This is the year I finally will plant my victory garden.
I figure if it’s good enough for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, it’s good enough for me.
More people plan on going back to the land this year in an effort to eat healthier and cut food bills. It’s full circle from just a few generations ago [...]
Archive for March, 2009
4/1 Column: The sweet taste of Victory
Posted in Gazette Columns, tagged energy, gardening, Michelle Obama, Tom Vilsack, USDA on March 31, 2009 | Comments Off
3/28 Column: No rest for busy managers
Posted in Gazette Columns, tagged Institute of Public Affairs, Iowa Municipal Management Institute, League of Cities on March 27, 2009 | Comments Off
There’s a joke in here somewhere — 100 city managers walk into the Iowa Memorial Union … .
But even dressed in regulation-casual chino slacks and button-down shirts, even as they trade jokes about the hospitality room, you can tell that, no joke, this group is thinking.
The annual Iowa Municipal Management Institute in Iowa City is [...]
3/25 Column: Seeing shouldn’t always be believing
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged courts, Crime, Iowa State University, police, psychology on March 24, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It’s not always enough to see something with your own two eyes.
Iowa State University psychology professor Gary Wells told me recently that mistaken eyewitness identification accounts for more convictions of innocent people in this country than all other causes combined.
He wants courts to put their foot down and set tighter restrictions on the witness identifications [...]
In defense of free (yes, even racist) speech
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged First Amendment, journalism, race, Rod Sullivan on March 23, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan has taken the other paper to task for giving aid and comfort to racists.
In his weekly e-missive to supporters, Sullivan says comments on their Web site are giving us all a bad name. He copied a letter he’s written to Press-Citizen brass:
There are several factors that encourage racism. Fear and ignorance are big contributors. Another important [...]
3/21 Column: talk to teens about violence
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged dating violence, domestic abuse, Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Rihanna and Chris Brown, Waypoint on March 20, 2009 | Comments Off
Maybe, like me, you don’t really follow celebrity news.
But consider making an exception in the case of pop-singer Chris Brown, who is accused of assaulting his girlfriend Rihanna last month.
The incident has put two famous faces on a too-common problem — making this a good time to check in with the teenagers in your life about [...]
What part of “stop” is confusing?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bicycling, Iowa Bicycle Coalition on March 19, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Check out this video from the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. They spent five minutes at a Coralville stop sign to see how many drivers stopped properly. Spoiler alert: Not many did.
It’s springtime, folks, and there are more bikes and pedestrians afoot. Mind your traffic manners!
3/18 Column: Accuracy applies to bars, too
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Alcohol, Iowa City on March 18, 2009 | Comments Off
I screwed up in my March 11 column — got a fact wrong when I reported that one of Mike Porter’s Iowa City bars was being sued by two men who say they were assaulted by five underage people who tanked up at the bar.
Vito’s is named in the suit, but Porter bought that Pedestrian [...]
3/14 Column: Use Atalissa “gift” to demand change
Posted in Gazette Columns, tagged Atalissa, Henry's Turkey Service on March 16, 2009 | Comments Off
The problem isn’t Henry’s Turkey Service or even the regulation of unlicensed care facilities, service providers, disability advocates and loved ones told state leaders Friday.
The problem, they said, is a patchwork of services that is out of date and underfunded. It’s red tape and confusion in a system poorly equipped to deal with aging dependent [...]
Disability hearing today in Iowa City
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Atalissa, disability issues, Henry's Turkey Service on March 13, 2009 | Comments Off
The governor’s task force on dependent adults with mental retardation will be in Iowa City for public hearings today.
The group was established after 21 intellectually disabled men were found living in a converted Atalissa schoolhouse. They’ve been charged with developing recommendations to strengthen and improve state law and regulations concerning dependent adults.
Today they expect to hear from people about a range of related issues, including: housing and [...]
Iowa Caucus: More representative than you think
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Caucus, politics on March 12, 2009 | Comments Off
Here’s some new ammunition for Iowa’s perpetual struggle to justify and maintain its first in the nation Caucus.
According to some (admittedly, Iowa) researchers, the state is a lot more representative of the country than is commonly believed.
University of Iowa political science professor Michael Lewis-Beck and former UI prof Peverill Squire (now at the University of Missouri) [...]
