This is a critical question of national/international importance.
Which photo should be used with my Gazette column? Somber or Happy?
The somber photo is what currently runs with my column. I’m thinking of making a switch. Your input could tip the balance.
Entries from January 2009
January 30, 2009
Be The Poll — Somber or Happy?
January 30, 2009
Friday Mailbag — Book Theft
The vast majority of my mail this week was sparked by my Tuesday column wondering why it was necessary to arrest and jail an Independence woman after she failed to return a long-overdue library book.
Essentially, I argued that arrest and jail was an overreaction. I asserted that our society too often cuts the rich/famous/powerful slack while [...]
January 30, 2009
Friday Reads — Change
There’s a lot of change going on out there folks. It’s tough to keep up.
First, Cedar Rapids and other communities in Linn and Johnson counties want local residents’ change, pennies that is, to help pay for flood recovery. A bill allowing allowing fast-track local option sales tax votes in disaster areas cleared the Iowa House Thursday. [...]
January 29, 2009
House Approves LOST Bill, Fun Begins
The Iowa House at this hour voted 55-37 for legislation allowing Cedar Rapids and other communities hit by natural disasters to put a local option sales tax plan on the ballot in March. Passage sends the bill to Gov. Chet Culver, who will sign it.
Note: House members can cast votes for 10 minutes after the [...]
January 29, 2009
Iowa Battle Flags Take Budget Fire
Flipping through Gov. Chet Culver’s 2010 budget plan, I noticed that he eliminated funding for restoration/stabilization of hundreds of flags carried into battle by Iowans. Most were hoisted in the Civil War.
You can learn more about the program here.
The State Historical Society of Iowa asked for $220,000 to keep the program going. Culver gave them [...]
January 29, 2009
Thursday Reads — You’re Going the Wrong Way
Have any of you been feeling out of sorts lately? Perhaps you’ve been dazed by the drudgery of snow and cold and more cold. Maybe it seems you’re going in the wrong direction.
Well, consider the story of the 88-year-old North Platte, Neb., man who drove the wrong way on Interstate 80 for 40 miles Tuesday [...]
January 28, 2009
Funny Headlines
Maybe you saw The Gazette’s story on how one of our headlines made Jay Leno’s show this week.
That got me to thinking of my favorite bad headlines. At my old job, I had some hanging on a bulletin board beside my desk.
Here’s a sampling:
1. “Damn Construction 92 Complete at Brushy Creek” (Fort Dodge Messenger)
2. “Museum [...]
January 28, 2009
Cuts Make Culver Crabby
From O. Kay Henderson at Radio Iowa:
Governor Chet Culver says there will be “significant layoffs” in the state government workforce in the coming year as agencies deal with budget cuts. Culver this morning revealed more details of his state budget plan for the fiscal year which begins July 1st, and bristled when Des Moines Register [...]
January 28, 2009
Wednesday Reads — Taxin,’ Cuttin,’ and Speculatin’
It’s -9 at the Dorman compound. But it could be worse. I could live in Paducah, Ky, which looks like a war zone covered in 3 inches of ice.
So the big news around these parts is the Iowa Senate’s vote yesterday to approve a bill allowing a speedy local option sales tax vote in disaster [...]
January 27, 2009
What’s Your Auditor Worth?
Linn County Auditor Joel Miller is a brave man. He’s asking the public to weigh in on his salary for the next fiscal year. He’s posing the $87,622 question at his Views from the Linn County Auditor blog ahead of next week’s county compensation board meeting.
He’s hoping to get 100 votes in his poll. At this [...]
