Ready or not, here it comes: They’re automating the packinghouse. Marble Technologies of Lincoln, Neb., uses artificial intelligence to eliminate human labor (and error) in packaging for …

President Trump toys with tariffs at our expense. He slapped a 50% tariff on Canadian goods and services despite a standing free-trade agreement. At the same time, Trump waived tariffs and cut a deal …

Two guys roam Scheels in West Des Moines, a bromance in the brew. Zach confides to Bobby that he likes Mepps spinners. Chartreuse. Bobby goes uh huh. So cool. Just two guys, doing what …

Climate change is at the root of high food prices. Drought on the Great Plains, from the Dakotas down to Texas, is driving cattle producers out of business. The pressure has been building for …

Dad wore polished black wing tips and a blue suit 24/7. He went to the Elks Lodge every day and to Mass every Sunday. He did not spit on the sidewalk. He helped to defeat Hitler, Mussolini and …

Those who wish me silent six feet under may be disappointed to hear that my blood test came back last week looking pretty good. Nine months following cancer surgery at the Mayo Clinic my …

Cherokee County officials devised a solar power and battery storage ordinance that prepares for 1990. Too bad it is 2026 and the locals put up a half-baked and pint-size response to a request by the …

An elderly man from Alta died after a vehicle hit him while he was walking in the Walmart parking lot. The driver was Latino. No charges had been filed; the incident was under investigation. …

Sad news for us old gray Panthers that St. Mary’s will throw in the towel and participate on the public school teams in any sport, Tornadoes now. Our Uncle John Murray was the coach back in the …

Rob Sand spent a lot more time talking open primaries and ranked-choice voting than he did water pollution or cancer during a packed town hall event in Storm Lake last week. Who needs political …

Iowa’s pork consolidation started in earnest about 50 years ago when swine started to move indoors. In 1976, Iowa had an estimated 60,000 hog farms producing 15 million head. Today, according to …

Imagine 1,500 foreigners showing up in rural Iowa who can’t speak English, are pacifists, refuse to take loyalty oaths, live communally with no pay, and shun social convention. Arrest them! …

President Trump and the ayatollahs blew up any hopes of taming inflation with renewed bombing of Iran and the Persian Gulf, just as fuel prices were softening. Gas jumped and stocks slumped when …

Clean air and water should be non-partisan goals for Iowa, which has serious pollution and health issues. We’re encouraged by the discussion taking place across the state and across the political …

Chris Jones and his boss at the water works used to ask as they gathered daily to discuss the roiling river’s polluted water: “Where’s the outrage?” Iowans are freaking out over our …

“I am apt to believe that [Independence Day] will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts …

Our region is attracting attention from renewable energy developers and opposition from suspicious neighbors. Cherokee County is trying to assemble an ordinance governing solar arrays and battery …

Two million Knicks fans reveled in lower Manhattan for a ticker-tape parade last Thursday morning as I skedaddled to LaGuardia for country roads to take me home. What an awful place, huh? Worse …

Republican senate candidate Ashley Hinson should pray that Allah moves the Iranians to a charitable end to a war with the United States and Israel if it isn’t already too late for the November …

Calls from left and right are building to break up Big Ag as beef prices rise, food plants close and workers are locked out from the slaughterhouse. Republican Zach Lahn separated himself in the …