opinion
Decorah should maintain its Altfillisch-designed Municipal Building
Thursday, October 3, 2024 9:31 am
Editor, Preserve and maintain our Charles Altfillisch-designed Municipal Building. Decorah’s Historic Preservation Commission, Mark Guggli chair, produced in 1922 a special brochure entitled “A Tour of Decorah Architecture of Charles Altfillisch.” It describes the impact Altfillisch had throughout Decorah in …
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Is this serving the public?
Thursday, October 3, 2024 9:31 am
The number of Winneshiek County residents actively monitoring our board of supervisors has increased these last two years. This began in early 2023 when the board, chaired by Dan Langreck, made a series of dubious decisions that resulted in the …
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State’s solution for chronic school absences needs some more work
Thursday, October 3, 2024 9:28 am
It’s hard to blame state legislators for trying to do something about chronic school absences, but I don’t know that lawmakers hit the nail on the head this time around. Now, I typically try to be a bit cautious when …
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Reader calls for more ‘we,’ not ‘me’ ahead of polls
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 9:07 am
During presidential election years we are often asked, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Is that really the question we should ponder as responsible citizens, I wonder. I grew up in the time when President …
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Reader feels local election choice is clear
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 9:06 am
We already have three supervisors in our swamp who do not listen to their constituents. We do not need another. Because of the current gang of three, we lost possibly the best county engineer in Iowa, abandoned our highly successful …
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You’ve got something special, contact the DNR
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 9:06 am
I don’t live in Winneshiek County, but I’ve been fishing there since 1993 when I first took my 4 and 6-year-old sons to the Highlandville campground to catch trout in North and South Bear Creeks. You have something special. Novilla RNG …
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Democracy is on the line
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 9:05 am
We are in a race with time as Nov. 5 approaches. It’s difficult to understand Republican voters who want to vote for a king. Their King, Donald J. Trump, is promoting an aristocracy that will replace our way of life. …
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Trump’s peccadillos should’ve been enough to end candidacy
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 9:05 am
My opinion on last week’s debate. You can clearly see Harris severely humiliated impotus2! She showed his failures. He resorted to telling more, huge lies trying to refute her truths. Trump continuously brought up debunked/false claims. More lies and reprehensible …
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Hoping to see that white flower cross the finish line
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 9:03 am
When I was a young boy — probably in second grade — my mother brought home a picture book. There were no talking animals. There were no valiant princes on noble quests. This one was meant to help me understand …
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Kudos on last month’s 175th edition
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 2:49 pm
Your 175th Anniversary commemorative edition is wonderful. It goes beyond the people, the history and buildings in its several pages. Using categories, it covers the basics of education, business, religion, government and social issues with reference to influential people. Every page has …
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Education makes for better county governance
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 2:49 pm
The Decorah Leader’s excellent piece — 8/29/2024 edition — on Winneshiek County supervisor candidate Cheryl Wieseler noted her eagerness to learn all she could about the duties and responsibilities of county supervisors. Her years of teaching and running a business …
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People deserve well-thought-out reason, rather than opinion
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 2:48 pm
I have attended several Winneshieck County Supervisor meetings. I observed Dan Langreck during the sessions when people from his district presented life-changing situations due to weather-related events or other county citizens presented specific, well-documented facts. Dan Langreck comes to the …
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The mark of successful government is cooperation
Monday, September 23, 2024 4:27 pm
The County Board of Supervisor meetings are valued opportunities for citizens to learn about the responsibilities of local government, as witnessed by the constituents attending in person and online. I attend often and learn from everyone: supervisors, special community representatives …
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School board must be caretakers of taxpayer funds
Monday, September 23, 2024 4:26 pm
To the editor: “The Revenue Purpose Statement (RPS) would give the district permission to use penny sales tax (SAVE) funds for infrastructure and technology needs through 2051. State law mandates that all SAVE money must be used for local property …
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Other reader says ‘it takes a village’ to return a car key
Monday, September 23, 2024 4:26 pm
Dear Editor, On Aug. 28, I think it was, I went for an early morning walk for about an hour. Some while after I got home, I went to grab my car key from my little purse, and realized that …