Opinion

Working to protect your vote

By Editor |

To the citizens of Ringgold County: The 2020 elections are rapidly approaching, and we want Iowans to know that your state and local election officials are working together to protect your vote. Foreign adversaries and bad actors around the world would like to disrupt U.S. elections and sow discord in our country. We are dedicated…

Trump attacks a child

By Editor |

To the editor: I am, and hope all of you are, offended by the sight and sound of a 73 year old man attacking a child, 16 year old Greta Thunberg on Twitter. What did she do this time to become the target of Trump’s bullying? She was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year”…

Let’s re-imagine Mount Ayr

By Editor |

To the editor: For a young family in Mount Ayr, there are clear perks to living in a small town. Those who chose to put down roots are likely enticed by of the sense of community that existed in their own childhoods. Unfortunately, the changing landscape of rural Iowa, evolving consumer needs, and the decrease…

Don’t move the FRC

By Editor |

To the editor: I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to the Family Resource Center! What a wonderful asset to this community that we have a full time daycare available as well as early childhood learning. The FRC is an economic strength for Ringgold County and it cannot be overstated how important it…

Trumps never served in military

By Editor |

To the editor: As we pause to remember and honor America’s veterans, here in Mount Ayr, we can be proud of the beautiful Ringgold County Veterans Memorial. This beautifully carved black granite monument and the benches that surround it, honors the service of veterans from the Civil War through Desert Storm. Carved onto the black…

Support Wounded Warriors

By Editor |

To the editor: The other day, my wife and I were watching television. A commercial came on and they were looking for sponsors for the Wounded Warrior Project. This is a wonderful organization that helps our veterans. I told my wife though that there should not be a need for this sort of organization. She…

Questions Benton’s leadership

By Editor |

To the editor: The upcoming city election is important to vote for not only to decide the mayor and city council for the next 4 years but it is also important to decide who you put in charge of your city’s resources. I write this because in the past 8 years the Town of Benton…

To the editor: This past week, Scrooge McTrump reached a new low of callousness by proposed changes to the food stamp program that could leave nearly 500,000 children without access to free school lunches. Obviously Trump and his wealthy associates do not care whether American children get something to eat during the school day. As a former teacher, I know how important breakfast and lunch programs are to hungry children. For many children school lunches are the only food they will receive in a day. In the richest and most overfed country in the world, how can the administration justify saving money by not feeding kids? The proposed changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, could result in 3 million people losing their food assistance. Proponents of the current system point out that it “helps low-income families who have work but have huge child care, housing, and other expenses that leave them with insufficient money to buy food aid.” Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue estimates that these changes, at the expense of the poor, could save the government $2.5 billion a year. Oh good, more money for trips at taxpayers’ expense to Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties and for campaign rallies. Also, this past week, the White House announced that the G-7 Summit in June of next year will be at Trump’s Doral Resort near Miami. Attempting to justify this decision, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said this was “by far and away, far and away, the best physical facility for this meeting.” Interestingly enough but really not surprising, the Doral resort had been losing money. I say the choice is not surprising considering the fact, that in the history of the United States, no other president has “actively used the power and prestige of his office to line his own pockets: landing loans for his businesses, steering wealthy buyers to his condos, securing cheap foreign labor [often illegal immigrants] for his resorts, preserving federal subsidies for his housing projects, easing regulations on his golf courses, licensing his name for overseas projects, even peddling coffee mugs, and shot glasses bearing the presidential seal. How crass is that? Mary Kathryn Gepner Benton

By Editor |

To the editor: This past week, Scrooge McTrump reached a new low of callousness by proposed changes to the food stamp program that could leave nearly 500,000 children without access to free school lunches. Obviously Trump and his wealthy associates do not care whether American children get something to eat during the school day. As…

This marvelous universe

By Editor |

To the editor: I read Psalm 104 and this is what I gleaned from it. I call it “God’s resume.” God is clothed with honor and majesty. He made the sun, to give her light by day, the moon to shine at night, and all the starry host of Heaven for mankind’s benefit. He made…

Fight climate change locally

By Editor |

To the editor: Here in the heart of the midwest, in rural Iowa, we often feel we may not have an impact on the world. Yes, we know our farmers feed the world and we have certain businesses that have state, national and world connections. But we sometimes get the feeling that solutions to national…