Viewpoints

To the Editor:

In small communities across our state, news travels fast - and sometimes not in the most helpful way.

Recently there have been several long term care facilities that have made the news. While it’s important that situations are handled properly and that accountability exists, I also think it’s just as important to remember something else:

There are so many good, hardworking people in these buildings who show up every single day with compassion, patience, and genuine care for the residents who call it home. Not every story makes the news - like the quiet kindnesses, the laughs during morning care, the extra time spent comforting someone who’s lonely, or the staff who go above and beyond without ever asking for recognition.

One incident doesn’t define an entire team or the countless positive moments that happen there every day.

Thanksgiving has often struck me as an odd holiday. I don’t mean that it’s odd that we gather with family and overeat - Americans do that on Christmas and the 4th of July, too. It’s odd that the American spirit has not found a way to commercialize this holiday.

Christmas is a multi-billion dollar bonanza, the 4th of July is a booming spectacle of spending, and even Easter now requires a full shopping basket of candy eggs and bunny decorations. But somehow only the supermarket has found a way to capitalize on Thanksgiving.

Why is this, I have wondered? Is it because Americans are universally a thankful, content people? Hardly! We have our share of grumpy, greedy people, longing for the next something. Or are we unthankful because we think that our own hard work is the reason for our blessings? We would pat ourselves on the back if only society wouldn’t think of us as completely self-centered.

To the Editor:

Bless Israel. Here are some Bible verses that tell us to bless and pray for the Jews and Israel:
Numbers 24:9 - Good News Translation:
9 “The nation is like a mighty lion; When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it. Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, And whoever curses Israel will be cursed.”
Genesis 12:3 - Good News Translation:
3 “I will bless those who bless you, But I will curse those who curse you. And through you I will bless all the nations.”
Psalm 122:6 is a verse that says, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” Jesus was a Jew so this should be easy to understand. May God bless you all.

Dick Kistler
Waukon
 

The Lord Provides 

Paul writes in Philippians 2, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” How true this is! Not only has our good God granted us salvation in Christ Jesus through the forgiveness of sins that He won for us on the cross, but He also cares and supplies all our daily needs as well.  

We are surrounded by God’s gracious care - through the people, tools, and opportunities that He gives to take care of us. While it’s easy for us to forget, we know that God is always at work taking care of us. I was reminded of this when we welcomed a healthy baby girl this past July.

To the Editor:

To the citizens of Allamakee County. For 40 years the Allamakee County Bar Association had been providing a service, free of charge, where someone could learn whether their law question was something requiring an attorney or not.

I am sad to announce that the Allamakee County Legal Advice Clinic has been temporarily shut down. As President of the Allamakee County Bar Association, I have been advised by the Clerk of Court that we can no longer use the services of the clerk’s office to set appointments and hold client conferences for this free service.

Previously, there were ads/articles in the local newspaper that indicated this service was available.  One could call the clerk’s office and they would set an appointment on a Monday, two weeks per month, for citizens to speak with a volunteer attorney.

I hope that the service did provide some help to the community over the last 40 years. Presently, the program is temporary shutdown.

To the Editor:

I heard one older lady say, “We fed our kids. Why can’t people feed their kids today?”

I thought about that and did some research. Wages are up, but prices are up, too. I decided to compare 1975 purchasing power to today’s purchasing power.

Purchasing power is measured by the Consumer Price Index, which is the price of a basket of similar goods that has been tracked over time. What $1 bought in 1975, now sells for roughly $6.02. If a family made $10,000 in 1975, that same family needs over $60,000 to buy the same goods.

Minimum wage in 1975 was $2.10/hour.  In order to buy the same goods today, one would need $12.60/hour, but today’s minimum wage is $7.25. This means that someone living on minimum wage today can only buy 58% of what someone living on minimum wage in 1975 could buy.

To the Editor:

November 1, over 250,000  Iowans lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, putting healthy food out of reach for families already struggling to make ends meet. SNAP isn’t a handout; it’s a lifeline for children, people with disabilities, seniors, and hardworking families trying to feed themselves while paying rent, utilities, and other essential bills. With the cost of groceries soaring, stopping food aid results in people going hungry.

In the richest country in the world, children are going to bed with empty bellies. Allowing hunger to exist is a moral failure and the result of intentional policy decisions made by politicians.

To the Editor:

Farmers are a dying breed. During the 1980s, my first husband and I lost our farm in a farm bankruptcy, along with 250,000 other farmers. This wasn’t because we weren’t good farmers, but because the federal government created artificially high interest rates and inflation was out of control. Another farm debt crisis is happening now, thanks to tariffs, the possible importing of beef from Argentina, and hand-outs to Argentina.

The tariffs on soybeans caused our largest buyer, China, to stop buying U.S. products, and they have turned to Argentina. Tariffs are meant to “even the playing field,” but instead the tariffs decimated the playing field, and thus are decimating farmers.

And this week (10/18/2025), Trump floated the idea of buying beef from Argentina to reduce the price of beef in the grocery stores. Now, he is reducing the one profitable enterprise for farmers, after years of losing money on beef.

To the Editor:

I appreciate Ashley Hinson voting to keep the government open and operating for Iowans. The letter published a couple weeks ago failed to include the facts that House and Senate Democrats are keeping the government closed over providing healthcare for illegal aliens and providing hundreds of millions of tax dollars to NPR and PBS.

Ashley has worked hard to expand access to healthcare for Iowans - she supports keeping premiums low, improving maternal health care, and expanding telehealth options for rural Iowans. It’s unfortunate that Democrats are playing politics with healthcare instead of working on common sense solutions.

I appreciate Ashley fighting for Iowans in DC. She is doing exactly what we elected her to do.

Cristina Smith
Waukon
 

To the Editor:

In her letter to the editor in the October 8 edition of The Standard, I wonder why Ann Hart seems to be so opposed to our Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcing immigration laws. She would try to convince us that these agencies are in business only to make money.

Her letter leads us to believe there is abuse in the system with uncontrolled violence and abuse of the illegals. We don’t know if she means abuse at the hands of the ICE officials or other illegals. The letter offers no proof that such abuse exists. Her letter also leads us to believe that the money being spent for controlling illegal immigration is being taken from SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and Social Security.