Opinion

One of the most important milestones in one’s life is completing their high school education. From all of us at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Office in Clay County we would like to congratulate all of the seniors for their wonderful accomplishments. Especially the 19 youth who dedicated many years to Clay County 4-H youth development program. Below includes the 4-H graduating seniors of 2018...

We joked, as winter overstayed her welcome, that we were likely to skip right over spring and head straight into summer. Well, with the Memorial Day weekend around the corner, that seems to have happened. Wasn’t it only last week the ice went out in the Iowa Great Lakes? Come Saturday, those blue waters will be filled with colorful boats. Grand Avenue in Spencer will be in its summer holiday gridlock as trucks hauling boats, and campers packed to the gills will race like geese, north to summer...

With each mass murder that occurs in our country’s schools, we immediately see the typical debates on weaponry, school policy and law enforcement protocols. Many conflate the cause for these events as due primarily to bullying. It seems as though in the nearly 20 years since the events at Columbine High School, people are still split over what is the root cause for these terrible acts; with mental illness, access to weapons, bullying, modern culture, taste in art and even “slipping through the cracks” thrown around in equal measure.. ...

I was prepared. I was prepared to talk about how school safety had prevailed. I was prepared to talk about how a gun was used to save lives. I was prepared to talk about how a trained officer prevented tragedy without losing a single life — not even the attacker's. I was prepared to say we were getting somewhere...

The governor's office is taking applications for persons to serve on boards and commissions. These groups are responsible for advising the governor and lieutenant governor, the Legislature and state agencies. There are more than 180 appointed positions to boards and commissions in our state. Appointments are made to most boards and commissions annually. All applications are kept on file as public information. Check out https://openup.iowa.gov/openboard for current vacancies...

So once again, in what is becoming a far too frequent phenomenon, shots rang out in the halls of an American educational institution. The deadliest school shooting since February's Parkland, Florida, incident claimed 17 lives, Friday's attack by a student at his Santa Fe, Texas, high school resulted in the deaths of 10 people ― eight students and two teachers. This time, not in an urban community, but in a town a little bit larger than Spencer...

"America First" pulls this country away from the world trade order that has existed since post-World War II replacing it with something that is a work in progress, yet to be fully defined. The ag sector is on the leading edge of this change about to undergo a massive supply chain disruption and reconfiguration marked by new trade barriers as America pulls out of the existing structure...

Read Matthew 25:14-30 Consider the Parable of the Talents. You know I have heard a sermon or two that just gets this parable all wrong. Of course, it is another parable about the end times and the Judgment Day, when the Master comes to settle accounts with his servants. ...

I recently wrote a story about local and state preparedness for public health concerns. During my interview with Clay County Emergency Manager Eric Tigges, a note of truth rang out when he talked about personal responsibility in disaster situations...

DES MOINES — Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through November. “Farmers continue to make planting progress as conditions allow and now 65 percent of corn and 33 percent of soybeans have been planted,” Naig said. ...

If there's one thing the disturbed cowards who shoot up schools have in common, it seems to be this: the vast majority, in recent memory, are teenage males. Many are adults in the physical sense, but they so frequently are the bullied, the outcasts, the alienated, the incapacitated...

Last Tuesday the Daily Reporter reprinted an editorial written by the Quad City Times which took the Iowa Legislature to task for passing the fetal heartbeat bill that will eliminate abortions in Iowa after a heartbeat is detected in the unborn child. ...

On Saturday, May 12, myself and two other people had diner at noon at the Family Table in Spencer. When I went to pay my bill, the waitress said this has already been paid for. This day I was wearing my Honor Flight Veteran hat. It appeared that someone had seen my hat and had paid for our meal. ...

I can’t begin to thank the Daily Reporter, the community, the folks who wrote nomination letters and those who said and wrote so many nice notes on social media and emails. Being named the “Citizen of the Year” is by far the greatest honor ever bestowed upon me...

The week of April 15, we celebrated National Volunteer Week. For years we have known that without the dedication and passion of millions of volunteers in this country, the good works and spiritual support of people of all races, colors and creeds would be severely curtailed. ...