no one has ever taken it to heart because it would make for a terrible world to live in. The general public running amok with nothing to lose does not seem like ...

Long before I had aspirations of being a reporter, I was interested in a career in comedy. It all started in fifth grade when our teacher told us to perform skits that had something to do with the short story we were reading that week. I was a big fan of David Letterman so I encouraged those in my group to do a skit in which I was the host of a late night talk show and that they, playing the role of the characters...