So what was daily life like in Hitler’s Germany for the average family? 
That’s the question L. Annette Binder tries to answer in her gripping and memorable novel, "The Vanishing Sky," a fictional treatment inspired by her father’s experiences as a Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. 
 
Read Michael Tideman's review of the book in the Jan. 21 Kossuth County Advance.
 
 

... In 1993 I was afforded the opportunity to attend a presidential inauguration. My uncle, Bart, was in his final year of working for the United States Treasury Department, which is located in the first building east of the White House, and he issued an invitation to come and watch Bill Clinton and Al Gore be sworn in. He helped to secure the necessary tickets and off we went. ...
Read all of Gene Miller's Out of the Past column in the Jan. 21 Kossuth County Advance.

... People’s sense of fairness and their search for absolutes often arise during these debates. We are likely to see that on display again in our state Capitol. Republicans again have raised the concept of restoring the death penalty here. Early reports say the ultimate penalty would be only available if a first degree murder involves the death of a minor – someone under the age of 18. In Iowa, judges follow state law on these types of sentences ...

We are halfway through the school year, and I could not be more proud of the students, staff, and families of the Algona Community School District. Certainly this has been a school year unlike any other, and as a society we have all had the incredibly difficult task of navigating through a pandemic while still putting students first and doing what is best for kids.

Bless, blessed, blessing. These are big words in the church. They are big word in the Bible, too. In the Revised Standard Version of the Bible one can find “blessed” 286 times in 270 verses, “bless” 133 times in 122 verses, and “blessing” 71 ties in 68 verses. Definitely a big deal! We use them in a variety of ways in a number of contexts.

Rep. Stone "

Here is an excerpt of this week's Families & Faith column in the Kossuth County Advance, this week written by the Rev. Thomas Cowell. Get the full column in the Jan. 14 Kossuth County Advance.
 

Here's an excerpt from this week's Inkspots column by Molly MacDonald:
...However, my hands and feet kept turning to blocks of ice the last few weeks. So I ordered a hand-warmer on the internet. It came with rather puzzling directions. Turned out it was made in China and their interpreter must have had a hangover when he translated the instructions. Or else, he let his five-year-old take a stab at it. Here are the directions in their entirety:..
 

...Recalling the insurrection at the Capitol the day before, I thought of all of us immigrants coming to our Promised Land in the United States, whether via the Bering Land Bridge, by ship from Europe or Asia, walking from Central America, by plane from some troubled place in the world, or forced to come from Africa, and how we are now disrespecting and undermining our country through hatred, violence and division. That must stop. We have no other Promised Land here on earth....
 

Futurists and science fiction writers have long predicted societal and technological changes. An episode of “Star Trek the Next Generation” came to mind this week. Called “The Game,” it aired in 1991 and it features the crew members becoming addicted to a headset-based video game that, when a goal is achieved, fires a psychotropic positive response in their brains.

Happy New Year! As we turn the calendar to 2021, I am sure that all of us are hopeful for a return to a more normal year. 

Betty: A Memoir by Spencer, Iowa, author Mary McSwain Steele, is a daughter’s homage to a mother who raised three children in a backdrop of adversity and poverty.
Steele, former staff writer for the Spencer Daily Reporter, goes beyond personal memoir. With a novelist’s eye for detail, she evokes the sense of place of southwestern Wisconsin as few writers ever have, her description rivaling David Rhodes’ bestselling novel, Driftless.
 

Change is coming, and I am ready for it. This week public health staff began distributing COVID-19 vaccine to health care workers and emergency medical personnel. This is an important date in our present life, but I believe it will also be a memorable date for the ages, as our current reality someday becomes history. What will we remember about this year, when we reflect upon it, decades from now?

In a small town, stories about people are what matter, so the editor has to have a way of putting people at ease so they share them. He has to be able to accept it when, after seeing someone had posted to Facebook a complete description of something interesting, that the person doesn’t want it in the paper because he or she wants to keep it quiet.
The editor must be able to deal with irrationality – frequently.
 

We saw some houses, old and new but more noticeable was the number of mailboxes all in rows beside roads leading back into the mountains. It was mid-July and camping season. We saw many travel trailers and tents, some in campgrounds and others parked off the road the way like we often do. Then there were the homemade ROM signs with a picture of a bed. We had joined the throng.
 
Get all of this week's travelogue entry in the Dec. 31 Kossuth County Advance.