Opinion

By Curt Swarm Everything seems to happen at once.Ginnie's mother died in Ozark, Missouri, and there was my brother's birthday party in Ashland, Wisconsin.My place is definitely with my wife in time of grief, but my brother's birthday had been planned for months. What to do? Ginnie is the oldest of seven children, she would have plenty of familial support.Ginnie made the decision, I was to go north while she ...

By Charles GrassleySince well before we became a country to the present day, America has attracted people who are willing to leave behind everything and everyone they know and settle in a strange land just to have the opportunity to work hard and provide for their families.In fact, the colonists' taking up of arms to condemn the British Crown's confiscation policies was a foundational act of rebellion against ...

I am optimistic about our enrollment numbers for this year.One, it appears we are the only Washington County School that is showing an increase in our certified enrollment.We are showing an increase of 32.95 students to 1778.05.Second, the increase is a good sign before our largest classes begin to leave us. But we are certainly positioned much better to withstand the expected enrollment drop in the next 3 ...

believe that there is an old saying something along the lines of ?from the littlest of acorns the mighty oak dost grow.?If not, then perhaps we can start a new one that will hold true for the acorns produced in 9 acres at Foster Woods County Park near Wellman in 2017.It seems like the conditions for this to occur at Foster Woods are all in place!The primary component of this phenomenon is that the white oak ...

It often takes people by surprise to learn that human trafficking is a very real problem right here in Iowa.Whereas the Department of Homeland Security reports that millions of victims are trafficked throughout the world for sexual exploitation, forced labor and other crimes, this issue also hits very close to home.A recent study found that hundreds of young people each and every month are at ?high and moderate ...

By Kevin KinneyRecent health care news has left many Iowans frustrated and confused.Most Iowans get health care coverage through their employer, through a health insurance plan they purchase on their own, or through public health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.Below are a couple of changes Iowans should be aware of as we head into 2018.Buying your own health insuranceIowans who plan to buy their ...

Garnishing wages. Turning over accounts to collection agents.Withholding services until an individual's ability to pay is proven. These might seem like the practices of a big bank in the news for financial scandals.Instead, these tactics have surfaced at unexpected places: some of the country's nonprofit, tax-exempt hospitals.A woman seeking treatment for leukemia at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston said ...

Ginnie and I just celebrated our second wedding anniversary on October 10.I really went all out and took her to Taco Tuesday at my grandchildrens' Christian School. Just kidding. Although we did talk about it. What could be funner than seeing the grandkids serve tacos and cookies?Actually, we went to a very fine restaurant that overlooks the Mississippi River and the Highway 34 bridge. It was a rainy night, and ...

to the Editor:Thank you to the over 20 volunteers who, last Saturday morning, helped the Washington Tree Committee plant over 40 trees, some at WCDC and some at two intersections of West Fifth Street and the Kewash Trail. This fabulous project was made possible through a $3,500 Alliant Utilities Trees Forever grant with the cooperation of the City, the Washington County Conservation Board and our friends at ...

To the Editor:We have millionaires, football players, kneeling during the national anthem as a form of protesting against oppression.These ungrateful people are the best possible example of the opposite of oppression. They have been coddled all their lives as athletes. The world has been favorable to them all through school to keep them eligible to play sports. Through school and college ? they have been the ...

All those double-yolk eggs might not be bringing the good luck I thought they would.I was backing the tractor into the garage to fill the fuel tank with diesel when I heard a crunch, bang and some popping noises.I stopped the tractor and turned around to see what I had run over. A sinking feeling swept through me. The roll bar on the tractor had caught on the garage door and about tore the whole thing down.Evid...

Freedom. We seem to hear that word a lot now days. Webster defines freedom as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. This definition brings to memory a passage from the Gospel of John chapter 8. As Jesus is speaking to the Jewish people of the day he makes this statement. ?Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not ...