The ceramic tile mosaic “The Land of Plenty” – 14 feet in diameter and made from more than 48,000 hand-cut and hand-placed pieces – is probably the most fantastic art installation in the whole county. “It’s symbolic of your community, your history, your culture, your economy,” says one of America’s leading ceramic artists of today.…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, Oct. 16, 2017 — The “Courthouse 100” committee, which for nearly two years has been planning events celebrating the centennial of the Greene County Courthouse, has had some fun surprises while sifting through the history of the inspiring building in Jefferson. That history, and the continuing operations of county government…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER PEOSTA, Iowa, Feb. 6, 2017 — His mind wanders easily and frequently. He barely hears at all. But the 92-year-old monk Father Jim O’Connor, our trusted spiritual mentor, can still drop you with his humor. “Oh,” he cooed when I said something nice to him during our latest visit here at New Melleray Abbey…
See the end of this story for a post-election update. By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, Nov. 8, 2016 — One problem with small towns and small counties in rural Iowa, I’ve often observed, is that life can be so good out here that it’s too easy to start thinking small. That hasn’t been a problem…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, July 6, 2016 — When an editor from the New York Times news bureau in Washington, D.C., spends four years interviewing, researching and writing a book on a baseball story in Iowa, you can pretty well figure it’s a story worth telling — and reading. “The Baseball Whisperer: A Small-Town…