ICE is in Mason City. Breathless reports in Iowa City and West Liberty. Just saw the car in Spencer. Blow the whistles! When will the boot drop on Storm Lake or Denison? Chatter, chatter, …

A farmer with beer in the belly and a bur in his britches stormed out of Byron’s Bar in Pomeroy Saturday evening offended by the very idea of a meet-and-greet with Chris Jones, Democratic candidate …

US Rep. Randy Feenstra and Rep. Ashley Hinson joined ranks with House Republicans to vote against subsidies for health insurance policies offered on the federal exchange. Feenstra is running for …

So I’ve become that grumpy old man. Not funny like Walter Matthau. Just grumpy. Curmudgeonly, somebody said. Shrill. I wake up PO’d. It’s hard to stay in good humor when dawn breaks to a …

President Trump said we invaded Venezuela not so much over the drugs or democracy but for the oil. We left the drug runners in charge of the country with gunboats moored offshore ready to invade …

Those with high hopes for a two-party system in Iowa must put their minds and means on reaching rural voters. We had a balanced government a decade ago, before shelled-out river towns went …

State and local officials in Nebraska are giving Tyson the business after the giant meat packer announced plans to shut down the Lexington beef plant and put 3,200 people out of work. Tyson …

2025 was arduous and is good to have behind us. The fever might have broken. Trump was raving mad on TV last week, almost spitting into the camera. This just days after saying that he doesn’t …

Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Farm subsidies, that is. They distort markets, suppress diversity, and create winners and losers. We can’t get by without …

Rising electricity costs are becoming a prickly issue in politics. Higher rates and costs were a major issue in recent state and local elections nationwide. Data centers and cryptocurrency are …

We’re waiting on snowmageddon to dump on Storm Lake this morning after Thanksgiving. Forecasters hyperventilate. Plans are cancelled to gather with the extended family for supper in the happy …

Any reform plan offered by Gov. Kim Reynolds demands skepticism and invites dismissal, especially since she will not run for re-election next November. Reynolds hung her hat on Medicaid …

Iowa has reeked for several weeks as an armada of honey wagons sprayed their brown bounty on black dirt, followed by the white anhydrous ammonia tanks. They’re everywhere as I traveled …

Don’t expect too much from President Trump’s announcement last week that the Justice Department is launching probes into price-fixing among big beef processors, namely Tyson, JBS, …

First impression of Keokuk: beautiful and blighted, drained away with the currents of time at the confluence of the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers on Iowa’s southeastern tip. You could …

It sure smells like Gov. Kim Reynolds is cooking up something behind closed doors that will gut local government to make up for her bad fiscal decisions. The governor reportedly warned local …

Wisdom from the Stable Genius on Truth Social last week: “I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act. We are considering terminating …

Back and forth all over Iowa I trundle hawking my book — "Dear Marty, We Crapped In Our Nest." Everywhere I go one message emerges: We want our good old Iowa back. That is moderate, …

The campaign has begun to turn Iowa community colleges into four-year baccalaureate institutions competing with our highly valued network of private colleges. This ill-considered idea was requested …

Rob Sand appears to be in tune with a wide swath of Iowans who aren’t happy with the way things are going. Substantial crowds are showing up across the state to hear the state auditor …