Political and happy news from the week

     On Friday, May 4, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a controversial bill this week into law.

     The “heartbeat bill” in Iowa is now the nation’s strictest abortion law.

     Regardless of how you feel about this now-law, my thoughts this week aren’t to start a debate, or to share my political (though an issue like this should not be political) views. I wanted to bring attention to the actions of our local Monticello State Representative, Lee Hein.

     You can read Hein’s column in this week’s Express and take in his words yourself. But a few things jumped out at me after reading Hein’s column the morning of May 4 when I arrived at work and checked my e-mails.

     First, Hein chose not to stick to his party line when voting against the “heartbeat bill.” In the Iowa House, six Republicans joined the Democrats to voting against the bill; Hein was one of them.

     Second, he chose to share his personal feelings about the bill, which was no doubt hard to do.

     This leads to my third point, that our state and federal legislators are people, too. They go through life’s ups and down like anyone else.

     Hein said he heard from both sides, both parties, in this issue, and it came down to his family’s personal experience that ultimately led his vote.

     Again, you can read Hein’s column in the Express for his story, but I think he should be commended for what was no doubt a heart-wrenching decision.

     On a different topic, I wanted to share a great story that I was privileged to be a part of last week. This story, too, can be found in this week’s Express.

     Friday after work I accompanied Jeff Nagel and Kylie McDonnell in a four-seater plane, along with the pilot, Barry Brown, as Jeff proposed to Kylie. It truly an honor!

     The couple has been dating for eight years, so I’m sure Kylie was anticipating a proposal at any time now… Jeff stopped in the Express early last week to ask if we could ride in the plane with them to capture his proposal. He took a disc to the field to spell out “Marry Me Kylie.”

     She did not suspect a thing. Jeff told Kylie I was accompanying them up in the air to capture aerial photos of the Nagel family farms, which surround the Monticello airport.

     Jeff hadn’t seen his work yet either until we were in the air. He was going to have someone fly a drone over the field, but with its proximity to the airport, it’s against FAA regulations.

     It was a special moment for sure! I also took photos during his proposal and once we got back on the ground of the couple standing in front of the plane.

     I don’t know how anxious Jeff was, but I was a ball of nerves! This was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. There was no room for retakes; one and done.

     My game plan was to focus on Jeff and Kylie first during the proposal, knowing that her reaction was the priority. You can’t recreate a woman’s reaction after the initial moment is gone. Secondary would be aerial photos of the field. Barry was accommodating and flew over the Nagel’s field a few times so we could capture those photos as well.

     When all was said and done it was a quick plane ride; it only lasted a half hour. The couple no doubt made their rounds to inform various family members and friends about their happy news. I warned Kylie that an article was going to be in this week’s Express about the special moment. Jeff was gracious enough to come in early Friday morning for an interview about the planning that went into the proposal.

     It’s not very often we can not only capture the news, but be a part of it, too, especially happy news like this.

     Congrats to Jeff and Kylie!