Apple Computer

Evans: State Help Shouldn’t Overlook Our Small Towns

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Community leaders always prefer to see the glass as half full instead of dwelling on trends and policies beyond their control that could easily produce anxiety — or ulcers. I had a friend for many years who fit that description. I would call him an optimistic realist. I’m sure he had opportunities to follow a career path that would have taken him to a large city, just as I did. Instead, he chose to work and expend his leadership energy in a smaller town with fewer people than some neighborhoods in Des Moines have.

Art Neu

Government Should Be Like Baby Bear’s Porridge

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I’m sure you have heard the old tale about Iowa’s bountiful cornfields — about closing your eyes in the summer, listening carefully at night and being able to hear the corn grow. Here’s different image to ponder:

If you open your eyes and look around carefully, I think you can see our state changing right in front of us. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He is a former editorial page editor and assistant managing editor of The Des Moines Register. Opinions are his own.

opinion

Iowa Leaders Have Been Dithering Too Long

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You’ve got to hand it to people along America’s Gulf Coast who support their families as commercial shrimpers and fishermen. They certainly are patient. For the past 25 years, the challenges they face in finding an adequate supply of shrimp and fish have grown larger and more expensive. And Iowans are a key factor in this problem. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.