The Legislature took an important step last week in voting to toughen penalties for state and local officials who violate a key government transparency tool, Iowa’s open meetings law. …

What were they thinking? That is a question I ask myself a lot lately. Those were the first words out of my mouth when the Manhattan district attorney had to postpone Donald Trump’s New York …

Like many people who call this state home, I have long taken an interest in the careers and achievements of people who have gotten their start in Iowa.  As a kid, I was fascinated to walk …

Voters have busy lives — families to care for, jobs demanding their attention, bills to worry about.  So, they can be forgiven if they do not closely track their government leaders’ …

I really should not be surprised by some comments that represent what passes for civic dialogue in Iowa these days. The latest example leaves me shaking my head, not just at the events themselves but …

City leaders in Davenport have forgotten that city government there belongs to the people. It does not belong to the folks who were elected to city offices. This reminder is necessary because a …

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 …