A Roundup from the State House, to Iowa Sports, a Laugh or Two, and MORE!
...and an invitation
What’s Hot
The Iowa Legislature, Caitlin Clark, Audi Crooks, and Austin Frerick’s new book about big Ag…
But First…
Nicole Baart longs for the conversations her family used to have when washing dishes…long before smartphones and dishwashers took over our lives.
Social Security, Pharmacy Deserts, the Criminalization of Mental Health, AEAs, and the Quality (or lack thereof) of our Water
Laura Belin reports from the Iowa Capitol on funnel week. Don’t look away. Laura Belin explained why the state House Republicans' supposed "big wins" won't avert big problems for Iowa's Area Education Agencies:
She and Dennis Hart also recapped the Iowa legislature's busy second funnel week.
A Republican proposal for Social Security would do more than just raise the retirement age. A surprise is lurking in the GOP plans, and Ed Tibbetts at Along the Mississippi tells us all about it. Meanwhile, Republicans in the Iowa House are trying to kill a program that helps the poor--even as some of the state's most profitable companies benefit from a tax break that costs the state hundreds of millions of dollars.
Are we on the brink of ‘pharmacy deserts’ in some parts of the state? Cheryl Tevis has the story.
In light of National Criminal Justice Month, Kali White VanBaale discusses the modern criminalization of mental illness.
Chris Jones asks why does Agribusiness hate clean water? He has receipts.
For more on this story, here is Jared Strong’s report in Iowa Capital Dispatch, our alliance partner.
And our naturalist columnist Larry Stone likens the awakening to water quality issues as akin to the Civil Rights movement, in this feature about activist Jim Larew, of Cedar Rapids.
Julie Gammack drove from Florida to Des Moines this week and had time to ponder, and connect dots from her thoughts along the way.
Iowa’s Congressional Delegation
Barry Piatt writes that most of the Iowa delegation in Congress “found their acorn” on the vote on a looming government shut down - but not Rep..Randy Feenstra. He voted to let it close. Piatt looks at what that vote meant.
Sports
Jane Burns talked to former Iowa State women's basketball star Stacy Frese for The Crossover about why this March is particularly mad for her - her former team opened the NCAA tournament against Maryland, which is coached by her sister Brenda.
Steph Copley witnessed the ribbon cutting for the first stadium purpose-built for a women’s professional sports team: CPKC Stadium, home of the Kansas City Current.
Art Cullen writes it’s a crazy good year for Iowa-grown hoops.
Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger has been attending Hawkeye women’s basketball games in Iowa City the past year. Around the games, he’s become a fan of the cool architecture on the campus. And now he has a few questions.
Dining
Wini Moranville found that when entertaining, hiring a private chef could actually be affordable, priced at a sweet spot between cooking yourself and dining out at a stylish restaurant.
Features Around Iowa
Gladbrook’s Pat Acton has a new matchstick creation: the Courthouse Square from “Back to the Future”. “BTTF” trilogy fan Jeff Morrison got an early preview of the project and shares all the details.
A farm couple near Jesup has built a large outdoor Stations of the Cross walkway on their land. Pat Kinney caught up with them in time for Holy Week and Easter in his new "View from the Cedar Valley" column.
In Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices column, she posts an excerpt taken from Ruth Suckow’s novel Country People, first published in 1924, and reissued this centenary year
Media
Dave Busiek on Media says Gannett’s decision to drop the Associated Press will affect all news consumers.
Daniel Finney also has a few things to say about the move in his Paragraph Stacker column.
Black Iowa News
Dana James interviews a local cinematographer, Craig Farley, owner of Cignature Productions. He specializes in drone footage, but can shoot a variety of events.
Books You Will Want to Read
Austin Frerick kicked off his book tour on a podcast conversation with Robert Leonard and Julie Gammack. Readers joined the discussion, too. Barons is a story about consolidated farming operations in different market segments, leading to monopolisticc strangleholds. Podcast: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck.
Bob Leonard considers the politics behind the power of corporations Austin Frerick detailed in his new book Barons, concluding that corporate control of our government is hand in hand with an emergent Republican movement toward a theocratic oligarchy that Americans are "sleepwalking" into. When Pigs Fly…Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry.
Doug Burns reviews a novel he finished ‘in one gulp,’ and wants to share with readers: Yellow Face, by R. F. Kuang.
Travel
John Naughton shares a spontaneous road trip. He was on his way to Wisconsin and got as far as Dubuque. Then he turned his wheels south to Nashville instead.
Kurt Meyer takes us on two rambles this week, guiding us through a valley in Germany – a “Neander Meander” – before focusing on a threatened bloodbath. In both cases, he encourages us to journey with him.
Humor
A slogan for the state of Iowa—Fern and Joe sort it out.
Vicki Minor says her artificially intelligent acquaintances keep her company.
Letters from Iowans
In the latest Letter from Iowans, Kelcey Patrick-Ferree writes about last year's passage of a bill to ban abortions after six weeks and asks, "Does the Iowa Legislature prize Iowans' liberties?”
Poetry
Macey Shofroth is always talking with fellow Iowans about how they build creative community in the Midwest. This week, she talks with Kelsey Bigelow about her project, Poetry Potluck, with Caleb Rainey.
Our poet Suzanna de Baca shares a poem called "The Stoplight," which was recently published in the journal A Plate of Pandemic's spring issue: Creativity in TImes of Crisis. Suzanna also has an invitation for you. See below.
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Roster
Our paid subscribers are invited to join members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative at noon on Friday, March 29th via Zoom. A link will be sent that morning. You are welcome to join if you are a paid subscriber to any one of our members. We thank you for your support.
You do realize, the caption under Audi Crooks photo in Art Cullen’s post is labeled wrong, right?