Viewpoints

To the Editor:

In May of this year, a farmer in southeast Iowa was pinned by a piece of machinery and killed; later that month, an eastern Iowa man was killed when his tractor was struck by a semi. In June, a teenage farm girl died in an ATV incident. These are just a few of the tragedies that will become Iowa’s farm fatality statistics.

This year, the theme for National Farm Safety and Health Week is “Farm Safety…A Legacy to be Proud of.” We talk a lot about farm transitions in Iowa, as we work hard to develop a new generation of farmers to continue our traditions. Unfortunately, we do not incorporate the health and safety of those new farmers often enough into the legacy of farming.

By Deb Winke,
Allamakee County Recorder

The renewal period for all snowmobiles, ATVs, ORVs and ORMs began September 1. Off-Highway Vehicles, which includes all of the above, are renewed every year prior to December 31 to avoid penalty. The fee to renew a current OHV is $17.75. If the OHV is not current, a $5.00 penalty fee applies.

All Off-Highway Vehicles operating on trails, public land or ice must display a current registration decal and have the registration certificate on board. All renewals are processed by the County Recorder’s office. Renewals can be done through the mail by returning the renewal postcard recently sent out or your current registration certificate, along with payment to the Allamakee County Recorder’s office. An additional fee of $1.00 is charged for postage if done by mail. Renewals can also be completed over the counter, with the same information presented, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that this is being written the morning of Labor Day, and I have labored. If you call mowing the lawn labor. And I do!

I refuse to mow more often than once a week. That sometimes means a little raking afterwards in summers like this one, when the green is greener than it ought to be at this time of the year, on hill or in vale.

Because of predicted weather conditions, and with no dew on the grass for a change, I mowed in the morning. And it didn’t feel right. The sun, when it was out, cast shadows in the “wrong” direction. And I also discovered that morning mowing is not ideal for an old man with a prostate problem who drinks about three cups of coffee with breakfast. An hour and a half without a bathroom break is a strain!

I awoke at 3:12 a.m., my 65-year-old body’s biological clock demanding a trip to the bathroom. A moment later back in bed any possibility of returning to the sweet arms of Morpheus dashed with the reality that I was about to become a prisoner for life in an American Gulag.

A few hours earlier I had attended a meeting at the posh $7.1 million U.S. Fish & Wildlife Visitor Center on the Mississippi River just north of Onalaska, Wis. There were about 40 folks in attendance, there to hear about changes which would directly impact any future visits to the Upper Miss Fish & Wildlife Refuge which sprawls over 240,000 acres from Winona, Mn. to Savanna, Il.

This refuge was established in 1924; about 65 years after both sides of my family were drawn to the banks of the iconic Mississippi. One way or the other we’ve made a portion of our livelihood here ever since.

To the Editor:

What Ms. Clarke suggested a couple weeks ago to do with the water retention area in northwest Waukon is a very good idea. We could use some outside recreation in that part of town.

Think about what Decorah would do with such an area opportunity, only this time do it first, but do it smart. It doesn’t need to be fancy or elaborate, just work with and around nature, such as small wildflower plots, prairie plants, savanna grass areas, maybe cattails where most moisture lies. But most important of all, milkweed plants for Monarch butterflies.

The possibilities are endless. In other words, it can be a work in progress. Girl and Boy Scout troops could get involved. A walking trail around the whole area with a few sitting benches and no steep inclines would be a real benefit and treat for older people.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that timing, they say, is everything in life.

I thought about that as I went to Lansing one day recently to make my gift to the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center south of the city, at what we used to call Columbus. I took the highway from Waukon because the area had been subjected to very heavy rains the day before. I expected to see signs of flash flooding along that wadi which eventually turns into Clear Creek as it nears Lansing. And the evidence was there, in spades.

Still, I guess I was not prepared to see the Mississippi in the condition I found it.

When you make a contribution to the center, you are given a brochure which shows what the outside and inside will look like when completed. There are also photos of the river taken from the location, looking up river toward the city and the bridge. It’s a beautiful photo, with a single boat moving over a calm, beautiful blue river.

To the Editor:

Floods.  Destruction.  Despair.

It has to stop. There are candidates running for re-election/election that support the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund legislation focused on improving water quality and reducing flooding. This fund would help implement the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy on a voluntary basis. Approximately 60% of this funding could go to this type of water quality protection. It’s time to fund the Trust.

Landowners in the Bear Creek watershed near Highlandville saw the rewards of the investments of soil and water conservation projects during this last storm event.  Terraces, ponds, wetlands, filterstrips and CRP grasslands all helped slow run-off and reduce destructive forces to our land, streams, roads and bridges. And it reduced despair...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that the dailies have been carrying stories about classes starting again, not just at high schools but at colleges and universities.
One story that caught my eye (which is good when you are reading) noted that certain black students at the University of Iowa were being allowed to live on a dorm floor where there would be no white students.

It wasn’t too many years ago that a newly-hired university president (since gone) said she felt her main goal for the campus was to encourage diversity. I think she started diversity training for employees and later there may even have been a for-credit course in diversity. So I am left to wonder what allowing black students who don’t want to associate with white students contributes to diversity.

To the Editor:

Boys and men use only their bathroom and locker-shower room in public places. Girls and women use only their bathroom and locker-shower room in public places. These first two sentences were unquestioned and went without saying until 2016.

I am sorry that meddling bureaucrats in the  Department of Justice and the Department of Education and  the Obama administration tried to dictate what our public schools, colleges and universities should allow. We should not comply to a transgender bathroom edict from Washington D.C. Presently our federal government is dysfunctional.

We must exercise our Tenth Amendment right to maintain order in our schools and prevent chaos.

Bruce Palmer
Waukon
 

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that these are called the Dog Days of Summer, and this year, that seems more than usually apt. The period, from some time in July through August, is so-named because of when the Dog Star, Sirius, is most noticed. It is the doldrums.

As I mowed my lawn last week, I noted that it has required weekly mowing since first started, and recalled many years when a dry spell would halt grass growth and we could skip a few days or maybe even a week between mowings. This year, with abundant rain and extremely high dew points, the grass and other foliage has grown with wild abandon. With periods of sun and clouds while I mowed, it seemed as if the property was almost tropical looking with its green lushness.