As a kid I lived in a Cape Cod surrounded by walnut, maple, and white pine trees. My brother and I played a lot in the yard, rolling the walnuts across the street and up the neighbor’s driveway (a …
“Probably 90 percent of where we get our jobs from is just word of mouth,” Matthew Roder says as we stand outside a house where he’s about to finish one job, cross the street, and begin …
Cleanliness is next to godliness, they say, and you’re all about clean. Your home is neat and tidy, and so are the garbage bags you bring out to the street at the appointed time. You’ve sorted …
A few weeks ago, Kjerstin Neumiller went out to a home where she discovered a drain held together by a piece of duct tape. “Yeah, that’s definitely going to be a problem here soon,” she …
My brother works as an auto tech, and when it comes to auto parts, he’ll only purchase at NAPA. The reliable parts and nationwide warranties mean he’s a regular at his local store; even in a …
On May 27, over one hundred third graders left Mid-Prairie West Elementary School for summer break. When they return as fourth graders on August 25, they may not recognize the school they left …
Head down into the underbelly of Lone Tree School, and you’ll discover two giant boilers, one installed in 1960 when most of the school was rebuilt following the 1956 Christmas fire, and the other …
One of the core responsibilities of a leader is to provide a vision, an idea about where an organization is headed and how it can get there. But to see that path through the forest, one has to get …
“You know that day of, take your kid to work day? That has been every day for the last 19 years,” Amber Jacque says when we meet in her office at Lone Tree School one morning in July. “Because …
KEOTA
When Caleb and Benny Ahrens wheel out the tent and chest freezer to local farmers markets each week, the odds are stacked against them. Not only do folks not understand what they are …
KALONA
Enter Kalona Chocolates and you’ll discover a dozen flavors of ice cream behind the counter, and only one of them is chocolate.
“There were two different kinds of chocolate ice …
If you’re lucky, you might have one job in your life that you truly enjoy, one that doesn’t feel like work. For Jake Snider, that happened at a game preserve outside of Riverside where he was …
Yoder Family Farms sits on the line of two Iowa counties that collectively produce 1.6 million pigs a year, but at any one time, the Lone Tree farm is home to less than 100.
Chad and Tiffany …
Grace Tully’s life so far is not a fairy tale. From growing up on an Iowa farm, moving around the country as an adult, and working a couple decades at the University of Iowa, none of it has that …
In almost four years of writing for The News, I have rarely, if ever, been caused to mine my graduate work in philosophy while working on a story. Yet there I was, sitting in the office of Schwartz …
Kalona Mini Buildings is hard to miss, located as it is prominently on Hwy 1 just a bit north of Hwy 22 in Kalona. It percolates with color: candy-striped Adirondak chairs in red and white, iconic …
Capable. If I had to describe Judy Miller in one word, that would be the one.
Picture this: It’s late February, and Judy’s friends are helping her move a few heavy pieces into her new home. …
“You don’t want to go to work every day and not get paid. He’s the same way,” Josh Brand says when he drops by the News office one February day to introduce Geordie, the newest employee at …
When you take a bite of ham at the holiday dinner table or on your daily lunch sandwich, reward circuits are activated in your brain. You feel pleasure as your brain calculates the nutritional value …
