Page 4 - Clear Lake Mirror Reporter E-Edition 3-16-2016

Opinion
Page 4 • March 16, 2016
Amanda Ragan
State Senator
515-281-3371 or 641-424-0874
[email protected]
A bipartisan agreement will help
Iowans filing taxes this year. The de-
cision will “couple” Iowa’s tax code
with recent federal tax changes for
2015.
Farmers and small business
owners will benefit from a provision
called Section 179 expensing. Federal
law allows them to take a larger de-
duction for equipment purchased as
an investment in their operations.
SF 2303 also helps Iowa teachers
who purchase supplies for their class-
rooms with their own money. Teach-
ers may deduct up to $250 from their
income for these expenses. The deci-
sion to couple with federal tax chang-
es for 2015 will benefit other Iowans
as well.
I am pleased we’ve reached a fis-
cally responsible agreement on this
25 Years Ago • March 1991
The Clear Lake City Council
voted to approve a zoning variance,
clearing the way for a local develop-
er to build a retirement complex in
the Fieldstone area. However, con-
cerns raised by residents of the area
prompted the Council to plan a sec-
ond entrance to the area, located in
the city’s northeast portion.
Clear Lake High School students
will stage a children’s production,
“The Ice Wolf.”
With ice still covering much of
the lake it is difficult to get a read- Bank and Trust Company. Arsenal
ing on the water level, but the news
looks good. City workers measured
the lake on March 4 and reported the
level was 25.20 inches below the weir.
That is nearly five inches higher than
the reported level when the lake froze
over.
Specials for the week at Ben
Franklin include: Memorex Video
Cassette, $2.99; Baseball Card Cases,
$3.99; Nerf Turbo Football, $4.77;
Music Box, $1.99; and Cadbury
Creme Eggs, 3/89¢.
Drs. Judith and Mike Demro,
Clear Lake, are the proud parents
of a son named Scott Michael, born
Feb. 22, 1991. He is the couple’s first
child.
Rev. James N. Louk, of the Clear
Lake United Methodist Church, has
been appointed to the First United
Methodist Church in Ames, Iowa.
A native of Boone, Iowa, Louk has
been senior pastor at the Clear Lake
United Methodist Church for the
past seven years.
Pat Brinkman is the manager of
the newly opened Diamond K Res-
taurant, formerly known as the Jack
of Diamonds, 1210 South Shore Dr.,
Clear Lake. The restaurant is owned
by Pat and Ron Kuhlmeier and has
been extensively remodeled. The
business features a variety of dinner
choices including seafood and steaks,
prime rib and broasted chicken.
The Clear Lake wrestling team
capped a phenomenal year with a
second place finish at the State wres-
tling meet held at the UNI Dome in
Cedar Falls, Iowa. The team defeated
Wapello, 28-27, in dramatic fashion
in the first round. In the finals Clear
Lake led early, but could not hold off
a tough West Delaware team and lost,
49-17.
Knocking off the No. 3 rated Es-
therville Midgets proved to be a tall
order for the Clear Lake boys basket-
ball team. The Lions were denied a
trip to the State Tournament by a 68-
48 score.
12 N. 4th St., Clear Lake, IA. 50428 • Ph. • 641-357-2131 • Fax • 641-357-2133
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR Suddenly
I Like
Help the and rescue dogs, guiding eyes for the
puppy mill dogs blind, cancer, bomb sniffing dogs? K-9 Lutefish
Military and police working dogs/sei-
To the Editor, zure dogs, PTS and the list goes on. By Guest Columnist Dorothy Rosby
Well once again puppy mill lob- I do not believe the average public
important issue. byist and their legislators are trying to understands this. The average dog has I’ve always said, it’s a shame lute- After collecting your sample, you
A new grant program will spur block what would bring some much a sense of smell that is between 10,000 fisk is only served during the holiday shake it up to mix it with the stabiliz-
economic growth by helping commu- needed relief to around 15,000 adult to 100,000 times keener than the av- season. Oh wait. I never said that, and ing solution, seal it, and send it off to
nities clean up neglected buildings. breeding dogs. These dogs are trapped erage human. I have learned thru I never will. the lab. I’ll pause here to express my re-
Many Iowa towns have underutilized, in around 215 Iowa USDA licensed Search and Rescue that a dog can cata- But if I did feel that way, I’d have spect for the fine lab techs who do this
dilapidated buildings. To address the breeding facilities. Some of which log the scents of different people in his good reason for it. It’s in my DNA. important and painstaking work. I, for
problem, the Iowa Senate recently gave have 500 or more dogs, think on that brain and remember it forever. Like a I recently took a DNA test and was one, am in awe that they can look at
bipartisan approval to SF 2229. The and maybe in your back yard. Many, human has a memory for faces, a dog shocked to discover that a full 10 per- “samples” all day and still eat lunch.
bill creates the Community Catalyst just this year alone have been cited for pays attention not so much to what he cent of mine is Scandinavian. My fam- After a month or two, you’ll get a
Building Remediation Fund to provide significant violations to the Animal sees as to what he smells. A dog can ily had previously been unaware we had report outlining your ethnic mix and
grants to rehab or demolish eyesores Act. If you want to see some pictures smell things in parts per trillion. An any Scandinavian in our history. Fortu- linking you to any distant relatives who
that stunt economic growth. of these infamous puppy mills and/ example of that would be (smelling) nately, I’ve always been fond of Scan- have also taken the test. There may
Iowa’s Economic Development or read the USDA inspection reports one drop of blood diluted into 20 dinavians, particularly the full-blooded be a few surprises in your DNA mix,
Authority will administer the fund, please visit Iowa Voters for Compan- Olympic size swimming pools. one I’m married to. as there were for me. That’s because
working with cities on plans to use ion Animals and Iowa Animal Welfare Think on that about those hapless On the other hand, I was disap- people long ago did not let a lack of
grants in a way that is consistent with Alliance. breeding dogs stuck in those horrible pointed to find my dab of Irish was U-Haul and airline service keep them
their community, housing and eco- Why is it a small group of mis- feces/urine soaked breeding facilities much smaller than I thought, appar- from migrating all over the place and
nomic development goals. Forty per- informed legislators have not grasped with nothing to look forward to but ently having been crowded out by ma- starting families wherever they went.
cent of the money will go to towns with the fact what this remarkable species death. rauding Vikings. I won’t be trading in You may also be surprised to find
fewer than 1,500 residents. The bill is has given to us. Ever heard of search my corned beef for lutefisk anytime that the DNA you share with your
now under consideration in the House. Phyl Wessling, soon though. I love corned beef, and siblings may not be as similar as you’d
Garner, Iowa you can get it on sale this time of year. I think. You get 50% of yours from your
don’t think that’s the case with lutefisk, father and 50% from your mother. So
REMEMBER WHEN but it wouldn’t matter if it was. do your siblings. It’s just not the same
I know that listening to a non-rel- 50%. There’s one more thing to fight
Ventura’s tournament hopes were ative talk about their family history is about.
dashed last week with a disappointing like having them show you their home One Stanford University research-
69-63 loss to Mallard. Scott Hinrichs movies while they pull your teeth out. I er I found on the Internet said it’s like
shot for 14-points with Matt Dillavou like you too much to do that to you, so having two bags of 50,000 different
connecting for 11 and Tim Bray had that’s all I’m going to say about it. But, colored marbles. You take 25,000 out
11. I am going to encourage you to take the of each bag, combine them and record
test yourself. You don’t have to study. the results. Then you return them to the
50 Years Ago • March 1966 All I had to do to pass my test was spit bags and take out another 25,000 from
Thousands attended the annual into a tiny tube. Some DNA tests re- each one for the next sibling. Naturally,
Clear Lake Rifle and Pistol Club ex- quire a cheek swab, but you don’t have you’re bound to get two different sets.
hibit during the two day show at the to study for those either. This explains why siblings can be so dif-
North Iowa Fairgrounds. TV crime lab people can track ferent, and why some of yours seem to
M.A. Arsenal observed his 25th down a killer using DNA taken from have lost their marbles.
year as president of the Clear Lake a piece of chewed-up bubble gum they Put another way, it’s like you each
find in a mud puddle at the crime scene. got a ladle of soup, but yours has more
purchased control of the bank Feb. It will take more sample than that, but noodles. Or you each got a scoop of
24, 1941. not much. I’ve seen people spit more trail mix, but theirs has more nuts.
Clear Lake’s Dr. James Hendricks on the sidewalk. (If you’re one of those And that helps explain why some of my
was one of the attending physicians people, stop it. That really bothers me.) Scandinavian relatives eat lutefisk.
during the two day “bleed-in” held in
Mason City, where 355 pints of blood Under The
were donated to the Red Cross. The Golden Dome, Too
blood will be used by the wounded in
Viet Nam. Representative Linda Upmeyer
Mason City ended Clear Lake’s
bid for a State Tourney trip. The Li- 515-281-3221
ons fell, 62-59 in the tough District [email protected]
final game. A capacity crowd watched
Clear Lake’s Don Anderson rack up Unpredictable weather, 1966 The second funnel deadline is be- This led to confusion in the manufac-
32-points against the Mohawks. hind us and with much of our policy turing community and an unneces-
In 1966, after a few warm days, the ice was declared out on March 16 and a work complete, attention will now sary burden on businesses. By codify-
45 Years Ago • March 1971 few Clear Lakers wasted no time in taking to the water. Above, Shelley Stanton turn to the state budget. House Re- ing this exemption, manufacturers are
A little bit of Nashville came to (left) and Pam Watts cavort with an inner tube. Top photo, Mike Cookman publicans will continue to practice fis- given a clear and consistent definition
Clear Lake Saturday night when Bill waterskied in a wet suit. Mother Nature had different plans. A week later, eight cal discipline by spending less than the of what is subject to sales tax.
Anderson, star of the Grand Ole Opry inches of heavy, wet snow was dumped on the area, bringing everything to a state collects and not using one-time Both of these proposals are in-
and Decca Records appeared at the virtual standstill. The heavy white stuff also brought down power lines and funding to pay for ongoing expenses. cluded in House File 2433, which
Surf. tree limbs. These common sense principles have passed the House Ways & Means
Spec. 5 Edward Kotz, Jr. is home served the state well and put Iowa in Committee on Thursday. I’m hope-
on leave after spending about a year 100 Years Ago • February 1916 petent person in charge of setting solid financial footing. ful that we can get this through both
serving with the 3/17 Air Calvary We are now in a fair way of se- them off. This week finally brings some chambers quickly.
Troop in Vietnam. He will leave April curing a Carnegie Library here. It has The popularity of the high top good news for taxpayers. The House This agreement provides cer-
9 for assignment in Germany. He is come to the point of the city provid- laced trooper boot for ladies this and Senate have an agreement in place tainty to thousands of Iowa taxpay-
a 1966 graduate of Clear Lake High ing about $2,000 to secure $15,000 spring is becoming more apparent to halt a $95 million tax increase by ers and ensures that Iowans are not
School. from the Carnegie fund. each day. They come in white, tan, coupling with the federal tax code. faced with an unexpected tax increase.
Terry Mullan, a 1958 graduate At the latest Commercial Club battleship grey and new pearl grey col- Coupling benefits thousands upon This agreement also allows us to fol-
of Clear Lake High School, has been meeting the Fourth of July festivi- ors at O.T. Hansen’s. The sharp style thousands of Iowa taxpayers, 177,000 low through on our commitment of
promoted to account supervisor, Col- ties were discussed. It was decided will have everyone saluting. in 2014 alone. In addition, it keeps funding the priorities of Iowans. At
orado District, for the Ambassador to celebrate with the usual interesting Liven up your torpid liver for 25¢ more money in the pockets of people the end of the day, the taxpayers are
Cards Division of Hallmark Cards manner, but with a larger and better with King’s New Life Pills. that we all know like farmers, teach- the real winners with this agreement.
Corp. display of fireworks and with a com- ers, small businesses, homeowners, Thanks to all of the Iowans who
and college students, just to name a went to forums, called or emailed
few. House Republicans have pressed their state legislators, and made their
for this since the beginning of this voices heard about how important
year’s session. this was to get done. House Repub-
In addition, the agreement in- licans trust that Iowans know how to
cludes a provision that codifies a sales invest their own money and believe
tax exemption for materials that are the more that’s left in their pockets is
used in manufacturing. Known as for the best.
“consumables,” this provision ensures With these two critical issues re-
that the state is not unfairly taxing solved and the revenue situation clear-
supplies and replacement parts during er, I’m optimistic that things like edu-
the manufacturing process. Under cation funding and the overall budget
the current law, this often amounts to picture can be determined soon.
a double taxation on manufacturers. Please join me on March 18, at
For too long, ambiguity in the Clear Lake Bank &Trust for a public
code led to inconsistent interpreta- forum on issues before us in the Leg-
tions by the Department of Revenue islature! The forum will be held from
based on the state’s revenue needs. 10-11 a.m.
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