Tag: Iowa

  • Girl on Fire: Benefit to be held for local firefighters

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, December 3, 2015] Every day is a trying time at Creston Fire Department, but recently, it’s been more challenging than usual. Two of my fellow firefighters are battling severe illness and injury, and we as a department have been doing all we can to help them and their families […]

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  • Girl on Fire: It’s what we do

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser December 17, 2015] The staccato of Darwin West’s voice reverberated throughout the room as he pointed to members of the crowd holding up little white cards. The tension rose, a steady thing you could practically feel in your chest. Then, it was over. But the tension remained. This tension […]

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  • Girl on Fire: How NYC and Princeton compare to Iowa

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, November 5, 2015] I walked out of the glass doors onto a large piece of triangle pavement and a sudden wave of the smell of garbage, grime and pollution slammed into me. The smell, however, was accompanied by a view of stories-tall buildings with lights flashing and painted words […]

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  • Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

    Title: The Hunger Games Author: Suzanne Collins Series: The Hunger Games #1 Published: September 2008 Publisher: Scholastic Press Pages: From: Shawna Freeman Rating: 9/10 The fourth and final Hunger Games film was released on the silver screen: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II. Since I don’t have cable or Internet, I’ve been slow in learning […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Dolores to the rescue

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, October 29, 2015] It was the screeching noise as I turned onto the highway that caught my attention. My car had been making funny noises for awhile, but nothing that made me wonder if I should take it in to get fixed. That is, until the moment I turned […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Mother nature can be so breathtaking

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser October 15, 2015] The sunlight was warm on my face as I trudged up a steep incline, little clouds of dust forming around my Nikes with each step. The dirt and grass were dappled with light until I reached an opening in the trees at the top of the […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Awaiting next year’s fairs

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, July 30, 2015] The sun baked my skin and scents of wood chips, tilled Iowa earth and cow manure wafted on the warm breeze. I stood with my arms resting on a large metal gate at the south end of the Union County Fair show arena talking to several […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Control the uncontrolled intersections

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, July 7, 2015] First, before I start in on my column’s main focus, I’d like to wish my coworker Jake Waddingham all the best as he continues his education at Iowa State University. I truly hope he reaches his goals! Now, I want to apologize to the police officer […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Writing might be in the stars

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, June 18, 2015] One of my favorite things to do with my coworkers is talk about books and movies. We have such varying degrees of respect for different genres that sometimes it makes for interesting conversation hearing what two opposite-thinkers think about one bit of entertainment.

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  • Girl on Fire: Young is a subtle inspiration

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, June 4, 2015] Part of the job of a news reporter is to be unbiased: we tell the whole story, both sides, without including any personal thoughts into our stories because it’s up to our readers to form their own opinions. However, sometimes you find that one thing that […]

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