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On Tuesday, Feb. 4, Republican State Senator Ken Rozenboom, who chairs the Senate State Government Committee which was considering a bill to declare a five-year moratorium on new Iowa gambling casinos, decided the fate of a new gaming license for Iowa’s second largest city.

“According to my conversations, this bill did not have enough support from Senate Republicans to advance all the way through the Senate process,” Rozenboom said. “In the interest of moving this session forward to other issues of critical importance to Iowans, I have no plans to reconsider the legislation for the remainder of this session.”

That was that. On Thursday, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission voted 4-1 to grant a gaming license to the City of Cedar Rapids, and the ground breaking ceremony was scheduled for Friday. Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell was exuberant, saying it was a “(transformative) day for Cedar Rapids and Linn County.” Lawsuits are expected, yet unless established gaming interests have bribed the judiciary, it seems there will be a Cedar Rapids casino.

I occasionally visited a casino during my lifetime. It takes less than both hands to count the number of times. When my parents took our family to the west coast by automobile, we stopped near Las Vegas at a restaurant that had a slot machine in the lobby. When my home town of Davenport got its first casino, I boarded the riverboat to see what it was about. I visited the land-based casino in Bettendorf for a wedding reception. When I worked at the oil company, the department head hosted a trip to Dubuque where we spent part of our time on a riverboat casino cruise. I once held a meeting near Philadelphia and the group decided to visit Atlantic City for dinner and sightseeing. We walked through the Trump casinos then in operation with row upon row of slot machines. During all those visits, I gambled away roughly $50. It seems unlikely I’ll visit the new Cedar Rapids casino to gamble.

Cedar Rapids is in close proximity to three casinos: Riverside, Tama, and Waterloo. If a person wanted a change of scenery, Dubuque is not that far away. My point in favor of the new casino is why should people have to drive so far to gamble? They shouldn’t. It burns unnecessary fuel, and the risk of a highway accident is increased. Why not let Cedar Rapids build a casino?

In his new book, The Sirens’ Call, released last week, author Chris Hayes discusses the deleterious effect of slot machines on our mind. He explains “the unique attentional trance the machine’s gameplay induces.” In a libertarian society, such simple pleasures, addictions and exploitation should be allowed. Society at large should not function the way someone’s nanny might.

If you like gambling, Cedar Rapids says Gamble On.

The number one tip for helping seniors stay warm indoors during winter is wearing layers of clothing. Begin with a tank top, a t-shirt next, a woolen shirt, then a light jacket. As we age, we tend to be chilly in winter. Cocooning with layers can help.

We also have a tendency to get stir crazy, as evidenced in the questions callers asked during Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ telephone town hall on Tuesday. One woman was in a hospital room for the previous two days and was concerned about Medicare not paying for treatment of a family member’s Alzheimer’s Disease. She could not be consoled, and seemed distraught, even after Rep. Miller-Meeks said a relative of hers had Alzheimer’s and Medicare paid for treatment.

The questions were mostly good, although people need to do a better job asking them. Focus people! You are not in your media bubble at home! Try out your questions before joining the call. Practice! I know, it is a lot to ask.

I made it through to the end. The parts Miller-Meeks read, about the new golden age, energy dominance, and the like, were hardened talking points she used previously in her newsletters. Her way of saying these things drives me crazy. It’s like she’s paying tribute to the MAGA gods before getting started with her shtick, the way a priest says a prayer and does the sign of the cross before approaching the altar.

I took away a couple of things:

• They are working on passing the budget through reconciliation, not regular order.
• She is all in on DOGE.
• Current Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will not be cut now, but any enhancements from the Affordable Care Act are on the table.
• No answers on what to do to bring more manufacturing to Iowa.
• USAID is not supported by her and others and will likely be cut dramatically or eliminated.
• She waffled on the question about privatizing the VA.

I spent worse hours, like the time my boss made me listen to Rush Limbaugh while we were driving around Pennsylvania back in the day. At least I know how to stay warm in winter.

Dear Senators Grassley and Ernst,

Associated Press reported Tuesday Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, advanced from the Senate Intelligence Committee in an 8-9 vote. Next steps are for the Senate to schedule a vote. I urge you to vote no on Gabbard.

When Gabbard was running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2019, I met her at a neighbor’s home. I am a U.S. Army veteran, and from this and one previous encounter in 2016, I can say I was not impressed with her depth of thought or with her qualifications to head a government agency. It is personal experiences like this that drive my opposition to her confirmation as director of DNI.

Thank you for your consideration.
Regards, Paul Deaton

On Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, State Representative Amy Nielsen and Solon Mayor Dan O’Neil hosted a town hall meeting attended by 17 local residents at the Solon Public Library. There was a lively discussion.

Overshadowing the town hall was the fact Republican lawmaker Martin Graber of Fort Madison died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 72. The Gazette story quoted House Speaker House Pat Grassley, “Our caucus is devastated by the unexpected passing of our friend and colleague Martin Graber.” “Our caucus” and no one else? A Democrat at the town hall suggested the obvious: there will be a special election to fill his seat. Let’s give partisanship a rest until the human is buried or cremated before thinking about politics. May Graber rest in peace.

Mayor O’Neil went first. The biggest project the City of Solon is planning is a new wastewater treatment facility. In part, the current one, built in the 1960s, needs updating. The population has grown considerably since the original plant and the city needs expanded capacity. They are one year into a five-year project.

The mayor also suggested the city welcomes increased tax revenue from recent growth. It leaves a little breathing space in the budget, he said. He also discussed the non-partisan nature of city council and would like to keep it that way. We all know he is a Democrat, yet the work is more positive when politics is left outside. He also talked about getting more representation on the county board of supervisors. The legislature is talking about “rural representation” again this year.

State Senator Dawn Driscoll introduced Senate Study Bill 1018 in the Iowa Senate, related to county supervisors and “rural representation.” She explained in her newsletter:

At the forefront of my week was Senate Study Bill (SSB) 1018, which is a bill I filed and am particularly passionate about. This bill requires county supervisors be elected from single-member, equal-population districts in counties with populations of 125,000 or more (or are home to one of Iowa’s public universities). This bill also requires these same counties to fill vacancies on their board of supervisors by special election, while all other counties must fill the vacancy by appointment. SSB 1018 gives a voice to the people of Iowa, especially those in rural communities whose voices can be overpowered by massive amounts of student populations. Given that I live in rural Iowa myself, I recognize the importance of rural representation. Our votes and our voices matter, and I believe SSB 1018 captures exactly this sentiment. The bill advanced through Tuesday’s subcommittee and the Local Government Committee meeting

I pointed out at the town hall that a lot depends upon how the maps dividing our county into districts were drawn. County Auditor Julie Persons was present and said depending on how the legislation is written, and whether it passes, her office would draw a district map and forward it to the Secretary of State for approval. In an Iowa State University study conducted after the 2020 U.S. Census, researchers found 83.3 percent of Johnson County is urban and 16.7 percent is rural. It’s hard to see how a single rural-dominant district could be drawn without extreme gerrymandering.

I want the freedom to vote for the best candidates for all five supervisor seats as the current at-large elections enable. The only Republican elected to the board of supervisors since we moved here in 1993 was John Etheridge. Republicans won by getting out the vote in the entire county in a low turnout election. There’s another reason to favor the at-large system. It elected the first Republican supervisor in many years. It seems like the bill will move this year, even though in our county, it would lock in urban rule by Democrats by district.

Rep. Nielsen covered many topics, including private school vouchers, home schooling, changes in special education, school lunch programs, and the higher education committee. There were questions about water quality, discrimination against LGBTQIA individuals, cancer, and nicotine use and control.

I raised two issues I would like to gain more attention.

Public discussion of contracted administration of Medicaid has gone silent in the state. Is it still costing us too much money? Is the current administrator going to endure? Are we going to require grandma to get a job while enroute to the nursing home? It was a good discussion that ended with my suggestion Rep. Nielsen address it in her legislative newsletter.

I also asked what the legislature was doing to address the statewide shortage of physicians, especially in specialties such as vascular surgery. This topic has not gained traction among Republican lawmakers whose past tendency has been to lower standards rather than incentivize qualified surgeons to move to Iowa.

Rep. Nielsen wears a white hat and even though she doesn’t represent my district, she has been very supportive of everyone in the county. It was a good night in Solon.