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Opinion

Public notices must remain in newspapers

Editorial

There are some in the Iowa Legislature who periodically toy with the possibility of eliminating the requirement that local governments print public notices in newspapers. This is the wrong move today, tomorrow and for the future. Government transparency is more important than ever. In truth it ...

Prop 12 is a hogwash ‘government knows best’ approach

Local Columns

With passage of Proposition 12 in 2018, California voters overstepped constitutional boundaries and effectively hogtied pig farmers across America. Pork producers were faced with a dire choice: either fork out tens of thousands of dollars to comply with California’s mandates or get ...

Lawmakers shouldn’t change funding for job training program

Editorial

Tucked inside an economic development bill that probably contains many good things is a provision that would severely inhibit and maybe even end an effective job training program. The measure would make a change in the way an employee training program commonly called 260E is paid for. That ...

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 ...

The high cost of being cheap

Local Columns

The Iowa Legislature is at it again, trying to eliminate publication of legal notices in newspapers. And it will cost Iowa’s citizens way more money than it saves. Republican sponsors say it will save money for cities and counties, but as editor Art Cullen noted in his editorial last week, ...