Messing with Visitors

State lawmakers backed away from a proposal this week that would have removed stickers from gas pumps promoting fuel blended with ethanol. Backers argued that out-of-state drivers leery of ethanol might use the cheaper corn-based blend if it wasn’t labeled.
Critics panned the idea. But I think they were on to something. Here are five other proposals for messing [...]

Friday Mailbag — Naysayers Unite

On Tuesday I columnized that “critics, cranks and government minimalists” are already taking shots at Cedar Rapids’ latest downtown/riverfront development effort. I said I have a soft spot for the naysayers, but I can’t join the local battle cry that nothing should happen in this town until all the streets are fixed. I argued that [...]

Beware of Gay Millionaires

From Radio Iowa’s OK Henderson:
A group pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Iowa is charging that key Democrats in the legislature are getting campaign contributions from wealthy gay rights activists. Chuck Hurley of the Iowa Family Policy Center says the money’s being funneled into campaign accounts set up by the Democrats [...]

Enforcing Law is Difficult for Top Law Enforcer

The Des Moines Register reports today that Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is willing to hand some of his authority to a new board the Legislature may create to enforce open meetings and records law.
It’s good news for the bill. But something Miller said was curious:
Miller said years-long concerns over conflicts of interest and scant [...]

Baffled in English Glen

I live among the beige, gray and beige-ish gray homes in the English Glen subdivision on the north side of Marion. It’s the sort of neighborhood I made fun of when I was younger. I’d never live in the cornfield-turned-sprawl, I thought back then.
Think again pal. You’re home.
Or am I? On Wednesday, I became even more of [...]

Got Rickets?

Health experts are warning sun-starved Iowans about the dangers of vitamin D deficiency, according to Radio Iowa:
“While the cold winter weather may put you in a bad mood and keep you indoors, one group says it can also have an adverse health impact. Tim Miller is a spokesman for the U.V. Foundation and says [...]

Favorite Bars

Note: This is a companion piece to my Sunday column. It is by no means a complete list. Please add to it liberally.  
Old School Dives
Alpine Tap Room, Des Moines
Small, dark joint on Ingersoll Ave. During my Drake days, the budget-minded drinker could get Hamms in a can at a very reasonable price. Many hours spent [...]

Friday Mailbag — Creative Readers

An envelope arrived on my desk this morning from Kathy Hendricksmeyer of Cedar Rapids. Inside was a clever, funny song she wrote about our never-ending winter:
Lament for the Winter of 2007-2008
(Sung to the tune of “Jingle Bells”)
Chorus
Winter snow, winter snow, time you went away!
We loved you in December but don’t need you here in May. Hey!
Wintertime, wintertime, [...]

Yesterday’s Column — The SILO Bunch

A bunch of state lawmakers wants to curtail your control over your pennies. Don’t fret. They mean well.
They want to take the 10-year local-option sales tax for school buildings — the one some of you around here voted for just last year — and make it a permanent statewide tax. All 99 counties have the [...]

Clinton Spends $95,000 at Hy-Vee

And there wasn’t even a snowstorm in the forecast. From the New York Post:
“AUSTIN, Texas – Hillary Rodham Clinton’s free-spending campaign blew a whopping $95,000 at a low-end supermarket-deli chain last month in Iowa – a telling sign of why she can no longer cut the mustard financially against Barack Obama in critical states.
“Clinton’s latest [...]