Page 4 - Clear Lake Mirror Reporter E-Edition 7-8-2015

Opinion
Page 4 • Jan. 13, 2016
REMEMBER WHEN
Dreams for peace in 1991
Second graders at Lincoln School displayed an American flag made with their handprints since the fall. In conjunction with Martin Luther King Day, the
students wrote their dreams for peace on paper resembling candles. The group decided to hang their candles with the flag. The display will hang in the
school until troops come home.
25 Years Ago
January 1991
Local people watched closely on Wednesday,
Jan. 16, as the news came that war erupted in
the Persian Gulf. Clear Lake Mayor Lois Kotz
and Mason City Mayor Bill Schickel have asked
citizens to display the American flag on Friday in ries. The Lady Vikes topped C-W/L, 77-71, and
a show of support for service men and women in
the Persian Gulf.
The Clear Lake City Council has voted to
hire a consulting firm to develop a comprehen-
sive plan to bring city services to the newly an-
nexed areas of the city.
For the first time in three years, the annual
North Iowa winter sports and activities festival,
Winterfest ’91, will be held with ample snow
cover for cross country skiing, snow shoeing, and
snowmobiling. Winterfest ’91 will take place at
McIntosh Woods State Park.
Current members of the Semper Fidelis
Chapter of the National Honor Society at Clear
Lake are Andrew Hansen, Christi Bauer, Shan-
non Quigley, Heather Datema, Kirsten Hick-
man, Karla Lewerke, Pam Wilbert, Debra Han-
son, Kirk Sorbo, Brad Whalen, Adam Callanan,
Shannon Berge, Jason Skinner, and Mark Meel-
hause.
Mike Stensrud, a former Iowa State football
player who went on to play professional football,
read for students at Lincoln and Sunset Schools
last week.
Clear Lake wrestlers dominated the North
Central/Northwood-Kensett High School Wres-
tling Tournament with six champions. Sean
Harlan, Chad Whitecotton, Brandon Frampton,
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Shawn Zimmerman, Mike Andrews and Jason
Salge all claimed championship honors.
The Clear Lake girls fell, 56-50 to Forest
City. Kathy Walls led the team with 20-points.
Mindy Day added 16-points.
The Ventura girls picked up two close victo-
North Central, 48-23. Jenni Fey led the Lady
Vikes against C-W/L with 40-points. Megan
Coe scored a career high 37-points against North
Central.
Grocery specials for the week at Easter’s Su-
per Valu include: Prego Spaghetti Sauce, 30 oz.,
$1.29; Snuggle, 96 oz., $1.99; Reames Noodles,
12 oz., $1.14; Minute Maid Orange Juice, 64
oz., $1.49; Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, 12-12 oz.
cans, $4.09; Ground Beef, lb., $1.68; Sirloin
Pork Chops, lb., $2.39.
50 Years Ago
December 1965
The Clear Lake school system has $21,632.22
extra money to spend and ways are now being
considered on how to spend it. The money was
allocated by the State Department of Public In-
struction from funds provided by the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
A snow mobile rally will be held in Clear
Lake Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 22-23.
The Clear Lake basketball team nipped
Clarion, 61-55. The win lifted the league leading will not hire a man who smokes cigarettes. The
Lions to 5-1 in the N.C.C. Conference and 7-1
overall.
Four accidents occurred last week in Clear
Serving Clear Lake & Ventura Owner/Publisher...... Mike Finnegan
communities since 1869
Editor.................. Marianne Morf
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It was the best of
lists; It was the
worst of lists
By Guest Columnist Dorothy Rosby
It was the Best of Lists. It was the
Worst of Lists. Apologies to Charles
Dickens, but over the last few months,
experts on everything have been rolling
out their lists of the best and the worst,
and the most and the least of 2015.
Lake due to icy streets. From the 10 Worst Jobs, to the Top 30
Playing at the Lake Theater is “Girl Happy,” Most Noteworthy Coffees, to the Best
starring Elvis Presley and Shelley Fabares. Video Games of 2015. I can’t vouch for
the accuracy of any of these, since I have
60 Years Ago a good job, I’m not a coffee drinker, and
January 1956 I don’t play video games.
Joe Jensen, appointed by the Clear Lake City I do waste a bit of time wandering
Council as assistant city clerk, assumed his duties around the internet though and, along
Tuesday, Jan. 3, he will work at present in the with the usual lists, like Best Books and
water department. Best Movies of 2015, I found a lot of lists
Floor joists smoldering from the heat of for things to buy, like the Top Ten Skate-
a fire in a fireplace above them filled the Forde boards, the Best Coffee Table Books, and
Lee home at 1216 Second Ave. with smoke early the Top 10 Review of Best Snow Shovels
Monday evening. of 2015. I’m not making that up. But I
Myrna Reynolds received the WEGIVWAY already know what the best snow shovel
prize at Verna’s Fashion Shop. is. It’s the one anyone besides me uses in
John Rutan left Saturday for Paulina, where my driveway. Here’s what bothers me about the
he has been coach for several years. I saw a lot lists it would be fun to
Mrs. William Bickford, Jr. was installed wor- be on: The World’s highest paid athletes/
thy matron of Park Chapter, No. 35, Order of celebrities/models, the 500 Richest Peo-
Eastern Star at the Masonic Temple. ple in the World, the Top 10 Smartest
People in the World. And I feel more
100 Years Ago hopeful about my financial future now
December 1915 that I know there are more rich people
The school board at Thornton has purchased than smart people.
bob sleds for the conveyance of the country chil- The list of the World’s Most Beau-
dren to and from school. They will be fitted up tiful People of 2015 sounded fun until
with long boxes covered with canvas, and made I realized not a single one of the 2014
as comfortable as possible. World’s Most Beautiful People made it
Seventeen railroads out of 100 in Chicago onto the 2015 list. It must be a tough
year; they really go downhill fast.
sickening odor of cigarettes is enough to con- There were a lot of other lists I
demn them to joblessness. was glad not to find myself on. Among
Potatoes are 75¢ a bushel at Stenby’s. those receiving top honors in the Biggest
Celebrity Scandals of 2015 were Tom
Brady, Brian Williams, and Bill Cosby,
though “top honors” might be a poor
choice of words.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner,
Britney Spears and Charlie Ebersol,
and Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale
were among those who made the list of
Biggest Celebrity Breakups of the year.
Amanda Ragan
State Senator
515-281-3371 or 641-424-0874
amanda.ragan@legis.state.ia.us
With the 2016 legislative session
getting under way, I remain committed
to my constituents in Butler, Cerro Gor-
do and Franklin counties. My primary
job is listening to you and to ensuring
the state honors its commitments to
Iowa families.
These commitments include:
•Standing up for workers and invest-
ing in skills training and job creation.
•Creating more educational oppor-
tunities from preschool through college.
•Supporting Main Street over Wall
Street when investing Iowa’s resources.
•Maintaining high-quality health
care and mental health services.
Working in a bipartisan way, we can
achieve our goals by:
•Continuing to balance the state
budget in a fiscally responsible way. Be-
cause of our efforts, Iowa has a surplus
and more than $700 million in our re-
serve funds, the largest amount in state
history.
•Expanding education and training
that prepares Iowans to fill jobs—those
that are currently available and the ones
we want to attract. Affordable college
tuition, job training, apprenticeships,
high school completion, skills certifica-
tion will put more Iowans on the path to
good jobs.
•Boosting student achievement and
teacher quality in our schools. Several
lean years for K-12 funding have forced
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What a shock! Not only did I not know
any of those couples had broken up; I
didn’t know any of them were ever to-
gether.
On the list of the Dumbest Crimi-
nals of 2015 were two fellows who are
savvier at social media than they are at
life: One escaped from jail only to be re-
captured after posting his vacation pho-
tos on Instagram. The other was so fond
of his wanted poster that he “liked” it on
the Crime Stoppers Facebook page. That
didn’t end well for him either.
A lot of list creators enjoy pointing
out the mistakes of others. There’s the
Biggest Movie Mistakes of 2015 as well
as the Biggest Web Design Mistakes, the
Biggest Celebrity Fashion Mistakes, and
the Biggest Mistakes of the NFL and
the WWE. Conspicuously absent are
mistakes made by the list creators them-
selves. Or by me.
whole list making business, besides that
some of the lists are silly and shallow,
and nothing more than opinion posing
as fact. They come out too early! I’m sure
the list makers want to take the holi-
days off, but how can a list of the best,
worst, least, or most of an entire year be
accurate if it’s compiled before the year
is over? That’s like giving someone their
report card before they’ve taken their fi-
nals.
What if some celebrity couple broke
up on Christmas day? Not only would
that be really sad, they’d have missed the
list of Biggest Celebrity Breakups of the
Year, which came out on December 23.
Steve Harvey named the wrong Miss
Universe on Dec. 20. Lucky for him the
Most Embarrassing Celebrity Moments
of 2015 came out in November.
The Most Popular Baby Names of
2015 has been out for months. But it
could be completely outdated if all the
babies born the last few weeks of 2015
were named Leia, Han, and Chewbacca.
educators to do more with less. By giving
our schools the strong investment they
deserve, we can continue Iowa’s winning
approach to preparing students for col-
lege and career.
•Ensuring Iowans have access to
high-quality, affordable health care. The
Branstad-Reynolds Administration has
made drastic changes to the health care
of Iowa’s most vulnerable citizens over
the last year through privatization of
Iowa Medicaid and the closure of metal
health institutes. We must minimize the
harm to Iowa families and health care
providers.
•Improving Iowa’s infrastructure,
economy and job creation through in-
centives and programs that work with
local businesses on technology, market-
ing and entrepreneurship.
•Making quality of life a prior-
ity through investments in our environ-
ment, arts and culture, and recreational
opportunities.
Focusing on these priorities in
2016, we can improve Iowa’s economy
and help more families join the middle
class.
Please stay in touch throughout the
session. If you have ideas or concerns
you’d like to share, call me at the State-
house (515-281-3371) or at home (641-
424-0874). You can also e-mail me at
amanda.ragan@legis.iowa.gov.
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