When I was a kid, I loved crayons. 

The decision to cancel the Iowa State Fair was a reminder of the seriousness of coronavirus and the consequences of many people’s anxiety about returning to activities that normally are an important part of Iowa life.

Hey, it’s me, Maquoketa’s only rotational columnist who is still in grade school. 

Dear Mr. Smith,

There’s a quiz today.

I don’t generally write articles, get involved on Facebook postings, or engage in Twitter discussions or debates, but in the past few weeks our country has again come face-to-face with the harsh reality that we have become two countries, one white and one black. 

The world that I live in is a life filled with discrimination, biases, power differences, and racism. I live in a world where the color of my skin determines how I am treated, my capabilities of being a leader, the standards that I am held to, and whether or not I succeed in life. The color …

“Optics” is a term that has come a long way from the days when it pretty much was the exclusive domain of eye doctors and companies that make telescopes, cameras, binoculars and microscopes.

America has seen 13 consecutive days of protests — nearly two weeks — as of this writing, with no sign of let-up. Protests over the police killing of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street on the evening of Memorial Day have taken place not only in America’s largest cities, but have spread far…

My daily ritual lately has been a midmorning walk at Westbrook Park in DeWitt with friends, all of us keeping our social distance while we visit and contemplate the waves of change in our country. Our pace is comfortable and steady, like the flow of our conversation, physically and mentally …

The shackles could not hold us. The Evanses cast them aside last week and traveled to Bloomfield and Cedar Rapids to visit our parents.

The availability of the internet and online resources likely made enduring quarantines, lockdowns, and stay-at-home orders more tolerable during this COVID pandemic. 

We always can use more humor. Even during a pandemic.

Author Jed Jurchenko defined coping as “Any healthy strategy that helps a child feel good enough to persist.”

Here I am. Dirt-stained feet propped up on the ottoman, hair thrown up in a bun on the top of my head, chugging some water. I am exhausted.

The relationship between government and the governed is a delicate arrangement, even in the best of times.

In today’s world where the coronavirus pandemic has stopped school, most travel, group activities, caused thousands of hospitalizations and deaths, anxiety has hit an all-time high. Many parents have turned to social media to discuss how their children are struggling to cope with the major c…

You probably already know, but we are living through a pandemic. I know that most of the columns in this newspaper are probably about the pandemic, but I don’t think that any of them are from a 12-year-old talking about their life in a pandemic. 

Editorial cartoonists – the outstanding ones, like the Des Moines Register’s Frank Miller and Brian Duffy – have a marvelous ability to express a point of view with only a few words and a skillfully drawn image.

The Federal Trade Commission issued a warning in late April 2020, informing us of a “big jump” in complaints of an email extortion scheme. 

The coronavirus crisis has exposed the financial vulnerabilities of countless Iowa businesses.

Let’s play a game. I’m going to give you three scenarios below. Two of them are the truth, one is a lie.

My daily ritual lately has been a midmorning walk at Westbrook Park in DeWitt with friends, all of us keeping our social distance while we visit and contemplate the waves of change in our country. Our pace is comfortable and steady, like the flow of our conversation, physically and mentally …

The shackles could not hold us. The Evanses cast them aside last week and traveled to Bloomfield and Cedar Rapids to visit our parents.

The availability of the internet and online resources likely made enduring quarantines, lockdowns, and stay-at-home orders more tolerable during this COVID pandemic. 

We always can use more humor. Even during a pandemic.

Author Jed Jurchenko defined coping as “Any healthy strategy that helps a child feel good enough to persist.”

Here I am. Dirt-stained feet propped up on the ottoman, hair thrown up in a bun on the top of my head, chugging some water. I am exhausted.

The relationship between government and the governed is a delicate arrangement, even in the best of times.

In today’s world where the coronavirus pandemic has stopped school, most travel, group activities, caused thousands of hospitalizations and deaths, anxiety has hit an all-time high. Many parents have turned to social media to discuss how their children are struggling to cope with the major c…

You probably already know, but we are living through a pandemic. I know that most of the columns in this newspaper are probably about the pandemic, but I don’t think that any of them are from a 12-year-old talking about their life in a pandemic. 

Editorial cartoonists – the outstanding ones, like the Des Moines Register’s Frank Miller and Brian Duffy – have a marvelous ability to express a point of view with only a few words and a skillfully drawn image.

The Federal Trade Commission issued a warning in late April 2020, informing us of a “big jump” in complaints of an email extortion scheme. 

The coronavirus crisis has exposed the financial vulnerabilities of countless Iowa businesses.

Let’s play a game. I’m going to give you three scenarios below. Two of them are the truth, one is a lie.

In three weeks of avoiding contact with anyone since returning from Washington, I have been off the farm just twice. I briefly went to get fuel in Andrew. There is no kibitizing with friends at the convenience store. No one is there save the staff, and we transact business at arm’s length in…

It’s quiz time.