opinion
Parks and rec board seats should remain elected positions
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 4:46 pm
To the editor: It was recently reported in the Decorah Leader that some of the Decorah City Council members would be interested in possibly changing the structure of the Decorah Park and Recreation Board from an elected board to an …
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Public hearings are for the public
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 4:45 pm
In early 2023, I started attending weekly Winneshiek Board of Supervisor meetings either in person or online. Today — Aug. 5 — I attended, in person, a meeting that included a public hearing related to rezoning Winneshiek County farmland from agricultural …
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Arrogance of power
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 4:45 pm
I have been watching the Winneshiek Board of Supervisors’ Meetings for many years. Since early 2023, I’ve followed the current Board, missing only five of the weekly meetings. What I have seen and heard from Supervisors Langreck, Vick and Kelsay makes …
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I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But I do know a couple things about local government
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 4:37 pm
I’m probably about to do something unpopular — defend a politician. More so, I’m going to defend a local politician — well, perhaps more accurately, I’m going to defend a claim he supposedly made in a recent meeting. I only …
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Things have changed, but you can’t blame the farmer
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 4:26 pm
I’m an 86-year-old former farm boy, and I’d like to take you on a little history trip. After high school, I served in the United States Military, and I cam home to the family farm to farm with my dad …
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Winneshiek County sees improvements
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 4:25 pm
Good things are happening in Winneshiek County. Ossian and Castalia and Spillville and Ridgeway are getting much needed sewer improvements. Fort Atkinson is getting improved wells. Childcare providers are getting help with expanding much needed services. Our farm to market …
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Some criticism of changes to state CBD laws
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 4:25 pm
I want to send a big thank you to our fearless leader and her rubber stamp legislators! They revealed some infinite wisdom with the CBD law. I just ran out of my CBD gummies that I use to numb my …
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Sights on Spencer
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 1:59 pm
Letter to the editor, Not that long ago, there was midnight terror. It was raining, lots of rain, and it covered a wide area of northwest Iowa. Rising rivers and flooding occurred, causing mountains of misery. A lone relative living …
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Let’s show civility and respect when it comes to yard signs this election season
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 1:58 pm
It’s campaign season again, and a new crop of yard signs are beginning to pop up all over northeast Iowa. And, unfortunately some are incorrectly located in right of ways, and some have been stolen. Yard signs can serve as …
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Some thoughts on flood mitigation
Tuesday, July 30, 2024 10:26 am
Dear Editor, Twenty-plus river gauges across the Midwest hit major flood stages in the past few weeks. This begs the question, why do decision makers make crucial decisions involving large capital outlays and possible elimination of flood buffer projects? Why …
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Here’s to hoping Biden’s withdraw is the end of political posturing
Saturday, July 27, 2024 1:57 pm
I was only one of many bustling reporters holding cameras, recorders and notebooks in the upper level of a northwest Iowa bar to hear former presidential candidate Nikki Haley speak. It was December of 2023, and Haley called a second …
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Saturday’s shooting should drive us to mercy over political victories
Thursday, July 18, 2024 10:26 am
Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Trump likely dredged up some old feelings, reopened some old wounds and rekindled old worries for many. And, unfortunately, it seems to be human nature that we jump to the told-you-so moments before we …
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The road back to Decorah and the return of the opinion page
Wednesday, July 17, 2024 2:33 pm
“These directions are wrong,” my mother said. “They must’ve been thinking we would come up from the south.” The year was 1990-something, my cousin was graduating from Luther College, and my mother’s calm declaration from the front seat of our …
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‘We must step up together’
Monday, July 15, 2024 4:00 pm
Dear Editor: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” Kevin Roberts, Heritage Foundation president, July 2, 2024. This quote should send chills up the spine of …
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‘Respect Veterans: Invest in peace’
Wednesday, May 29, 2024 1:39 pm
Dear Editor, Memorial Day is a time to think about how to respect humans who have risked or lost their lives in war or preparation for war. Veterans and their friends and family are often lost in their return to …