To the Editor:
Tuesday March 24th marks Equal Pay Day for 2021. The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 but, despite this federal law, the gender pay gap continues to exist over 50 years later.
 
Read the full letter in the March 25 Advance.
 

I think spring has sprung – if it hasn’t, don’t tell me. It seems like we went from sub-zero, snowy days to ever-so-lovely sunny days in the blink of an eye. Or before you could say Jack Robinson. Or faster than the speed of light. Or . . . okay, I’ll stop with the cliches. I guess I’m just a little giddy at not having to bundle up like an Eskimo to take Seamus for his daily walk.

Wow! What a year! If someone would have told me what this year looked like for education when I was taking my education classes, I would have laughed and looked at them like they were crazy! No one could have predicted what schools would have to do this year to ensure health and safety measures were implemented for a worldwide pandemic. Our students and staff have been through a lot, but we are coming out the other side much stronger and wiser.

Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes it is easy. Sometimes it is just really hard. 
Most of us feel like we know what to do when life is easy, perhaps we even know what to do when life is hard. BUT, do we have any idea how to live when life is really hard? 

March 26, 2021

Inside the Iowa House: Public Money for Public Schools

As the voucher bill has stalled so far this session, majority party lawmakers in the Iowa House are trying a different tactic to shift money out of public schools through a big expansion of Iowa's charter school law.

Issued March 5, 2021

Dear Friend,

... Physical monuments to the history of a nation that saved the world from tyrants and perpetuated freedom better than any other modern society are coming down, and the invisible monuments erected to prevent some people from advancing are rightly being exposed.

Last week Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Larson signed an Order establishing court-sponsored mandatory mediation rules for all family law cases. In 2020 Larson directed each Iowa judicial district to submit a plan for mandatory mediation of family law cases before trial. Her Order just approved and implemented those plans effective March 1st, 2021. 

I grew up in a family of missionaries. They are people who feel called by God to take the message of Jesus to non-Christian parts of the world. My grandparents, Pastor Thure Holmer and his wife Celia, sailed from New York, New York to India a week or so following their marriage in 1912. It took 40 days to make the trip. Because of the length of the journey and costs involved, their time of service was ten years before they could set foot in America again. 
 

It occurs to me that I haven’t written about the care and feeding of my stray cat, Christopher Robin, lately. For any of you who have been anxiously awaiting an update, be anxious no more. (I’m sure there must be at least one of you - right??? If not, humor me.)
 For those of you who might be newcomers to Inkspots, Christopher Robin is the offspring of Saint Francis, the first stray to venture onto my porch for dinner. 
 
Read Inkspots in the Feb. 25 Advance.

Is it voter suppression? Or is it voter motivation?
Read On the Side in the Feb. 25 Advance.

So what happens when two PTSD victims converge in a lonely cabin during a Colorado blizzard?
That’s the setup for “Halfway to Someday,” a psychologically engaging novel by Osage, Iowa, author Layla Dorine.
 
See all of Michael Tideman's book review in the Feb. 25 Advance.

The door is open for rural Kossuth County residents who are concerned about the snow removal process. 
At a recent board meeting, the supervisors followed up on a request to Doug Miller, the county engineer, to determine whether the county’s practice of removing snow primarily in the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. fits with what other counties are doing and whether there is an advantage to residents to move the times.
 
See the full editorial in the Feb. 25 Advance.

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to teach my son about the concept of mercy. My family and I had come down with COVID-19 and that meant that we had to stay in our house together. And I’ll be honest with you, after the first seven days, it got kind of rough. Now please understand me, I love my wife and kids. But it’s tough to be trapped in the house for two weeks, with no break, and no escape.

this is a press release and statement from the Office of U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley:
 

Grassley Statement on Impeachment Trial