A dangerous consequence of public-notice bill: Iowans won't know what they don't know

Journalist and former newspaper owner Douglas Burns in his former office in Carroll, Iowa.

What separates average-to-good Iowa towns from thriving ones, former Governor Terry Branstad often said, is the presence of locally owned banks and a dedicated community newspaper.

Community newspapers are a big part of what makes Iowa, well, Iowa.

And that's why it'…