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How AMU keeps electricity affordable

Here's an excerpt from the April 22 Our Kossuth County column, this week written by John Bilsten of AMU:

Women Would like to play golf too

Here's an excerpt from this week's Out of the Past column in the April 22 Advance:

Interlaken to Matterhorn

... Zermatt is at the end of the road and cars are not allowed on its streets, so we parked in their parking lot and walked in. Talk about a rural setting; we needed to stop and wait while a large herd of goats with bells on their necks was driven past on the street by two young boys. Mountain climbing, skiing, hiking, ice skating and curling are popular activities besides shopping and eating in restaurants with a spectacular view.

In Kossuth County, women lead the charitable charge

In Kossuth County, women are industry and community leaders and lead the way in their fields. Women are also receiving higher educational degrees at a greater rate than men at our area institutes of higher learning. Yet, inequality continues to create barriers for women and girls. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in 2019 in Iowa, full-time female employees earned 1.39 times less than full-time male employees, a difference of over $18,000 a year.

Faith tells me that someday we will race again

... However when we would gather as a family and sometimes reminisce about those years one of the things we talked about was that Ryan, being so much younger than me, had no real memories of me living at home because when he was three years old I left for college. Never to live at Lone Rock again on a permanent basis.
Read all of this special column in the April 15 Advance.

Commitment to Local Art

What do artists, school children and everyone living in the Midwest at the beginning of spring have in common? Their patience is being tested.
For over a year now, we’ve been waiting patiently, (and at times not so patiently), for life to resume a sense of normalcy: for concerts to begin again, for festivals to be rescheduled, for galleries to be reopened. 
 
Read all of the column in the April 15 Advance.

Christ is Risen!

... There are, however, a select few preachers and a select few sermons which continue to edify Christians of all times and places and situations. One such sermon is the Paschal (Easter) Homily of St. John Chrysostom of the 4th and 5th centuries. In this sermon, St. Chrysostom invites Christians to join the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection.

Our Kossuth County: Stinson Prairie Arts Council back at it with events

Spring is here, and as the weather warms up and the COVID vaccine offers good news on the health front, Stinson Prairie Art Council is planning its 2021 schedule for art events in the Algona area. 
 
Read all of the "Our Kossuth County" entry this week, about the Stinson Prairie Arts Council, in the April 8 Advance.

Inkspots: Of Easters long ago

When I was little, Easter meant only one thing – a visit from the Easter Bunny. The fact that it was when Jesus rose from the dead to save us all wasn’t on my horizon yet. (I hope I wasn’t the only child to get religion late!) At our house, the Easter Bunny (hereinafter referred to as EB, for brevity’s sake) left clues for my sister and me written in rhyme, hidden in various rooms, leading eventually to our Easter baskets.

On the Side: Defining time

Fascism is a term that these days is tossed around more than the lettuce at a vegetarian restaurant’s salad bar. Our last four presidents have been labeled fascists by opponents who didn’t like things they did. 
The word is malleable for whatever argument one wants to make these days. That we are redefining terms in a highly charged socio-political culture war is just the way of the day. 
So, what is fascism?
 

Hottest summer in 100 years

Leaving Zurich Switzerland, we drove a few miles south into the Alps and found a pulloff to park our VW camper for the night. Next day was another bright, sunny day but the mountains gave us some relief from the heat we had been experiencing. (We learned later that Europe’s 1983 summer temperatures were the hottest they had been in more than100 years.) 
 
Read all of Jim Sloter's travelogue entry in the April 8 Advance. 

If protection is the goal of open carry, that’s not enough

Given the prevalence of gun violence in our society, it’s hard to argue people shouldn’t have a right to carry weapons to protect themselves in case the worst scenario occurs. 
 
Read the full editorial in the April 8 Advance.

Forsaken

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The words Jesus spoke from the cross before he gives up his spirit. What was Jesus experiencing when he said these words?? Brothers and sisters, we have never experienced what Jesus, the perfect sacrificial Lamb was going through that night. Believer or non-believer alike, the spirit of God has never been turned away from you in this way. It has never been so removed from you as it was that night when God turned away from his very own Son. 

Writhers & Writing: A Muddy Kind of Love

Thirty years ago, antique letterpresses sitting in newspaper basements were considered, at best, fodder for metal recyclers. 
Fast forward to today, and they’re a novelty. 
Just as vinyl albums have made a comeback, so, too, has the letterpress. A Muddy Kind of Love by Carolyn A. Dahl, originally from Minnesota and now Texas, has been produced by North Dakota State University publishing students. 
 
Read all of the review in the April 1 Advance.

No need to make D.C. a state

... There is no need for a 51st state in this country. Washington, D.C., is not a state. It’s a government hub. To get D.C. citizens representation in the Senate is far easier. ...
Read the Advance's editorial in the April 1 edition.

Flat at the cross

Christians are increasingly cast as judgmental, hateful people who are intolerant of those who don’t fit some predetermined mold. Christians are the shuttlecock swatted over a net of division by political forces who at once desire and don’t desire their blessings. Christians are under attack across the world, the inhabitants of the island for misfit toys, people to be cast aside, driven underground or killed for the gain of others.

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