Posted February 04, 2015in Political Mercury
Iowa Nice Guy and Mount Carmel native Scott Siepker, who blends satire and passion for rural Iowa on social media, has delivered something of a video love letter to agriculture with his with his filmmaking team’s latest release — “Farmer Nice.” Now up on YouTube, and going viral with close
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Posted January 28, 2015in Political Mercury
1. Scott Walker is the real political deal. The Wisconsin governor — who went to grade school in Plainfield, Iowa — showed connectivity, policy bona fides and earnest seriousness. Walker focused effectively on education, which is where Iowans spend the majority of their state taxes. And he offered a foundational
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Posted January 21, 2015in Political Mercury
(The following is the text of the eulogy delivered by Douglas Burns for Art Neu at memorial services for the late Carroll mayor and lieutenant governor on Saturday at the Carroll Recreation Center.) I’ll just come right out with it. Art Neu and I were in prison together. I’ll
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Posted January 14, 2015in Political Mercury
Veteran Iowa cartoonist Brian Duffy — whose creative works are digested by readers regularly in this newspaper — says corporate control and an ethos of commercialism have largely watered down American newspaper cartoons to the point where they offer only glimmers of what his peers at a now high-profile French satirical
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Posted January 07, 2015in Political Mercury
Arthur A. Neu, a son of Carroll’s longest-serving mayor who went on to a career in public service himself that included election as lieutenant governor of Iowa, died Jan. 2 from complications of pneumonia. He was 81. Neu’s oldest son and law partner, A. Eric Neu, a Carroll County
Read More →The least-known candidate for chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party is the best choice. And that stands to reason. The party must re-acquaint itself with Iowa’s countryside, the land of the Three Democratic Giants. Tom Harkin sprang from Cumming, Henry A. Wallace is from Orient, and Harold Hughes, as
Read More →One of the more inspiring Christmas stories I’ve ever heard doesn’t involve Tiny Tim and a bunch of lame ghosts. Or Jimmy Stewart and a town called Bedford Falls. (With apologies to Denison native Academy Award-winning actress Donna Reed.) Or that kid who wants a BB gun. That’s fiction.
Read More →Des Moines, or Not Des Moines? That’s a central question for the central committee of the Iowa Democratic Party, according to a northern Iowa activist seeking the state chairmanship. Kurt Meyer of St. Ansgar, the chairman of the Tri-County Democrats (Worth, Howard and Mitchell counties) suggested Saturday the party choose
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Posted December 10, 2014in Political Mercury
Faith and pageantry walked hand-in-hand through St. Rosa of Lima Parish Sunday as more than 700 Latino Catholics celebrated the feast of Guadalupe — a signature event in their culture. Dec. 12 is the official feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but Father Paul Kelly, pastor of St. Rose
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Posted December 03, 2014in Political Mercury
In a New York Times editorial two weeks ago, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver endorsed legalization of professional sports betting, saying it is time to bring such wagering out of the shadows and into regulated arenas. “Outside of the United States, sports betting and other forms of gambling are popular, widely legal and subject to regulation,”
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