March has arrived as a lamb this year with pleasant temperatures. More than normal rain has some concerned about spring flooding.

Is it right to treat big whales differently?

on Wed, 03/22/2023 - 02:06   by Randy Evans

On a late summer afternoon in Bloomfield 40 years ago, the people of Iowa learned about an unofficial government principle we have seen repeated in recent weeks.

Although this has played out in various ways through the years, it ultimately comes down to the same concept: If your problem is large enough, government will step in and lend you a helping hand. But if government decides yours is not a big problem, you probably will have to fend for yourself.

And we wonder why many Americans are disenchanted with government and its sense of fairness these days.

GOP principles: up in smoke at Iowa Statehouse

on Tue, 03/14/2023 - 02:31   by Kathie Obradovich

by Iowa Capital Dispatch
March 13, 2023

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature like to talk about their bedrock principles. This year, those principles seem to be printed on tissue paper and every new bill lights another match.

I wrote a whole column last week about how Statehouse Republicans, despite their repeated declarations of trust for parents, are working to eliminate choices for many. That was just one example, and the pattern has been regularly repeated.

But don’t take my word for it. Listen to Rep. Chad Ingels of Randalia, one of five Republicans who voted against the ban on gender-affirming health care for minors:

“This (bill) seeds division. It also asks the question: When do parents matter? Many people have talked already today that we have had a lot of talk, a lot of discussion, about parents mattering. Parents being the focus. But that’s until those parents think differently than us. You think differently than we do? To hell with them.”

But the abandonment of trust for parents isn’t the only one way the majority of Republicans are shredding previous principles. A central argument for banning drug therapies such as puberty blockers for minors was what Republicans cited as a lack of medical research on the long-term “efficacy” and safety of the medication.

And yet, just last year, House Republicans went to the wall to push through so-called “right to try” legislation to enable unapproved, unproven and potentially unsafe off-label use of drugs for certain patients. They wanted to clear the way for internet-fad remedies like ivermectin, commonly used to deworm horses, to treat COVID-19.

Late fiscal 2022 financial report from Lee Enterprises shows net income down 35 cents per share

on Wed, 03/01/2023 - 03:19   by news

Lee Enterprises, Inc. finally filed its full fiscal 2022 financial report Tuesday (Feb. 27) with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), two months later than normal.

The annual 10-K report showed the company lost 35 cents per share for the 12 months ended Sept. 25, or 14 cents more than preliminary numbers released Dec. 8 as part of its fourth quarter financial results.

Lee is publisher of the Quad City Times and Daily Dispatch/Argus and some 75 other newspapers and online news sites including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Buffalo News and the Omaha World-Herald.

Butlers oftha bushel: Or, why do farm operators still insist on tilling their corn fields in the fall?

on Mon, 02/06/2023 - 02:46   by Chris Jones

I’ve seen a lot of Iowa winters and I have to say the weeks between Christmas and January 20 were the ugliest I’ve seen the state look.

I know northwest Iowa has had some snow cover, but what little snow there is lying around the rest of the state is thickly coated with the dirt that we're repeatedly told is so, so precious to the SOL (Stewards Oftha Land).

A pre-Christmas blizzard moved a lot of snow and a lot of $20k per acre dirt along with it into the ditches, and the immediate warmup that followed melted much of the white stuff, exposing what the Cropagandists tell us is black gold.

Succession plan for Bettendorf city administrator position doesn't include timeline for transition

on Sat, 02/04/2023 - 01:36   by news

The Bettendorf City Council last month approved a succession plan for its city administrator without knowing when the transition would occur.

The week before Christmas, Bettendorf City Council members gathered in groups of three to avoid having to make public their meeting with City Administrator Decker Ploehn and Human Resource Director Kathleen Richlen. The purpose was to discuss a succession plan developed by Ploehn.

Ploehn, 70, had told the council over several years that he planned to retire once the new Interstate 74 Bridge was complete. The bridge opened last fall after a 10-year effort of planning, funding and construction.

But prior to completion of the bridge, Ploehn changed his mind. He now says his retirement might be "in six months or in two years."

Lousy choices best describes 'school choice' bill

on Thu, 01/19/2023 - 00:33   by Ed Tibbetts

Along the Mississippi

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says her plan to use taxpayer money to pay for private schooling gives people a choice to educate their kids where they want.

But that’s not what her plan says. Just look at the details: Only certain families with kids in public schools will get that choice.

What this plan really does is pay people who already are sending their kids to private schools.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ address highlights private school scholarships, agency restructuring

on Wed, 01/11/2023 - 19:29   by news

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
January 10, 2023

Gov. Kim Reynolds unveiled her latest private school scholarship proposal and plans for a huge restructuring of the state government Tuesday in her 2023 Condition of the State address.

Reynolds delivered her sixth address as governor to the most Republican-dominated Legislature of her time in office and one in which more than a third of the members are beginning their first terms.

“Through natural disasters, a pandemic, a nationwide recession and more, Iowa’s status as a beacon for freedom and opportunity has endured,” she said. “We’ve been recognized as the most fiscally responsible state in the country, we’re ranked in the top ten states to live in America, and we continue to be ranked the #1 state for opportunity.”

Reynolds was reelected to her second full term as Iowa governor in the 2022 election, defeating Democratic challenger Deidre DeJear.

Republicans also strengthened their trifecta control at the Iowa Statehouse, and party leaders in both chambers said they were ready to implement the governor’s agenda quickly. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver said the Senate is ready to hold a subcommittee meeting on Reynolds’ education bill yet this week or early next week.

“We are ready to get to work and hopefully make this agenda into law,” Whitver said.

Class action lawsuit accuses Davenport-based Lee Enterprises, Inc. of online privacy violations

on Sun, 12/25/2022 - 01:25   by Clark Kauffman

Iowa Capital Dispatch

The Iowa-based newspaper chain Lee Enterprises is facing a potential class-action lawsuit alleging it has shared readers’ personal information with Facebook in violation of federal law.

Lee publishes newspapers and other media content in 77 markets across 26 states. The company’s 10 Iowa papers include the Quad-City Times in Davenport, the Sioux City Journal, the Mason City Globe-Gazette the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and the Muscatine Journal.

The lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court, alleges that Lee’s news-media websites offer users the option of subscribing to newsletters or to newspapers that provide consumers with access to articles and video content in exchange for their personal information, including names and mailing addresses.

Large write-down of assets leaves Lee with a $6.34 million loss for fourth quarter ended September 25

on Mon, 12/12/2022 - 04:02   by news

Lee Enterprises – owner of the Quad City Times, Daily Dispatch/Argus and more than 70 other newspapers and online news sites – reported a $6.34 million loss for the fourth quarter ended September 25. However, the quarterly financial results were skewed into negative territory primarily by a $21 million (non-cash) write-down of company assets.

Without the write-down, Lee likely would have had positive earnings for the quarter, as opposed to the $1.09 per share loss it reported Thursday (December 8).

Iowa to dramatically cut back on restaurant inspections; plan is for once every five years

on Thu, 10/13/2022 - 18:57   by Clark Kauffman

Iowa Capital Dispatch
October 12, 2022

The state of Iowa is planning to dramatically scale back the routine inspection of restaurants and other food-service establishments by making only one onsite inspection every five years.

Currently, most Iowa restaurants are subjected to at least one routine inspection every three years. They are also inspected in response to complaints or changes in ownership.

Complaint-driven and ownership-related inspections will continue. But in the absence of those issues, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals intends to visit each Iowa restaurant no more than once every five years under a set of new rules that are expected to take effect next month.

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