Opinion

Words on Wellness

Published by admin on Wed, 04/16/2025 - 9:27am

Move More Month

Well done, Monticello community

Published by admin on Wed, 04/16/2025 - 9:26am

To the Editor and the Monticello community,

     The Monticello Lions thank the Monticello community for their strong support of the recent Red Cross blood drive.

   The blood drive results:

   • Goal – 57 units

   • Presenting donors – 54

   • Whole blood collected – 38 units

   • Power reds collected – 16

   • First-time donors – 1

   • Total units collected – 54 units

Property taxes are needed to sustain, grown small communities

Published by admin on Wed, 04/16/2025 - 9:26am

To the Editor,

   Budget and tax levy hearings cannot provide sufficient background information to help taxpayers understand the challenges and actions needed to reduce property tax levy rates.

A view from here – Medicaid and Mom

Published by admin on Wed, 04/16/2025 - 9:25am

To the Editor,

   Mom passed in 2013 after spending 2006-13 in an Iowa care facility. She had many illnesses including colon cancer, congestive heart failure, and a rare disorder that wouldn’t allow my sister and I to care for her ourselves. She gradually lost the use of her major muscle groups and became wheelchair bound. Ultimately she couldn’t turn over in bed or go to the bathroom unassisted. My sister and I were working full-time.

Friends should not treat each other this way

Published by admin on Wed, 04/09/2025 - 7:46am

    Growing up in the 1950s, Evans family vacations seem typical by rural Midwest standards: car trips to the Ozarks, the Black Hills, Nauvoo and New Salem in Illinois, or St. Louis for a Cardinals baseball game.

   But one memorable summer trip, around 1960, occurred when we motored north through Minnesota to Canada, the only foreign country my parents ever visited and a place more exotic than the Wisconsin Dells.

   Exotic? Absolutely. This trip *required* us to stop at the border and clear a Canadian customs check.

Jobs cuts

Published by admin on Wed, 04/09/2025 - 7:45am

To the Editor,

Resurrection Sunday – HE is risen

Published by admin on Wed, 04/09/2025 - 7:44am

To the Editor,

   Last November, I remember a conversation with a relative about CHRISTmas and Easter was discussed. They said “Easter isn’t as important anyway.” As a Christian, I should’ve replied but I didn’t. I have reflected on that conversation several times, how I would’ve responded differently because silence was not the correct response.

Iowa school shows leadership that others lack

Published by admin on Wed, 04/02/2025 - 7:26am

    As the president, governors and legislators elevate the stress and anxiety in higher education in the United States by seeking to change how colleges and universities operate and what they teach, the contrast between how an Ivy League school and an Iowa university responded shows the courage gap among college leaders.

   Columbia University, the 270-year-old private, non-profit institution in New York City, garnered intense governmental attention and public criticism last week.

Christ was punished for our sins

Published by admin on Wed, 04/02/2025 - 7:26am

To the Editor,

   “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for it; that whosoever shall believe on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

   The above quote from the Book of John in the New Testament expresses the most important truth in human history.

Our state needs to balance its budget vs. destroying people’s lives

Published by admin on Wed, 04/02/2025 - 7:25am

To the Editor,

   After years of corporate tax breaks, Iowa’s majority parties run away voucher spending will continue a misguided budgeting trend into the next five years.

   The state’s Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met last week to update their projections for the state’s revenues for the current and upcoming fiscal years. According to their estimates, they project state revenues will drop by over $1.2 billion in just two years, between FY24 and FY26; that is a significant decrease.

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