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Tom Walsh said he used to live on an Iowa acreage with 20 acres of hardwood timber. In the spring, when conditions were right, those woods yielded morel mushrooms. Now, the former Johnson County bureau chief for the Gazette lives in Maine, where he writes for the Bangor Daily News. Beautiful place, Maine, [...]
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The smashed houses now on an endless cable TV loop are a lot like the ones that line my neighborhood streets in north Marion. The flattened schools look a lot like the one my kids attend. It would be just as heartbreaking and awful anywhere, but the familiarity of both the setting and the [...]
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So the final campaign spending numbers are in on the March 5 Linn County gambling referendum. Thanks to our quirky campaign finance system, we don’t get a complete picture of who was spending how much on what until more than two months after the vote. Helpful. Turns out it was a $3.4 million battle [...]
continue »The Floridian who won that $590 million Powerball prize is going to get a lot of attention. But I find myself wondering about folks who were one number away. Three such tickets were sold in Iowa: A total of 77,640 tickets purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes ranging from $4 up to $40,000. [...]
continue »Thank you for that kind introduction. I’m honored and humbled to have been invited to speak to you, the graduating class of 2013 here at the Iowa Institute for Reverse Psychology. I think reverse psychology is a very important but little understood and appreciated discipline. And it’s so thoughtful that you’ve bestowed on me this [...]
continue »The big tax deal rolled out yesterday at the Statehouse is taking lumps on the left. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement says vote it down: Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund (CCI Action Fund) members blasted a tentative legislative deal to cut corporate property taxes after a confidential memo was leaked Thursday, saying the [...]
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Lawmakers come now to grace us with details of the big ‘ol tax deal: In the property tax area, the compromise calls for commercial and Industrial properties to be assessed at 95 percent of valuation retroactive to Jan., then at 90 percent starting on Jan. 1, 2014, and then at 90 percent thereafter. Currently, [...]
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The governor’s state salary bill is out, including some proposed raises for elected officials. The Gazette’s Rod Boshart sent us the numbers: Proposed state salaries Office Current salary New salary effective Dec. 19, 2014 Governor 130,000 141,710 Lt. Governor 103,212 112,510 Sec. of Agriculture 103,212 112, 510 Sec. of State 103,212 112,510 State Treasurer [...]
continue »Our state lawmakers may be nearing a big deal on taxes, but mum’s the word. James Q. Lynch does his best to read the smoke signals: According to various reports, the property tax plan, which may be as large as $400 million, if approved by the split-control Legislature, will provide tax relief to commercial property [...]
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The mayor poured cold water on congressional rumors. But the mayor pro tem just might be in. Cedar Rapids City Council member Monica Vernon says she’s getting a lot of encouragement to run for the Democratic nomination in the 1st Congressional District. U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley is leaving the seat to run for the [...]
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