Art Cullen

1 week ago | stormlake.com | Art Cullen

It came too late and is too little but at least we finally have an education funding bill to present for Gov. Kim Reynolds’s signature, allowing 2% growth for local school districts. Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, was able to bring the bill home this week — when it was supposed to be done in February. Republicans control everything but still could not meet their own deadline to determine allowable growth so school districts can figure out their budgets by April. Two percent is not enough.

2 weeks ago | chronicletimes.com | Art Cullen

Family lore has it that sometime in the pre-refrigeration days of the late 19th century, my forefathers dug a small cave into a steep hillside on their adjacent farms to store several barrels of home-brewed beer. Like the family's suds, the cave was cool, dark, and prized. This being southern Illinois, however, a minor earthquake one day sent the roof of the underground rathskeller onto the barrels of beer and soon their hoppy contents were flowing into the nearby creek.

2 weeks ago | stormlake.com | Art Cullen

Omaha’s humble Eppley Airfield looked bombed-out under construction but beautiful nonetheless Sunday after having breathed in 30Rock’s NBC Studios in the heart of Manhattan. It was the Friday Nightcap on “The 11th Hour With Stephanie Ruhle” on MSNBC. I was invited to be part of a roundtable to discuss the week’s news — tariffs and tanking markets — along with Ruhle, Chris Jansing of MSNBC, Steve Liesman of CNBC and Sami Sage of the “Betches” podcast. This Iowegian was wading in deep water.

2 weeks ago | stormlake.com | Art Cullen

The news can be daunting. A warming climate is worsening acute droughts in Africa and Central America. Food security is tenuous. It is the source of horrible conflict in places like Sudan. Assistance programs from the US and Europe are being curtailed. Tales of woe around food and agriculture are of a biblical scale. Then a dash of hope shoots through.

3 weeks ago | chronicletimes.com | Art Cullen

Not even the judges know for sure if the courts can hold up against a full-on assault over the next four years. They could use some fortification. Top law firms that once crossed The Donald are now on bended knee. Same with the social media barons. Congressional Republicans of conscience are in hiding. A reminder to the fretful: There is a midterm election in November 2026 that should flip control of Congress to the Democrats, which would be a major wrench in the Trump-Musk machine’s gears.