Storm Lake Times

1 week ago | stormlake.com | Alan Guebert

When you're eight or nine years old, you don't see the world as you will as a 50- or 60-year-old. Much of what seems perfectly ordinary to a child often becomes quite extraordinary with the passing of time. For example, as a young boy I had six grandparents: my father's mother and father, my mother's father and mother, and my father's maternal grandmother and grandfather. That seemed ordinary to me then but is extraordinary now.

1 week ago | stormlake.com | Art Cullen

We’re on the road again with cinematographer Jerry Risius, not quite gypsies, trying to find out what grinds Iowa’s gears. Jerry and I toured the state from Alleman to Algona making video with our friends, Iowans for Stronger Communities, affiliated with Teamsters Local 238 in Cedar Rapids led by Storm Lake native Jesse Case. Our aim is to advocate that the world turn our way. Willie rides shotgun in my mind on I-35 heading to Lansing on a hot Friday morning.

2 weeks ago | stormlake.com | Art Cullen

Martial law was imposed last weekend on Los Angeles when President Trump ordered in the California National Guard to disband lawful protests over the deportation of Latino immigrants. The military mobilization came over the objection of local and state officials, who felt they had any problems under control. When the Guard showed up, the scene exploded. It was incited by Trump. He wanted to create violence where there was none. He wanted to pick a fight with a Democratic governor.

2 weeks ago | stormlake.com | Art Cullen

The woman on the phone from the Mayo Clinic was growing exasperated as she ran through how to sweep up my medical records. “So, you got the CT scan in Storm Lake? And the hormone therapy in Spencer? And the MRI at Mercy and biopsy someplace else in Sioux City? And a PET scan at June Nylen Cancer Center in Sioux City? And what at Iowa City? And California? Where?”Welcome to country-style health care, I told her. Daunting, that’s what it is.

3 weeks ago | stormlake.com | John Cullen

I had only been to Decorah once, nearly 50 years ago, and Mary had never been there, so on our way back from Out East a couple of weeks ago we passed through the northeast Iowa community. It was a nice visit. The community of about 7,500 residents boasts a proud Norwegian heritage. It’s home to the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and Luther College. Luther has a large and pretty campus — not as nice as Buena Vista University’s lakeside campus, of course — with a well-regarded music program.