My wife, Angeleita, and I just returned from Italy, our fourth visit. We still felt like strangers in boot-land, but now we’re getting comfortable with getting around, ordering meals and avoiding seeming like stereotypical Americans, though that was a challenge.
Every adult understands the magic of three little words that heal and energize.
Serious writers understand “yes” and “no” voices. They may call them other names, such as creative and critical phases, or inventing and editing. Both voices must be part of any successful creative venture.
Sometimes a writer’s least-read book turns out to be his most important. Melville’s “Moby Dick” was a commercial failure when first published, as was Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.” The world wasn’t ready for them until long after their publication.
So much of what I know about Robert James Waller comes from memory. Recent direct experiences have been spotty, mostly via email, and then only occasionally. We’ve often gone for months at a time with no communication due to distances and general busyness.
Every year for me has a guiding word. 2015 was “gratitude,” thanks partly to my colleague Len Froyen’s engaging book by that title. It offered a needed reminder we’re here and carry on thanks to the love, kindness and generosity of dozens of people. Gratitude always applies.
Even the blackest clouds contain streaks of light, those silver linings we need during terrible storms. Are there silver linings over Trumpland?
Friday night, May 9, 1958. I’m 14 years old, glued to our 21-inch Zenith television, watching “Trackdown,” a western starring Robert Culp as Hoby Gilman, a chain-smoking, fast-drawing, no-nonsense Texas Ranger. He’s cool personified, a rough combination of Matt Dillon and Steve McQueen.
Every year we give and get gifts large and small, expensive and simple, heartfelt and routine. Every year we give or get only one or two — if we’re lucky — perfect gifts.
If “freedom” means anything, it means freedom to pray and worship in your own way, on your own time, with whomever shares your views. This seems like common sense to me and beyond disagreement.
My dear old friend Dale Phelps liked to cite the Friedrich Nietzsche quote: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Hillary Clinton supporters, you’re still alive.
We love the idea of free speech. The exercise of it? Not so much.
Freelance writer Scott Cawelti is having lunch and a conversation with area leaders. This is the 10th installment from his lunch with community leader Kamyar Enshayan.
Much of what we think and do depends on how much money we have.
The Waterloo Community Foundation will hear from Dementia Friendly Cedar Valley and Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 5.
Is our employment picture getting better or worse? See recent changes in local jobs, unemployment, earnings and more in these regularly updated charts and maps.
The community is invited to join FCC to tie ribbons in Lincoln Park and throughout Waterloo at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 1.
The public reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. March 29 at the Public Safety Building, 4600 S. Main St.
Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a pair of laws restricting the bathrooms transgender students can use and banning gender-affirming medical care amid a flood of legislation nationwide targeting the trans community. Doctors will have six months to cease prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. And transgender students will be barred from using public school restrooms that align with their gender identity. Students will need parental consent for special accommodations like using a faculty or single-occupancy restroom. Iowa LGBTQ advocacy groups, civil rights organizations and the state’s teachers’ union have condemned both laws.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, announced last week he was taking the step to separate from the Electronic Registration Information Center.
A man has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend and another man during a crowded birthday party at an Iowa nightclub where he was working security. Timothy Rush agreed this week in a motion to a deal in which he pleaded guilty to two charges of involuntary manslaughter. KWWL-TV reports that a judge accepted the plea deal Thursday. Three people were killed and nine others were wounded in the April 10 shooting in Cedar Rapids. Rush initially was charged with two counts of second degree murder for two of the deaths. A second suspect was sentenced last year to life in prison for killing the third victim.
It’s at least the second time in four months the state has failed to impose the minimum fine against an Iowa care facility implicated in the death of a resident.
Content by Chief Agri. Chief Agri, a brand of Chief Industries that supports the agricultural community, provides a guide to planning a farm grain storage facility.
Content by Ballard's Resort. Ballard’s Resort makes vacation planning easy with lodging, fishing and meal packages to choose from that are perfect for families with kids, friend reunions and corporate trips.
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Police have filed murder charges in a 2020 Waterloo nightclub shootout that left two people dead.
Trial has been set for a Hudson man who has pleaded not guilty to allegations he harmed his 3-month-old daughter in 2022.
A former Cedar Falls resident is one of two administrators who were shot on Wednesday morning at a Denver, Colorado high school after a handgun was found on a student.
A Raymond man has been arrested after his infant son was found with a leg injury in February.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, announced last week he was taking the step to separate from the Electronic Registration Information Center.
It’s at least the second time in four months the state has failed to impose the minimum fine against an Iowa care facility implicated in the death of a resident.
Using mobile devices while driving a vehicle would be illegal except when using hands-free modes. The Senate also passed a bill to change SNAP and Medicaid eligibility.
It’s the first time the policy has been reviewed extensively in at least five years.
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