By Lee Blank - CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions

In rural America, our farmland is our most valuable, yet finite, asset. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United States is home to over two million farms spanning nearly 894 million acres. This expansive acreage has cemented our position as the third largest agriculture-producing country in the world.

Growing up in rural Montgomery County, I’m all too familiar with the challenges of accessing medical care, especially if you or a family member needs to see a specialist.

Sadly, postponed procedures, limited hospital beds and long wait times for experts like cardiologists and OBGYNs have become the norm across our state, and rural areas feel it the most.

Q: What comes to your mind with the start of a new school year?

By Ben Unseth - Faith Lutheran Church, Spencer

Teachers make millionaires! In fact, teachers make themselves into millionaires more often than doctors do. Hey, students, it is an incredible privilege to learn from wise teachers.

I confess.

I broke one of my own rules.

Citizens of Dickinson County,

In honor of the college football season kickoff, a post-game interview conducted someday perhaps, or maybe never, or maybe in the not-so distant future...

Well, Coach, it was quite a memorable day at Iowa State University’s Mid-American Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium. What do you think was the turning point?

“I think it came there in the third quarter, when...”

“That was the third quarter brought to you by Fareway Meat and Grocery, right?”

 The Dickinson County News would like to remind readers about some of the newspaper's guidelines for accepting letters to the editor. Letters must be signed by the author — no pen names or anonymous letters. Please also include a full address — only the author's city of residence will appear in print, but staff is redoubling their efforts to verify letters are submitted from within the local community.

BY CLINT LOVEALL — FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

I'd wager there are few in the Lakes Area who are entirely unaware of the concerns that have been expressed to our county officials these last few weeks regarding three separate wind turbine projects proposed in Dickinson County.

The first I heard about it was in open session during the regular Dickinson County Board of Supervisors meeting on Aug. 8.

Deanna Mahoney was like countless Iowa women through the years. She nurtured three children. She worked outside the home to supplement the family income. She loved bowling and mushroom hunting. That is how she lived.

How she died tells us so much about the way some business owners, and too many government leaders in Iowa, have pushed aside their legal, moral and humanitarian obligations, especially to vulnerable Iowans.

On metric after metric, President Biden’s economic agenda – which he has coined “Bidenomics” – has failed our families, farmers, small businesses and rural communities. His tax-and-spend policies have pushed the American Dream out of reach for too many families by eroding their paychecks and crushing their budgets under the insurmountable weight of record inflation, higher taxes and crippling debt. The economic indicators speak for themselves too.