Today, we enter our fifth year of publishing the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Sunday Roundup.
Iowa Writer Collaborative member Laura Belin was the first journalist to report on Republican lieutenant governor candidate Derek Wulf’s legal and financial troubles—and we want to give credit where credit is due.
Laura began raising questions about Wulf on her June 15 radio program, just three days after Zach Lahn announced him as his running mate. She followed up on June 22 and, on July 13, became the first journalist to report what happened during Wulf’s “debtor’s exam” hearing in Sioux County. Her extensive July 20 investigation examined who was helping Wulf pay his debts.
For days, no other Iowa news organization pursued the story. It finally surfaced elsewhere on July 22, after Wulf was asked at a Westside Conservative Club breakfast how he planned to make his financial situation “consumable and palatable” to voters because, as the questioner put it, “it’s coming up.” It was coming up because of Laura’s reporting. Yet some subsequent coverage failed to acknowledge the journalist who had uncovered and documented the story.
That matters. Laura routinely credits other reporters when their work informs or advances hers. We encourage our readers to support local journalism in all its forms—and as many Iowa journalists and publications as they can. A healthy news ecosystem depends upon original reporting, readers willing to sustain it and journalists giving credit where credit is due. That’s how it should be.
We need to acknowledge and support solid, local, independent news and information.
Thank you, Laura, and all the members of the Collaborative who work so hard to bring these stories to your attention.
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Also, in today’s roundup…
Phoebe Wall Howard delivers a gripping series of reports from a Mackinac sailing race marked by violent winds, broken rigging, seasick crews, dramatic rescues and heartbreaking loss. Through the voices of sailors who endured the “carnage”—including those who refused to abandon the race—she captures both the danger on the water and the powerful emotions that followed. Read the full collection below.
Public Affairs
Who Is Helping Derek Wulf Pay His Debts?
Laura Belin — READ
GOP Candidate Pitches, Derek Wulf Finances, 2Q Fundraising: July 20 Edition of “KHOI’s Capitol Week”
Laura Belin — READ
What a Weekslong Effort to Gain Access to an Iowa Higher-Education Report Uncovered
Dave Price — READ
Can Poetry Address Hunger?
Mary Swander — READ
Consolidation Has Taken a Toll on Iowa’s Environment and Economy
Art Cullen — READ
Donald Trump Is Raising Import Taxes on Americans Again, and Iowa Republicans Just Don’t Care
Ed Tibbetts — READ
Double Trouble for the Boundary Waters
Rick Morain — READ
Good News, Two Good Stories and a Groan
Dave Busiek — READ
Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom’s Start Plagued With Confusion, Mistrust
Lyle Muller — READ
Iowa Judge Drops Lawsuit Seeking Preferential Treatment for Herself
Randy Evans — READ
Iowa Lawmakers Made Animal Torture a Felony. Why Don’t They Care as Much About People?
Gordie Felger — READ
Iowa’s Congressional Delegation Now “Owns” Most Unpopular War in U.S. History
Barry Piatt — READ
Note to RAGBRAI 2027 Route Planners … First Stop: Iowa DNR
Cheryl Tevis — READ
Pay Close Attention: Someone Wants You to Be Afraid
Dennis Goldford — READ
The Benefits of the Military’s Testosterone Replacement Program the Media Doesn’t Want You to Know
Daniel Finney — READ
The Idolatry of Christian Nationalism: An Excerpt From “Reflections of a Recovered Evangelical: Love Plus Nothing Else”
Daniel Henderson — READ
The Men on the Roof
Robert Leonard — READ
The Microwave Popped Out a Bunch of Refugees
Art Cullen — READ
Things You Could Buy With $37.5 Billion Other Than a Pointless War With Iran
Daniel Finney — READ
Charlie Cook joins Julie Gammack’s Podcast
Julie Gammack — READ
RAGBRAI, Bike Lanes, and the Unassailable Iowa Nice
Abena Sankofa Imhotep — READ
A Podcast Conversation With Pulitzer Prize Winner Art Cullen About the Current State of Iowa, His Latest Book, and Writing Style
Chip Albright — READ
The Chinese Association of Iowa Celebrated America’s 250th Birthday in West Des Moines
Jane Nguyen — READ
Bowing Out of Bicycling & RAGBRAI
Chuck Offenburger — READ
Restaurants Come and Go Like Streetcars. Here’s an Upcoming One I’m Actually Excited About.
Wini Moranville — READ
Solstice Day—Shadows Long and Lean
Steven Semken — READ
Triptych: A Hometown Poem
Suzanna de Baca — READ
Forgetting to Be Anxious
Tilly Strauss — READ
Humor
Brutal Conditions Break Rigging, Sicken Sailors
Phoebe Wall Howard — READ
Mackinac Racers Who Didn’t Drop Out Share Details Laced With Drama
Phoebe Wall Howard — READ
Rescuer Gets Rescued After Going Overboard Amid Violent Winds During Sailboat Race
Phoebe Wall Howard — READ
Sailor Died Hoping for One Last Race
Phoebe Wall Howard — READ
Sailor Works to Hold Back Tears
Phoebe Wall Howard — READ
Year of “Carnage” for Mackinac Racers
Phoebe Wall Howard — READ
Name Suggestions for a Potential Big Ten-SEC Superconference
Daniel Finney — READ
Nancy Armour’s Nasty Caitlin Clark Column Shows What Happens When Engagement Subverts Editorial Judgment
Daniel Finney — READ
Opinion: Who Will Write America’s Next 250 Years?
Wayne Ford — READ
A Blood Test for Alzheimer’s—Years Before Symptoms?
Ken Chester — READ
Howdy From Texas, Where It’s Hot as a Jalapeño: The Dallas Metroplex Continues to Sizzle With Economic Development, Including a New Stock Exchange in an Area Called “Y’all Street”
Rick Jost — READ
Fired Ford Worker Hires Legal Counsel; Aramark Kiosks Under Scrutiny After Cookie Incident
Phoebe Wall Howard — READ
FINNEY’S 5: Finney Excuses for Not Riding RAGBRAI
Daniel Finney — READ