After a great deal of thought, I am submitting my resignation as Superintendent of the Wilton and Durant Community School Districts, effective at the conclusion of the 2026-27 school year. more

Flip the ballot over and find Amendment 1. What does it mean? more

Are both parties Red and Blue equally corrupt? more

We last wrote about State Senator Kerry Gruenhagen this spring , ”Gruenhagen cares more about the (Chicago) Bears than abused kids in crisis”. We were asking what happened to the Child Welfare Task Force that had been set up in response to the starvation deaths of two 16 year old girls who had been adopted out of foster care. more

The State of Iowa and our county auditors have a reputation for always holding a professionally conducted election process and I have every confidence that this year’s midterm election will be conducted as honestly, fairly, and efficiently as it has in the past. more

As Iowa heads toward the Nov. 3 general election, our priorities are clear: protect the integrity of our elections and ensure every eligible Iowan has the opportunity to vote. more

At the Durant Iowa Food Pantry (DIFP), we believe food assistance should be about far more than handing out boxes of groceries; it is also about extending dignity and fostering connection. more

There are four simple things you can do to exercise your right to vote in our democracy this November: more

Secretary of State Paul Pate has served for a total of 15 years. He seems safe, familiar and a known quantity. more

As someone who writes both professionally and for fun, I can easily say that editing each piece of writing is my least favorite part of the job, especially as someone who can fall into being a perfectionist. more

It will never not be strange being someone who technically lived through 9/11 but also didn’t really. I was only six years old on Sept. 11, 2001, and I don’t remember what it was like after 9/11 or if my parents ever had a talk with me about it. I don’t even remember when we initially started talking about it at school. more

At the time of writing, it has only been about 24 house since the passing of the late, great Dolly Parton, and in that time I’ve read dozens of stories about the type of person she was and the legacy she’s leaving behind that stretches far above her songs and rhinestone-covered outfits. more

Did you know that if even if Rob Sand becomes governor of Iowa, we could still be stuck with the tax policy that has caused our state to drop from 25th to  50th in the nation for economic growth in the last year? Amendment 1 is on your ballot this midterm election and if it passes we will be frozen into the budget nightmare that has impoverished our schools, restricted our access to health care, cut inspections of nursing homes, allowed our infrastructure to crumble, kept our water dirty and reduced the budgets of our police force, fire stations and libraries. more

Recently, we had an emergency and called 911. The first officer arrived within two minutes, and the second officer within 30 seconds later. The ambulance arrived shortly after. Everyone was great and worked swiftly. more

For our rural communities like Durant, Bennett, Stockton, New Liberty, Moscow, and Wilton, ‘neighbors helping neighbors’ is not just a saying; it is foundational to who we are. We take pride in community and hard work, and we look out for one another through every season. more

In the last few months Iowa has become a battleground state with close races that not only could turn a red state purple, but could tip the balance in the U.S. Congress. more

As State Auditor, I’ve been sounding the alarm on the unaccountable private school voucher program for years. Politicians who like to lie say it’s because I’m against private schools. That’s not true at all.  more

As an educator who’s spent years building a foundation for children, I believe that school choice is a foundational freedom that Iowans should have. Parents should be able to have more say over where their kids go to school and more say over where their tax dollars are spent. more

I can remember a time, when I was a kid, that I took the phrase ‘Christmas in July’ about as seriously as I could. I put blankets over my bedroom window so I could pretend it was snowing outside, I put on my favorite winter pajamas, and I watched all my favorite Christmas specials – all in the middle of summer. more

Ashley Hinson says she is a minivan driving mom running for the U.S. Senate who sometimes has trouble keeping food in the fridge for her two teenage sons who attend public school, except… she’s a millionaire. She had over a million dollars before she ever ran, but she’s used her position in Congress to increase her wealth tenfold in the last four years. more