Category: Opinion

Opinion

The morning after the election

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

The morning after the election, I took a walk. The dark computer screen across the room beckoned me to waggle the mouse and wake it …

My mom is kind of a big deal

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

There’s not enough room on this page — maybe even in this paper — to adequately praise or even describe my mom. She’s kind of …

TV moms got nothing on the real thing

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

A significant portion of my formative years were spent watching television families. As a child whose parents both worked full time to ensure my two …

Passenger seat past

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

It is a spring evening, nearing sunset, after a warm day. The smell of sun-baked lakebed and blooming skunk cabbage fills the car, carried by …

The small, good things

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Every job has its stresses, no matter if you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or the dishwasher in a small-town diner. 

Journalism is …

Setting the record straight on wolves

By Don Gay
Reader Contributor

In my opinion, the Reader opinion article on wolf trapping [“Trapping is a legal, useful tool to manage wolf populations,” March 31, 2022, by Eric …

Hot take on Earth Day

By Kelsey Maxwell
Reader Contributor

My childhood “wild place” was nowhere near extraordinary by an outdoor enthusiasts’ standard. It was a truly tiny strip of forest between my best friend’s …

Farewell Mr. Marker

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

It’s common for people to point to “that one teacher” who made a big impact on them when they were young. I’ve been lucky to …

Letters

  • Follies Article… Dear Editor, The events mentioned in an article written by Mr. Henney in the Easter publication of the Reader about myself were totally fabricated without my permission and have no basis in fact. I find his unsolicited use of my name and the content offensive. I neither cross-dress or use my ...
  • College Athletes Need to Support Themselves… Dear Editor, I don’t agree with most of what contributor Nick Gier proposes or believes, but I do agree with him regarding UI athletics. The general budget should not be supporting athletic teams. These athletes (all of them) need to live on a budget like everyone else. They should base their expenditures ...
  • Vietnam Vets Articles… Dear Editor, Thank you, Ben Olson, for the excellent interviews with local Vietnam veterans. This is Pulitzer Prize- worthy journalism. I also would like to thank the interviewees for telling their personal stories frankly, honestly, and no doubt reluctantly at times. I was captivated by these stories because I’m the same age ...
  • Two Things… Dear Editor, 1. We have become a nation of wussies. We have replaced fear of our shadows with fear of immigrants. We have become such a nation of cowards that we run around like Chicken Little screaming “the immigrants are coming, the immigrants are coming” led by the example of our ...
  • A Lot of Good Going on in Schools… Dear Editor, I am the principal at Washington Elementary School. I have a long history with this school district as many do—started in the first grade at Washington Elementary School in 1959 and graduated from SHS in 1971. I have worked in this district twice during my career starting in the ...
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