Weekly Journal 2024-03-24

Last week was a time of planning, events, and appointments. Because I had fasting labs before blood work on Thursday, I had a headache after the appointment. By the time I arrived at a local grocer and bought Starbucks at their in-store kiosk it was 9:22 a.m. That’s the longest I’ve gone without morning coffee in years.

Coffee cost $2.81 for a tall, which with tip came to $4. Expensive, yet I had to have it… immediately. No typical pleasantries discussed at Starbucks, things like unionization, Palestine, Ukraine, approach to supply chain management, workers’ rights, human rights, political activities, anti-social finance, tax conduct, palm oil sourcing, factory farming, or animal rights. Just coffee, any coffee. I was feeling better after getting groceries and driving home.

Rural Political Gathering

Also on Thursday, I attended a meet up at Shuey’s Restaurant and Lounge in Shueyville. It was one of a series of informal political happy hours held throughout the county. This one had a number of public office-holders and candidates, including the mayor of Shueyville, the county sheriff, and one county supervisor. In fact, folks up for election and their entourages outnumbered us locals.

The reason I went was to meet our state senate candidate Ed Chabal, promote an event we seek to hold in the City of Solon before the primary election, and get caught up with friends and contacts. I had not been to the venue previously and found it modern and perfect for a gathering of this sort. I believe they recently remodeled after a fire.

In Johnson County the primary for supervisor is usually more important than the fall general election. There are five Democratic candidates for three supervisor positions this cycle with incumbents Rod Sullivan, Royceann Porter, and Lisa Green-Douglass facing newcomers Mandi Remington and Bob Conrad. Green-Douglass and Remington were present at the event. I keep hearing echoes of problems with the group dynamic at supervisor meetings, yet haven’t paid enough attention to what’s going on.

There was an action initiated by some elected officials for the county central committee to censure the county attorney for following the law in the prosecution of some protesters. That went nowhere, except to make a kerfuffle. However, the bigger issue, one on which I believe the primary should be decided, is about building a new jail.

Johnson County has needed a new jail for a long time. The current jail opened in 1981 with a 46-inmate capacity. With doubling up prisoners, capacity is 92. We have more prisoners than space, and spend more in housing excess prisoners in other county jails than it would cost to build a new jail. With jail diversion programs and other initiatives between the county attorney and sheriff, the overall jail population reduced substantially. The condition of the jail is not what is needed.

In this you have the rift on how county funds should be spent. There are two supervisors who seem likely to oppose any initiatives by the sheriff. If the election yields a third… well, that would be that regarding a new jail. The supervisor race is still germinating in the primordial soup from which campaigns will emerge. Stay tuned.

Good Health

Over the weekend it began sinking in that my glucose level and LDL cholesterol number are within normal range. That’s the first time since I began seeing a practitioner for my condition. My A1C remains below seven, so that’s good, too. Diet and exercise is helping prevent diabetes in my case. Aging is inescapable and we do the best we can.

County Convention

The county convention was held at City High, an old, well-maintained school which I don’t recall previously visiting. Democrats are getting better at conventions as this one finished up before 2 p.m., platform and all.

There continue to be a number of old-timers in attendance. At the same time there are many younger faces. I had not planned on doing so, yet I signed up to be a delegate to the District and State conventions. The District convention is just across the lakes from me, and my spouse can visit family in Des Moines while I am at the convention there. We fell one short of the allocated number of delegates to these conventions so I’m glad I volunteered.

This week is Good Friday and my potatoes are cut and cured. There will be exercise involved with planting them: more than I am used to experiencing. Make it a great week!