Reader letters for July 28, 2026:
Pesticide drift:
“Shad can file an insurance claim against his offending neighbor over the pesticide drift.” — Leslie M.
“We need to expose the BIO TECH Industry started in the 1980’s and let loose Monsantos and had the FDA also lie about the dangers of [glyphosate] to hide the chemical dangers down the road! Now we are here suffering physical damage from what they lied about for 30 or so years. [Bayer], a German company, has bought the bankrupted Monsantos and we need to stay on top of all of it, because now [Bayer] is twisting the government’s arm to ease regulations [on] its altered GMO (Genetically Modified Foods). This is serious for all of our health, especially the farmers who grow our crops!!” — Mary W.
Adam Zabner critique:
“Hey all, I appreciate your coverage of local issues and was disappointed to see you platforming Adam Zabner. He is a proud Zionist and has attacked people who have protested to stop Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. It is disgraceful to see a so-called ‘progressive’ defending a genocide and conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism.
Israel is an apartheid ethno-state, founded on violently displacing native people from their homes. It has caused great harm to Jewish people and will continue to put them in danger for as long as it is allowed to carry out war crimes with impunity. It is your duty to tell the truth about this matter and to do everything possible to stop a genocide!” — Jake G.
ICE detainments:
“I saw what has to be an Iowa Republican license plate H0N0R. Note the O’s are zeros.” — Ken W.
“‘Nearly 1,800 Iowans were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2025 alone’ <- Can we make it 1,000,000?” — hollypatricia
“When ANYBODY enters the United States without proper paperwork to be here LEGALLY, then they are illegally entering. My four grandparents came over—Ellis Island—and were registered. They found work, were employed until able to obtain small farmland and start up independently. They signed up to become United States citizens. That’s how it is done!
Those who choose to sneak in without any kind of prepared paperwork to be here are ILLEGAL entries. So they are good people?? They still did not choose to sign up, register themselves and expect to become citizens. Why not? So many who ‘claim’ persecution in their home country seemed to handle said ‘persecution’ prior to coming illegally. Why the sudden influx of illegally coming? Why not sign up to enter as real immigrants? Why commit the crime of getting here by ‘back door’ methods? Paying some trafficker to get here is dishonorable, no matter how you cut it. When Biden screamed ‘Y’all come! We’ll take care of you!’ and opened gates did this start to happen. Just BEING here doesn’t justify that Now You Have Claim to Be Here! No! That makes you a nice person, who broke the law! If I run a red light, I pay the price! You crawl here and think that’s OK?? You get citizen privilege? Think again!” — M. Mandeville
[NOTE: The United States did not have strict immigration laws when our (I presume yours as well) European ancestors arrived to the United States prior to 1920; they simply arrived at a port of entry. They needed no visa, nor sponsor or other family in this country, and didn’t have to pay anything, unlike immigrants of today. Only 1% of the 25 million immigrants from Europe who arrived at Ellis Island between 1880 and World War I were actually stopped from entering.
That means our ancestors likely would have been “illegal” under today’s standards, according to the American Immigration Council—a label this country has used throughout history to exclude whichever minority group is considered the scapegoat du jour (see: Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Quota Law of 1921, the Immigration [Johnson-Reed] Act of 1924, etc.) Immigrants of European descent have been, and are still, generally given many more privileges nonwhite immigrants are not—click on those links if you don’t believe me.
Also: Running a red light will not get you deported “back” to Europe.]
Grassley says WNBA not treating Clark fairly:
“I wish Grassley would tell Trump he’s not treating the American people fairly.” — Mark T.
Feedback:
“Been wanting to sign on for a long time.” — Scott T., Bettendorf
“How can you expect me to trust your veracity when you come right out and say ‘I am wildly biased…and here’s the news’?” — Larry B.
“Your newsletter are over the top amazing!” — Janny B., Dubuque
