Patricia Zebrowski

Feb 11, 2023 | thegazette.com | Paul Deaton |Patricia Zebrowski |Jami Haberl |Todd Dorman

The Prohibition-era bloodbath known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre took place in this nondescript building in Chicago, shown Feb. 4, 1959. The gang hit attributed to Al Capone was one of many violent acts that spurred Congress to pass the nation's first sweeping gun control law, the National Firearms Act of 1934. (AP Photo/Harry L. Hall) As Feb. 14 approaches, I’ve been reading about the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Feb 11, 2023 | thegazette.com | Todd Dorman |Paul Deaton |Patricia Zebrowski |Trish Mehaffey

A close-up view shows intricate details on the Iowa Capitol building in Des Moines on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette) Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would shield trucking companies from being sued for “direct negligence in hiring, training, supervising, or trusting” an employee if their drivers are involved in a serious crash.

Feb 10, 2023 | thegazette.com | Todd Dorman |Paul Deaton |Patricia Zebrowski |Erin Jordan

Last week, at an event hosted by Moms for Liberty, a group pushing to remove what it considers “obscene” or objectionable books from school libraries and curriculum, Gov. Kim Reynolds proclaimed that if a book is banned by one Iowa school district, it should be banned in all districts. By this week, her staff modified the governor’s position. On Monday, they said books banned in one district would still be available in other districts, but only with written permission from parents.

Feb 9, 2023 | thegazette.com | Linda Barschow |Ron Andreesen |Patricia Zebrowski |Jami Haberl

Republican state Rep. Steve Holt of Denison is proposing legislation fining schools for discussing “divisive concepts” in classrooms. Will Holt be the final arbiter of what’s “divisive?” How about giving that responsibility to “Moms for Liberty” or similar groups?

Feb 9, 2023 | thegazette.com | Linda Barschow |Ron Andreesen |Patricia Zebrowski |Jami Haberl

As a retired public and private school teacher, I believe school choice is innovative and a great idea. We know that no two students are alike and everyone learns differently. For this reason, we need to choose a school according to the school environment, curriculum, resource books, and size of student body. My wife and I were both educators, and we decided to have our children attend a private school in the early years and home-school our children in the latter years.