I’m “pro-life,” you could say. I was reared in a strictly Catholic household at 216 Geneseo St., and sent to St. Mary’s School in Storm Lake where that regimen was reinforced. I matriculated to an all-men’s college run by priests in the Twin Cities, where I was fully schooled in ...
Opposites, man, yin and yang, cats and dogs, cookies and lettuce, they are some funny things. The counterpart or the thing that completely contradicts an item. I've known mine my entire life. My sister. See, there is a way that we are opposite already. I don't mind writing about myself or ...
Nothing makes my heart rate spike quite like the age old dog chase! After years and years of running the streets of Tama-Toledo I certainly know where some of the more ruthless canines live and will plan accordingly. I’m not big on the surprise that follows a mean sounding bark and a furry ...
Attention all of us senior citizens, do you remember the "good ol' days?” Walking to school in 20-below zero several miles, uphill each way? Doing "inhumane" chores around the house like mowing the lawn with a PUSH MOWER. In fact, the Shedas never even had a push mower with a motor. We ...
Flying is not my thing. It’s ridiculous. You are placing your complete trust in someone you’ve never seen nor met, flying something you know nothing about, speeding through the air at speeds unfathomable, and landing safely in someplace when you’d wished you’d stayed home! Flying to ...
One of the biggest privileges of my job is covering the community that has shaped me into who I am. Working for the newspaper has been so much more than a job, it’s been a way to give back and contribute what I feel the community deserves. I would describe myself as a civically engaged ...
Never in a million years did I think I would be a year out of high school working as a local reporter. As a matter of fact, I backed out of the position when it first came before me in February. The newspaper was something I read, not something I played a part in making. After the initial ...
I was a chubby baby, a chunky toddler, then a husky pre-adolescent. When I got into my teen years, the pretty adjectives went out the window, and the phrase "Jeez, you're fat" came flying in. Now, if you've ever seen me on the street, you know what I'm talking about here. I am not ...
After the disastrous collapse of the apartment building in Davenport, our Republican Governor whined that our state hadn’t the financial capacity to deal with this collapse and made a plea to Joe Biden for federal financial aid to help with the resulting mayhem. Let’s look at past ...
As I sit here typing, I think of the great fun we'll all have on the 4th. My second daughter was born on this day at 9:30 in the evening. The doctor told us we have our very own fireworks! We've always enjoyed the festivities on Independence Day. For about the first seven years of her ...