Sunday, May 10, 2026
Our Reach: 36,629,166 views
Article Thumbnail. Smoke forms a heart above Victory Lane during Boomtown 2013; mourners gathered there today.

A brief, beautiful message above Victory Lane

If you are among those who have spent the past week mourning a friend or relative who died in last week’s awful accident – and especially if you are among those who had already attended way too many too-soon funerals in the past year – I have a story for you.
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The Favorite Aunt

Now, I have lots of aunts. Quite frankly each aunt had their own thing that I liked about them.  My Aunt Helen, I would see a lot, and I would greet with "There's my FAVORITE Aunt!" to which she'd always laugh and reply with, "Yeah, right!"  My aunt has been one that when I was a kid, we would see a lot of because we both lived in town and we babysat my cousin so we'd see her most days.

After 150 years, there still is much to learn about the Civil War

Imagine a war that claims the lives of 6.5 million Americans. You can’t. I can’t. Nobody can. It’s unthinkable. What kind of conflict would require that many casualties? The Civil War – which officially ended 150 years ago tomorrow – was that kind of conflict.

To the Editor: How education funding differs from private sector

Dear Editor, Many people have been following March Madness in high school and college basketball.  In my world, I have been watching the March Madness that is occurring at the Capitol in Des Moines where politicians are debating the future of education.

An editor's favorite story (and one more word of thanks)

Here’s my favorite story about my job, although technically, it has absolutely nothing at all to do with any story I ever wrote: A few years ago, when there were just two granddaughters (we now have four), my daughter took them in their stroller to a Vinton barber shop as they accompanied their father to his haircut.

Letter To The Editor: Iran - deal or no deal‏

By John Stiegelmeyer Some Opinion Page Writers have accused 47 Republicans who signed a letter addressed to the government of Iran informing said government of our Constitutional procedures validating treaties entered into by the U.

To the Editor: Voting fraud hysteria in Iowa

To The Editor: Something happened recently that received a little media coverage about the current Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate decision not to continue with the court appeal from his predecessor Matt Schultz in an attempt to remove thousands of Iowans from voter rolls to suppress voting in the guise of routing out illegal voting.