The Armstrong Journal

Spilled Ink

This is the last week to sign up your kids for the Armstrong Little League baseball/softball season! Be sure to get them signed up. We would love to see all the kids we can out there on the field. … more

By Clinton J. Davis | 3/15/22

School teaches taxpayers an expensive lesson

Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart has been a lightning rod during the past three years over the way Iowa’s public schools have responded to the Covid pandemic. Ahart announced last week … more

By Randy Evans | 3/15/22

Highlights with Henry

Week nine was full of subcommittees for bills that have been sent over from the Senate. There is a push to get these bills through before the second funnel end date which is next Friday. … more

By Representative Henry Stone | 3/15/22

Make Me an Instrument of Thy Love

37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first … more

By Pastor Walter Reemtsma, Presbyterian Church, Lone Rock, Iowa | 3/15/22

Highlights with Henry

This week, week eight of session, was truly monumental! Monday after legislative business had adjourned for the day, I had to opportunity to watch some girls state basketball including a team … more

By Representative Henry Stone | 3/8/22

Cooking Through Chaos

I saw my 5 year old was eating a sucker he got for Valentine’s Day so I asked him what flavor it was and he answered “car wash.” …What?… I had no idea what he meant … more

By Nikki Goraczkowski | 3/8/22

The Bible is a Book to be Desired

Psalm 19:10 “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” What do the Bible, honey and gold have in common? You may think … more

Pastor Jim Dewar • First Baptist Church Bancroft | 3/8/22

Spilled Ink 3-9-22

A few weeks ago Taylor and I had to take Calvin to his ENT surgery for tubes being put into his ears. Many of you may remember when we did that. I forgot to mention a funny story about our trip over. … more

By Clinton J. Davis | 3/8/22

Spilled Ink 3-2-22

Please pray for me, my wife, and my grandmother as we travel six hours south this weekend for my cousin’s bridal shower with a nine month old baby who doesn’t like car rides. I think my … more

By Clinton J. Davis | 3/1/22

Here’s another place we need more transparency

There has been a lot of talk lately about why Iowa’s K-12 school districts need to be more transparent, and more accessible and more accountable, to parents and the rest of the tax-paying … more

By Randy Evans | 3/1/22

Highlights with Henry

The large amounts of committee and subcommittee meetings have died down and we have started floor debate for lots of bills. Most of the bills that we passed this week were noncontroversial and had … more

By Representative Henry Stone | 3/1/22

Spilled Ink

Our home as welcomed two new family members. Groot and Captain America now live upstairs in our home. Both Groot and Cap are betta fish and take minimum care taking. It is also hard for Hartley to be … more

Clinton J. Davis | 2/22/22

My Hometown

My Armstrong home had always been sort of a menagerie. We always had at least two dogs and my two older brothers had at least two aquariums, each, as did I. I also had turtles, American … more

Dan Lindholm | 2/22/22

Highlights with Henry

This week was the first funnel week of the session. This means that all individual bills have to be passed through the proper committee to make it to the floor for debate. If a bill doesn't make it … more

Representative Henry Stone | 2/22/22

Cooking Through Chaos

I was folding some towels when my three-year-old came into the room. I handed her a washcloth and said, “here this is how you fold towels” and demonstrated . I told her to try, she … more

Nikki Goraczkowski | 2/22/22

Lines from the Lake

Here in the North Country, we’ve wrapped up a week of birthday celebrations and are settling-in to the time when more snowbirds are leaving for a few weeks or months of sunshine in warmer … more

Jo Ashmore | 2/15/22

How to Become Fearless in a Culture of Fear

I am currently preaching through Acts, and one of the things that is readily apparent in the earliest chapters of the book is that the apostles, a group that was once characterized by their … more

Pastor Colin Andrade, Bethany E&R, Ledyard | 2/15/22

Highlights with Henry

Week five was another busy week. We didn't gavel in on Monday since the Iowa caucuses were being held, but on Tuesday we got right to work. There were more than 85 subcommittee meeting this week in a … more

Representative Henry Stone | 2/15/22

Spilled Ink

Valentines Day is usually pressure filled for men trying to show their loved ones how much they love them. Or perhaps more accurately that they didn’t forget Valentines Day so they don’t … more

Clinton J. Davis | 2/15/22

Spilled Ink

Last week I wrote about Del Matheson’s From Afar... column and how we were publishing the last one he had sent to us. This week we say hello to a new columnist in that page 2 spot. A good … more

Clinton J. Davis | 2/8/22