From May 12 to 18, we celebrated National Police Week in honor of our police and law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep our families and communities safe. These men and women are heroes who deserve our deepest appreciation and strongest support for their commitment to protect and serve Iowans.

June 4 is approaching quickly and for most in Franklin County and Iowa, that means Primary Election Day. For the staff in our office, it’s like Christmas Day. The culmination of months of work and preparation … three months to be exact.

On Sun. June 2, between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm, you may see an interesting sort of “parade.” A parade with and for Jesus. What we call a “Eucharistic Procession,” is a prayer procession with the consecrated communion bread that we Catholics call “the Eucharist.”
On Sun. June 2 the Catholic Church Celebrates “Corpus Christi” Sunday, that is the Sunday of

We went to see my stepmom in Lincoln, Nebraska. She stays informed. We had Fox News and CNN on the TV a lot of the time and it seemed to be a loop about unpopular protesters on college campuses.

Our state legislative session finished up towards the end of April, and I’m glad it’s over!  From further de-funding and privatizing our public education system to turning a blind eye to pipelines and polluters, it’s time for Governor Kim Reynolds and her statehouse cronies to take a break. While family farmers are in the thick of planting season, let’s take stock of what Reynolds and company did to us and what they didn’t do.
 

The powerful tornadoes that struck parts of Southwest Iowa were devastating, especially for communities in Pottawattamie County and Shelby County that bore the brunt of the destruction.
According to some reports, there were roughly 24 tornadoes that touched down in Iowa with winds reaching as high as 165 mph. Our prayers remain with those impacted as we work to rebuild.

Iowa agriculture has undergone substantial changes over the past 40 years.  We see it all around us.  Rather than crops and livestock being raised on tens of thousands of diversified family farms, Iowa has become ground-zero for concentrated industrial factory farms with unmanageable levels of manure, chemicals and pollution.

I was an eight-year-old California kid when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. They brought Vin Scully with them so I was destined to be inoculated with the magic of a game that required will over genetics. Loosely mimicking a country based on equal opportunity over entitlement, teams find the best person for the job as a matter of good business.

I’ve been on this planet for 48 years, and in that time I have collected a list of moments of which I am humbled, proud, and grateful. At the top of that list, without comparison, is the time eight cents changed my life.

Randy Feenstra, our Representative in Washington, pointed out in a recent column that student loan debt can't be canceled; that it is stolen from taxpayers. I totally agree with Mr. Feenstra on his reasoning that “personal responsibility and accountability are virtues fundamental to any functioning society.”

I was in a quandary about what to write. Too lazy to research important topics, out of time, with the majority of comments about “The Alternative” favoring personal experiences, and not lecturing, I'll write this:

On my 36 County Tour, workforce issues and labor shortages are topics of constant and repeated concern when I’m meeting with farmers, small business owners, manufacturers, childcare centers, hospitals, and other enterprises. With so many job openings in Iowa and nationwide, we need to do everything possible to help our businesses, manufacturers, and hospitals hire, train, and retain quality employees.

Despite overwhelming public support for mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) for beef, U.S. Senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst are missing in action. After multiple phone calls, letters and in-person lobby visits, they’re refusing to support the American Beef Labeling Act (S. 52) in the next Farm Bill.

As a kid in Santa Monica I hung out at the pool hall across from a lot with a tall fence that housed several Fiat Multiplas. These were like tiny (not mini) vans with a fastback. They had rear engines like a Corvair or Beetle. You paid to play pool by time instead of with the balls all captured and a coin slot. When you scratched you pulled a ball out of a pocket. It was real.
 

When one of our own does good for themselves, it’s worth taking some time to offer praise and acknowledgment.
  I am talking about Iowa author Austin Frerick and his new book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry. It’s a deep dive into seven “Barons” in the food industry, their rise to power and the consequences for farmers, workers, consumers and our democracy.