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Local Columns

Magic Mike 6XL: The Rumble in the Walmart Jungle

To say my sister and I have the occasional fight is an understatement. To say that she's Muhammad Ali and I'm George Foreman, that could be a more accurate statement, but our rumble in the jungle is filled with quick-witted barbs and sarcastic comments. The ironic part is that usually we get ...

Just Jonathan: World record

I have a hard time saying no. Do you want ice cream? Of course I do. Would you help me with this? Sure. Want to go to the Mall of America quick? Why the hell not. This tendency to say yes and not no, comes with some risks that I am fully aware of. I live a decently healthy lifestyle and avoid ...

Magic Mike 6XL: S.O.S. MAC

One of the things I want most from the bat cave is the bat phone. You know, the red emergency line phone; that would be cool. And, if I did have that, it would have rang last week. So, I was at home, it was Tuesday, I had just loaded my plate up with seconds from supper when my Ma's phone ...

Just Jonathan: A flower power adventure

About a year ago, my sister, Jenna asked me to dance with her in one of her senior dance solos. If you’re unaware, I am not really the dancing type, this was very much out of my comfort zone. After all was said and done, no one brought me flowers. With the feeling of immense despair and ...

You’ll Figure It Out: Good old mother!

Wow! A day to honor all the Mothers. That special day that the kids and Dad do all the household chores and come Monday, Mom has to try to clean up the mess in the kitchen, fix the vacuum cleaner, rearrange the dishes, pot and pans into their proper places and also try to figure out how ...

Heather’s Highlights: County Government and You, April 2025

April has been a great month of warmer temperatures and finally some much needed rain! The budget development process is now behind us for the year, but we will continue to monitor it as the year progresses. Our Supervisor meetings are running smoothly and the agendas are still very full. You ...

You’ll Figure It Out: First golf of the season

Spring has not been kind to me and the good days one could play golf, were those days I was surprisingly busy. But finally I got the old clubs out, cleaned the golf balls, found a few tees and I went out to play my first round of golf of 2025. It was not pretty. No one's first outing is ...

A Fair View

Editor's Note: Chris Behrens submitted his resignation as interim Tama County Zoning Administrator/Weed Commissioner on Wednesday, April 30. His resignation is set to be addressed during a Friday, May 2 meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Well, our Board of Supervisors has done it again. ...

On the Record with Sheriff Schmidt, April 2025

If there is one thing that continues to stand out to me, it is how lucky I am to work alongside such great people. The staff at the Sheriff’s Office make my job easier every single day, and I cannot thank them enough. But it goes beyond just our office. Across the board, Tama County is filled ...

Magic Mike 6XL: Bye, Bye, Birdhouse

So, it's spring. Flowers are blooming, and piles of random odds and ends are left out on the berm for a disgruntled city worker to pick up. Yeah, we threw a load of junk out there to be taken. We do every year. Somehow we always have some more random crap just lying around to throw into a ...