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Opinion

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

Local Columns

Editor's Note: This column will publish in the Friday, June 11 print edition of the News Chronicle. I hope you are having a great summer! My family has been enjoying extra time together during summer break. The Tama County Board of Supervisors had been made aware that the Landfill and ...

A Fair View

Local Columns

Editor's Note: This column will publish in the Friday, June 11 print edition of the News Chronicle. I was gone for a couple weeks, but I’m back. The Tama County Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday was a good one and had a mixed group of people. There was a lot of talk about ...

A photo of my father

Editorials

This is a photo of my father. He was born in Tama. He is standing before Mount Suribachi during World War II. If you don’t recognize this place, then you may not fully grasp the weight of history — or the immense cost of freedom. Take note: there is no flag on the peak. A Major in the ...

Letter to the Editor: Paying taxes

Letters to the Editor

I am a proud American, and there was a time when I felt an even deeper pride in our country. Like many people, I didn’t always appreciate paying taxes — especially when the difference between gross and net pay is so noticeable. But as I matured, I came to understand the critical importance ...

Just Jonathan: Horrible heat

Local Columns

Now, I’m not usually one to complain about the heat very much. Yeah sometimes it gets to me, but that’s just part of life. You roll up your sleeves or take off your shirt and you deal with it. I don’t complain about it often but I do know I’m not very good at suffering through the ...

Magic Mike 6XL: The fellowship of the ticket

Local Columns

Sometimes the fates align like an eclipse making a single perfect, beautiful, once in a lifetime moment. When these things happen you have to appreciate them for their rarity, and for the sheer mind-tickling wonder that it is. To cut to the chase, it is my birthday this Friday, and my sister ...

Just Jonathan: Jonathan’s guide to being uncomfortable

Local Columns

So often in my life, I find myself uncomfortable. That feeling of your chest closing in, the world staring at you, and your own self-loathing—all surrounding your inward emotions in so many adverse situations. Through my many years of experience, I have developed six methods to combat—and ...

Magic Mike 6XL: Time travel in theory and practice

Local Columns

Time is a construct. Time is a fallacy. Time is an idea created by man and put into practice so that you'd show up 20 minutes early to your doctor's appointment and wait in an uncomfortable chair next to an old lady with a death-rattle cough. Einstein said, "Time is relative," and there is no ...

Letter to the Editor: Feenstra wants to be like Trump?

Letters to the Editor

Randy Veenstra running for governor say he wants to be like Trump. Veenstra when will you pay a porn star to keep her mouth shut like Trump? Veenstra when will you bad mouth fellow republican, governor Reynolds like Trump did? Veenstra when will you declare bankruptcy multiple times like Trump ...

You’ll Figure It Out: Things my dad said AND didn’t say!

Local Columns

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the Dads. Being a Dad is tough. We're supposed to have all the answers, (we do), and we're supposed to be able to fix anything, (not me). And in the middle of the night, we're supposed to check that mysterious noise out. Haha, I let Deb know from day ...