A few months ago, I bumped into a former aide to Gov. Robert Ray. As we reminisced about the governor, our conversation turned to his nearly daily meetings with journalists. The aide said yes, those …

The word for today is optics — but not the kind where your eye doctor is an expert. Instead of eyeglasses, I am thinking about the kind of optics that result when the perception of some …

Veterans Day is around the corner. For John and Bob, the day will be for remembering the men and women who serve in the United States military — and for two service members, in particular. For …

The rationale behind Iowa’s professional licensing laws is simple: People in certain professions and skilled occupations are required to hold state licenses to work in Iowa. This is to ensure …

For many years, an Iowa State University political science professor and I met several times a year for coffee and conversation. During our coffee klatches, I probed my friend’s thinking on …

Back where I came from, you do not expect to have a bomb-sniffing dog circle your car when you pull into the parking lot for Sunday church services. But that is what occurred. After the dog’s …

Many decades ago, Mrs. Gentry and Mr. Halferty put up with an inquisitive kid’s classroom questions about American democracy and the workings of government. I did not imagine back then how the …

Iowa is about as far removed from an ocean as you can get. But this state figures in recent news reports about the U.S. Navy — and not in a puff-up-our-chest-with-pride way. One of the reports …

Campaigning for public office is no picnic. Day after day there are speeches, Q&A’s, interviews and the constant need to think before you speak. Candidates eat enough chicken to have …

There were more disclosures in recent days in the ongoing saga involving the ethical standards of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court — or, more accurately, the lack of ethical standards. With …

Deanna Mahoney was like countless Iowa women through the years. She nurtured three children. She worked outside the home to supplement the family income. She loved bowling and mushroom hunting. That …

Silly me. I thought I had been paying attention to the issues about which Iowans feel strongly. You know, things like inflation, taxes, government spending, the war in Ukraine, a new farm bill, water …