Todd Dorman

2 days ago | thegazette.com | Todd Dorman

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. At the end of the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech on the steps of the Alabama state Capitol. King said, “’How long will it take?’ Somebody’s asking, ‘How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?’ “How long?

5 days ago | thegazette.com | Todd Dorman

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. A decade ago, Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst was riding high. She had just flipped a blue Senate seat and headed to Washington, D.C. to “make ‘em squeal,” as she said in her hog castration-themed TV ad that captivated Iowans. Or made them squirm in their seats. Probably both. She was picked to give the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union speech.

1 week ago | thegazette.com | Todd Dorman

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. Gov. Kim Reynolds said something funny the other day. It was in the message she sent out after vetoing hard-won legislation seeking to place limits on the use of eminent domain authority to take land for hazardous liquid pipelines. That includes the 2,500-mile liquid CO2 pipeline planned by Summit Carbon Solutions. "We can do better.

1 week ago | thegazette.com | Todd Dorman

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. So, lately, I find myself rooting for the Satanic Temple of Iowa. What would my Sunday school teachers say? Maybe it’s all the heavy metal I listened to in the 1980s. I was warned at church camp. No, I am not worshipping Satan. Neither is the Satanic Temple. Not that it should matter. The temple describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization” that advocates for secularism.

2 weeks ago | thegazette.com | Todd Dorman

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Iowa DOGE Task Force is not using chain saws. So, we can be thankful for that. But the task force, an homage to Donald Trump and largely made up of business leaders, is talking about consolidating Iowa counties. The state’s current 99 counties is too many, members say.