opinion
What Roosevelt had to say about supporting the president
Thursday, March 27, 2025 9:48 am
Theodore Roosevelt, America’s 26th president, was hardly perfect. But he did lead an effective movement against the robber barons of the Gilded Age. He also understood the office of the presidency and its place in our system of government. Here …
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What to know
Thursday, March 27, 2025 9:47 am
It may be too late already. Maybe you’ve been busy with life, You haven’t had time to watch the news or read a newspaper, or maybe you haven’t felt the effects from the new administration. Let this be a cautionary reminder. …
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Students should know about our country’s past injustices so they can avoid repeating them
Thursday, March 27, 2025 9:46 am
I feel we’ve been here before, but the state legislature is again considering a bill which would prevent Iowa’s institutions of higher learning from including some uncomfortable topics in the classroom. Brace yourself for a short swath of legislative language …
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Sorry about the typo last week — it was my mistake
Thursday, March 20, 2025 8:28 am
I’m going to admit, I had trouble getting an opinion column off the ground this week. It wasn’t for a lack of topics. In fact, I have a folder marked “scraps” where I keep partially developed columns which fizzled out, …
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‘May we fight hard to ensure this is not so’
Thursday, March 20, 2025 8:26 am
Dear Editor, I read Wednesday, March 13 of a barrage of announcements from EPA Chief Lee Zeldin about turning back the clock on our environment, saying it would repeal dozens of the nations most significant environmental regulations, including limits on tailpipe …
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Reader takes issue with Hill’s statement
Thursday, March 20, 2025 8:25 am
Dear Editor, “I’m (also) just kind of sick of the Driftless Water Defenders wasting the taxpayer dollars of Winneshiek County on lawsuits.” Speaking for myself, and not for Driftless Water Defenders, I find this statement in the Thursday, March 6 …
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Five years later, and here we are
Thursday, March 20, 2025 8:21 am
It was five years ago we began the COVID-19 undertaking. It seems this event is still with us in many ways. Revisiting this period, it was Oct. 2, 2020, and President Trump tested positive for COVID-19. He was gravely ill. …
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‘And I did not speak out’
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 11:11 am
I tend to view today’s political scene through a long-term and wide view. All too many take the short and narrow view. Their view leads to major problems down the road. Take today’s “but the eggs” view. We will pay for …
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It’s time to practice some fiscal responsibility
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 11:10 am
Kudos to Laurie Worcester for her informative letter in the Feb. 13 letter to the editor section of the Decorah Leader. It seems the “shenanigans” we have experienced in the federal government Obama and Biden administrations have “trickled” down to …
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Let Congress feel it
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 11:10 am
It appears Congress has been left out of Elon Musk’s damage control program. His wrecking ball is something that should be shared by everyone. Congress receives federal dollars the same as other federal employees who have been terminated across the …
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Local show of support planned for veterans, support services
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 11:09 am
On Friday, March 14, 2025, there will be a march for our veterans in our nation’s capital at noon. At the same time — by time zone — Americans will march in all 50 state capitals. Here in Decorah, all …
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Glad to see state mRNA vaccine ban didn’t pass through legislative funnel
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 11:08 am
It’ll still be a few weeks before we know for sure which bills survive the current legislative session in Des Moines, but a good number of bills have come to the end of the road — including one I was …
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Iowa’s biggest issues
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 11:42 am
The news continues to be depressing. The cancer rate in Iowa leads the nation and is unacceptable. If anything, the legislature should be working 24/7 on this and known water issues. There’s little doubt knee deep animal feces, over applied …
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‘If Sen. Grassley has a backbone, I don’t see it’
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 11:41 am
Sen. Grassley sent out a fine letter to constituents that rightly called-out the threat to Europe that Russia’s President Putin represents. In that context, he rightly called for American support of Ukraine. But then he supports anything and everything that Trump pukes …
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A dish of disappointment with a side of hypocrisy and dishwashing
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 11:39 am
Have you read the latest PR from Joni Ernst? I was so disappointed that she has taken aim at the federal infrastructure program that creates jobs by putting public EV charging stations across the country. Smart Electric Power Alliance reports …