Posted January 03, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Something came out of Colorado last week besides images of the destruction from a rapidly developing wildfire that roared through the area between Denver and Boulder.The fires consumed upwards of 1,000 homes in the suburban subdivisions of the Rockies’ eastern foothills in just a few hours.Besides the stunning devastation, the
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Posted December 27, 2021in Stray Thoughts
Minnesota and its government officials delivered an important lesson recently on how to provide justice — and their lesson should be taken to heart by their neighbors in Iowa.The contrast is jarring between the way government handled the deaths of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minn., and Autumn Steele in
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Posted December 20, 2021in Stray Thoughts
When I walked out the door at the Des Moines Register for the final time on Dec. 12, 2014, there was an unfinished piece of work tucked away in a box of assorted stuff I carried. The folder contained a few dozen newspaper clippings, press releases and notes to myself
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Posted December 13, 2021in Stray Thoughts
The past couple of years have been challenging for Iowa’s 327 public school districts.Parents have become very engaged with their schools — and enraged, too, at times. This has revolved around masks and vaccines, what is being taught or not taught, the content of library books, and an assortment of
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Posted December 09, 2021in Stray Thoughts
The death Sunday of Robert Dole was a potent reminder of what we have lost as a nation. Another member of the Greatest Generation has left us — another of those Depression-era kids who came together to save democracy in the dark days of World War II. The career of
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Posted December 01, 2021in Stray Thoughts
It is telling that no objections were lodged against the two Johnston High School books until this school year. There’s a big birthday coming up in Iowa in about a month. This place we call home — these 55,800 square miles of farm fields, wooded land, and clusters of housing
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Posted November 29, 2021in Stray Thoughts
When you have orbited the sun as many times as I have, people sometimes want to tap into the insights you have gathered through the years. Young journalists and newsroom managers ask about the lessons I accumulated from a half century in the newspaper business. One lesson is quite simple,
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Posted November 15, 2021in Stray Thoughts
You have to marvel at the capacity of the human spirit — especially the ability of people who remain optimistic and upbeat in the face of challenges most of us can’t fathom. Those thoughts were swirling through my noggin during the recent observance of Veterans Day. There were many veterans
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Posted October 25, 2021in Stray Thoughts
The Iowa Legislature’s “To Do” list should be a little longer after last week. And people need to contact their senators and representatives in the Legislature to make sure they understand their duty is to protect the health and safety of Iowans. The reason? The Iowa Supreme Court handed down a
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Posted October 18, 2021in Stray Thoughts
The requirements for becoming a teacher were always straightforward: Earn a college degree in education, take enough classes in your area of specialty, practice your teaching skills for a semester as a student teacher. Politicians have added a new skill this year in some states: Be a mind-reader. That’s what
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