Posted April 15, 2015in Political Mercury
A fantasy sports gaming bill that has passed the Iowa Senate could open opportunities for casinos to arrange for daily contests with cash payouts — on football, basketball, baseball and other athletic competitions — at their venues if the measure becomes law. The leading advocate of the bill — Senate File
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Posted April 08, 2015in Political Mercury
There’s an old saying about men older than 40 who have never been married: either they aren’t attracted to women at all, or they like women too much. Aging player or gay? That’s the question. Of course, there are other categories that explain advanced-age singledom: career firsters for one, or
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Posted March 31, 2015in Political Mercury
In what is widely regarded among insiders as something of a political man-made earthquake, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds is expected to select a transgender running mate for her gubernatorial bid, a bold stroke sure to sew discord in an increasingly fractured Republican Party, but a decision Reynolds insists is essential
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Posted March 25, 2015in Political Mercury
As it turns out, in all this nonsense about a rural-urban Iowa civil war, “them” is actually “us.” Carroll’s Kuemper Catholic High School Alumni Director Sharon Olerich reports that there are 992 graduates of the western Iowa school living in Des Moines and its immediate suburbs. Kuemper holds an annual Des Moines
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Posted March 18, 2015in Political Mercury
A collection of more than two dozen advocates — ranging from elected officials to business owners to economic-development leaders — took the case for the complete four-laning of U.S. Highway 30 across the state to the Iowa Department of Transportation recently. The question-and-answer session with DOT Director Paul Trombino comes
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Posted March 11, 2015in Political Mercury
The difference between an 18-year-old fresh-faced freshman and a 21-year-old senior in college is the most profound I’ve experienced in a work, social or living arrangement. The first is a boy. The second is a man. Yet, the two coexist in American college fraternities. Which is great for mentoring, role-modeling
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Posted March 04, 2015in Political Mercury
Newly installed U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Red Oak Republican, breaks with many conservatives in agreeing with President Barack Obama on a highly controversial element of White House-directed immigration reform. Ernst says she doesn’t think undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children should be deported. They should
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Posted February 25, 2015in Political Mercury
It’s a line of a questioning most pro-life candidates don’t like. Count our new U.S. senator among them. When asked, they often claim they never thought about it, that they don’t answer “hypotheticals.” Should people who have abortions or doctors who perform them be fined — like we do with
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Posted February 18, 2015in Political Mercury
There’s a saying in Texas: It ain’t bragging if you can back it up. It seems the Texas-ism packed its bags, headed north and found a comfortable home in Greene County, Iowa. So here it is, backed up, with engine gunning: Greene County is the most vital rural county in
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Posted February 11, 2015in Political Mercury
You can’t retract a prayer. But our congressman may be wishing he provided more direction and guidance to our maker should one Hillary Rodham Clinton take the presidential oath of office in 2017. In kicking off The Iowa Freedom Summit, his international political sensation late last month, King read a
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