‘And be sure to show your work.” Remember back in grade school, how you hated it when your teacher said that? What’s the difference how I come up with the solution, you thought, as long as it’s right. Of course, by now you know that in most things it’s not enough to stumble across the [...]

How can we better serve Linn County residents with mental health issues and developmental disabilities, and how can we do it for less? That was the $1 million question Linn County supervisors asked Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities director Mechelle Dhondt last fall. Dhondt set out to find the answer, enlisting the help of everyone [...]

Here’s a lovely Bike to Work Week present: After years of trying, Cedar Rapids has earned the distinction of being one of America’s “bike-friendly” cities. In fact, two Corridor cities were among the 24 newly declared Bicycle Friendly Communities by the League of American Bicyclists this year. University Heights also earned the distinction. They join [...]

  The whole point of having elected office is to give voters a choice about who represents them. But too often, downticket races for offices like county auditor don’t generate much attention. Not so in Johnson County this season, where Auditor Tom Slockett is facing a tough primary opponent (In that county, where registered Democrats [...]

    My dad worked nearly his whole life for a modest, family-centered chain of department stores, starting out selling shoes and working his way up to management. Along the way, he got to know people better than just about anyone I’ve met. And while I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a [...]

  It’s no surprise that President Barack Obama’s college affordability message got such an enthusiastic response Wednesday in Iowa City. Student debt is one of only a few pocketbook issues for the young voters who made up the bulk of the president’s audience at the University of Iowa Field House. But Obama wasn’t pandering: The [...]

  Radically normal. That’s the phrase Zach Wahls uses to describe the women who raised him. And it’s a fitting description of the Iowa City kid-turned-gay rights superstar whose message has resonated with millions of people around the world. “Our family isn’t really so different from any other Iowa family,” Wahls said last year when [...]

If you ask Tom Vilsack, the road to prosperity is paved with pig manure. And plant-based plastics, and bio jet fuel, and other ag-related innovations we’ve only yet dreamed of. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is celebrating its 150th anniversary, but when the former gov-turned-Ag secretary met with The Gazette Editorial Board this week, his [...]

Last summer there was no limit to the state’s ambitions for education reform. We were going to pave the way for 21st century learning, light a fire under every student, reclaim our title as the state that does education right. But as the legislative session winds down, it’s looking more and more like we’ll end [...]

An ounce of prevention isn’t just the opening phrase of a worn-out cliche. It’s a brilliant approach to child welfare. I dare you to find anyone who would argue it’s better to wait to offer a hand until a tenuous family situation deteriorates into abuse. Yet that’s how our child protection structures work, for the [...]