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Lincoln’s Law smells like a rose in 21st Century

Local Columns

Eight score and two years ago, President Abraham Lincoln signed the False Claims Act into federal law. The anti-fraud tool, enacted March 2, 1863, became known as Lincoln’s Law. Our 16th president embraced meatier measures to go after fraudsters bilking the U.S. Treasury during the Civil War. Contractors were selling inferior supplies to the Union Army, outfitting the troops with poor quality uniforms and boots, mixing sawdust with gunpowder and even selling blind horses to the Union cavalry. Back then, Congress resurrected the legal principle known as qui tam — part of a Latin ...

Corrections workers are unsung heroes

Editorial

Anyone who took the time to read the entire Iowa criminal code would come across an offense entitled assault by an inmate with bodily fluids or secretions. Yes, that offense does exist in state law. And yes, the offense is as gross as it sounds. But that kind of an assault is one of the things county jailers and state corrections officers must contend with. Everyone is well aware that law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel risk their lives every day to protect us. But there is another group of people that risk their lives every day to protect the ...

Salutes hospice staff, volunteers

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: My heart was saddened when I heard that the Paula J. Baber Hospice Home is closing. I was the volunteer coordinator for UnityPoint Hospice volunteers from 2003-2022. A lot of our volunteers spend many hours in our wonderful Hospice Home helping our patients, their families and guests and staff. This home is such a blessing to our community. When our patients would come to the hospice home, our staff would care for them so their loved ones could spend more time being with them in their final days. The hospice home also provides respite care for days when a caregiver needs ...

Iowa Senate tackles health care costs

Local Columns

Last Monday, the Iowa Senate passed Senate File 75, requiring a county that has the main campus of a Regent university in it to use districts to elect supervisors. This bill would provide a more accurate representation of the demographic that truly represents the area. The Iowa Senate passed SF 277, making several adjustments and clarifications to the chronic absenteeism policy passed last year. This bill gives schools more flexibility in addressing this issue while continuing to focus on ensuring students are in the classroom. The Senate also passed SF 295, authorizing the ...

Help celebrate National Ag Day

Editorial

As another growing season approaches, Tuesday has been set as National Ag Day by the Agriculture Council of America. The council designates the week it falls within as National Ag Week. One goal of National Ag Day is to recognize the contribution agriculture makes in the lives of all of us. The council sponsors and encourages programs during National Ag Week that help Americans: • Understand how food and fiber products are produced. • Appreciate the role ag plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products. • Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a ...

Restoring security at our southern border and delivering justice for Sarah Root

Local Columns

Nine years ago, on Jan. 31, 2016, tragedy struck the Root family. 21-year-old Sarah Root, who was driving home to celebrate with her family and friends after graduating from Bellevue University in Nebraska, was hit and killed by an egregiously drunk driver. Instead of answering for his crimes, Edwin Mejia—an illegal immigrant driving three times over the legal limit—posted bail, fled our country, and was not seen from again. Until recently, the Root family had been left without closure. However, on Feb. 27, Honduran law enforcement officials found and arrested the driver—Edwin ...