Basu news, windmill kerfuffle, an Iowa angle to the Olympics, RAGBRAI routes
...Ernst, Reynolds, Grassley, and CARS!
Editor’s Note: We have 60 Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members, plus a Letters from Iowans column edited by . Not all our members post a column each week, but you will find an extensive buffet of assorted commentary to sample here. Some names are familiar, others not, but all have had professional writing experience and are worth considering. We hope you enjoy exploring their work. Please subscribe to those you wish to support. If you would like to fund our group efforts - best practice gatherings, onboarding new members, etc., please become a paid subscriber to this Roundup column, but only if you can spare the bucks.
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IWC News / Politics / Around Iowa / Sports / Food, Entertainment & Travel / Cars / Humor / Poetry
To our readers:
Most of the columns related to the presidential race were written and posted before the shooting last night at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania. Out of respect for the tragic loss of life and attack on the former president, we are not including those posts here in today’s Sunday Roundup.
opley, however, wrote this after the event:
IWC News
Rekha Basu joins the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative this week with her column “Rekha: Shouts and whispers.” Through her decades-long career as an opinion writer for the Des Moines Register and nationally syndicated columnist, Rekha’s commentary was a must-read for those who agreed or disagreed with her writing. Rarely was there an indifferent perspective to her work.
In her first column as a member of our group, Rekha captures the emotion felt by many who are mourning the loss of Iowa women’s independence after the recent ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court shortened the time when a woman can seek an abortion to six weeks after conception. Readers will be wiser for her work because she packs context and perspective into her writing.
Please welcome and subscribe!
Iowa Politics
From : Momentumous: The Beat Goes on for Iowa Agriculture and Pollution. Three hundred thirty-four million pounds of nitrate-nitrogen left the state in May and June.
Also from : A surprise Iowa Senate resignation, a new leadership role for an Iowan in Congress, and State Representative J.D. Scholten stepping back on the mound were among the topics Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks discussed on "KHOI's Capitol Week."
asks: What is it that politicians like Joni Ernst don’t want you to know about the IRS?
This week, takes us to Washington, D.C., where he received a “Timeless Liberal” award from Americans for Democratic Action. It prompted him to share President Kennedy’s definition of a liberal in a column entitled “An Attitude of Mind and Heart.”
Listening to the Land columnist, , tells about a new movement in his area of northeast Iowa. IWC member is involved.
offers context to the office of the vice presidency in his column: A Bucket of Warm What?
points out how Senator Grassley, age 90, is ducking Joe Biden’s age issue.
Around Iowa
According to , Okoboji faces a battle over wind turbines that are as tall as 40-story office buildings.
Sioux City’s shows how pervasive phone use has become, even in social settings experiencing a disconnecting moment on a summer night in June.
with Nik Heftman as he teases his first feature-length documentary, “The Negro Artist: A Poet and His Impact.”
The '‘D'‘ logo debate between Drake University and DMACC makes both schools look dumb, writes two-time Drake alumnus in “The Paragraph Stacker.”
, in Reporting from Quiltropolis (Winterset, Iowa, 50273), muses on mental health and how quiltmaking (substitute knitting, throwing pots, woodworking, etc.) can help keep a person grounded.
A former Waterloo journalist, the first Black managing editor of the Kansas City Star, previously headed a national reporting team on race issues. Read about Andale Gross in Pat Kinney's new "View From the Cedar Valley" column.
looks at the logistical difficulties of creating RAGBRAI routes in southern Iowa and how that affects this year’s ride. He calls it the “Pac-Man Problem."
How will Sean Dengler ever get to his farm? He has a 90-minute commute and suddenly hears a thump, thump, thump, . . . Read this week's post in Emerging Voices and also listen to this talented young comic tell his story
Cars
One of our newest members is , a former Des Moines Register reporter who recently ended her career as the Ford beat reporter for the Detroit Free Press. She covers cars in a way that drives even those who don't like the subject of her stories. As Phoebe says, she’ll give you something besides politics to talk about at a dinner party. Read her entry into the EV world.
Sports
At The Crossover, talks to former Iowa basketball star Megan Gustafson to find out how a player from an itty bitty town in Wisconsin ends up playing for Spain at the Olympics in Paris.
Media
takes stock of 175 years of Iowa's newspaper of record while also introducing you to a couple of other worthwhile new items.
on Media wonders why Caitlin Clark’s hometown newspaper has cut way back on coverage of her.
Food, Travel, and Entertainment
From , our Racontourist, It’s that time; it’s now or never. Six hundred miles, Des Moines to Denver. Let’s meet there, and come together… It's gonna be the Best…Weekend…Ever.
from Wini's Food Stories wrote about an off-the-beaten-path farmers' market that's perfect for those who don't love the downtown crowds.
What the heck is a Fluffernutter? And how did the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich end up in Omaha? used his reporter's notebook and appetite to find out.
Humor
Shortest parade in Madison County, thanks to Vicki Minor.
Poetry
This poem by is dedicated to those born during historical moments of great change and upheaval. “Born in the Air.”
shares a news response poem prompted by a photo essay in this week’s Business Insider, which showed ancient artifacts that hikers find on trails in the Alps, now revealed as a result of melting permafrost due to climate change. Relics ranging from bones to swords to shoes provide clues to travelers from ancient times. History and supply chain nerds, read on!
never thought she’d feel comfortable pushing herself as a creative. That’s changing. She’s sharing some thoughts about her growth as a writer and a poem to welcome this new phase of her creative life.
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