For the second straight year, the Wilton School District has claimed the Advocate News Backyard Challenge trophy. When the 2018-2019 school year begins and the football teams meet in Durant Aug. 24, … more

Iowa must do more to make job training and other education opportunities more affordable. Student debt and increasing tuition are among the biggest problems facing our state, according to an Iowa … more

We begin this week with some notes on June 11. It was a very hectic Monday, with our staff trying to prepare for two city council meetings in Durant and Wilton, a school board meeting in Durant … more

Nashville songwriter Bobby Fischer, a Wilton native, is understandably proud of country singer-songwriter-recording artist Margo Price, who has been called “country’s next … more

This week will be Part 1 of my two-part session wrap-up. Listening to the attack partisans in the opinion section each week you would think Des Moines is all doom and gloom. Nothing is perfect, but … more

I want to begin this week with two anecdotes before “Case in Point” truly begins. First, I’m reminded of one of my favorite movies quotes. It’s from the movie “Saw,” yes a slasher film … more

Our local school districts seemingly raced to an early finish line this year as the 2017-2018 school year ended May 23 (for Durant and Wilton seniors, it was May 16). Given the 90-plus degree … more

Are you prepared to vote in Iowa’s June 5 primary elections? That’s when Iowans decide who will be their party’s candidates in November’s general election for many federal, state and … more

I write about it nearly every year. May is certainly one of the, if not THE busiest month here at the Advocate News. Recent success of spring sports teams has only added to the craziness for me in … more

In this week’s column, I will describe in detail the tax reform plan that passed and in future columns I will do my traditional overview of session describing the things that happened that I … more

Here are some scratches from an old reporters’ notepad: • Thank a teacher. That advice came from U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa in a recent column he wrote. He told high school graduates … more

While in the middle of printing bios for 97 Durant and Wilton seniors, I felt it fitting to reprint a column I wrote May 21, 2009, which I think is still applicable today. Congratulations to our … more