The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative is an experiment, and it is working, thanks to our readers choosing individual columnists and becoming paid subscribers. This roundup of columns reaches 4-5,000 readers, and our cumulative readership numbers are close to that of a daily metro newspaper. This started as an idea about a year and a half ago. We grow daily because readers tell their friends and share this Sunday roundup. Together, we are making a difference.
Today, we push the business of democracy off the top of this roundup and lede with sports reporterJane Burns.
It’s not a scoring record that makes the Caitlin Clark era historic – it’s the moment and what it means. At The Crossover, Burns tells Iowans about why we're seeing history in our own backyard.
Back to democracy.
Larry Stone writes of the 7-year struggle to protect northeast Iowa’s Bloody Run Creek, which the DNR has designated an Outstanding Iowa Water, from impacts of a 10,000-head cattle feedlot.
Robert Leonard has three pieces based on his reporting on the Legislature this week as Republicans came after our LGBTQ+ family members, neighbors, and friends in Gender Identity Remains a Protected Class in Iowa--for Now, and for our libraries in Librarians and the Public Push Back Against Proposed Legislation--and Proof why Public Libraries Need Independent Boards, and Carter Nordman, R-Panora, Dismisses the Concerns of Thousands of Iowa Public Library Supporters--in an Authoritarian Move, he uses his Legislative Power to Undermine our Libraries and Democracy
Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger: Library backers to legislators: “Shush!”
Daniel Finney has a few words for members of the Iowa Legislature regarding the teaching of sex acts and animals.
Ed Tibbetts at Along the Mississippi explains the rest of the story behind the Great Iowa Property Tax Freakout of 2023. He also writes about how Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds somehow claims to know more about how to deal with the border crisis than the border control agents who do the actual work.
Art Cullen suggests channeling Mel Brooks while watching the Iowa Legislature is in session. Stupid can be funny.
Arnold Garson: A deeper look at book banning and burning. Why people have been trying to ban books since books first appeared, and how these books almost always survive.
Kali White VanBaale criticizes Iowa’s 6-year dead last ranking of the number of acute psychiatric beds per resident and the devastating consequences for Iowa families in “Iowa’s Most Shameful Ranking Yet . . . ”
Dave Price found out that people DO care about politicians putting our country deeper and deeper in debt. This week, Dave lets them show politicians how to fix this mess regarding taxes.
Jeff Morrison analyzes recently released school enrollment data and picks out two key data sets: Waukee’s growth vs. Waterloo’s stagnation and the increasing percentage of Iowa’s students in suburban districts.
Dems slam a do-nothing Iowa Legislature in Laura Belin’s column today. A bill establishing a raccoon bounty program prompted Iowa House Democrats to vent about the chamber's do-nothing Environmental Protection Committee. Laura Belin has the story.
Laura and Dennis Hart recapped many other Iowa legislative happenings earlier in the week.
Around Iowa
Check out Darcy Maulsby’s Keepin’ it Rural column and a delightful piece about the restoration of an old-fashioned bobsled.
Nicole Baart struck a nerve with readers in her column about loneliness.
Macey Shofroth picked up an engaging writing prompt and shared it with readers.
Julie Gammack interviews Iowa Public Radio host Charity Nebbe about her women-centered podcast, Unsettled. Topics range from the movie Barbie to working in nontraditional jobs and the evolving expectations of women.
Getting naked. Tory Brecht: Unraveling why old guys let it all hang out in the locker room.
Alison McGaughey interviewed the owners of a quirky, weird-and-proud-of-it Davenport shop who’ve been thrifting and crafting since they were teenagers. She got their takes on the thrill of the hunt for vintage, staying afloat after a historic flood, and much more.
John Naughton visited Clear Lake's Surf Ballroom for music and memories 65 years after a plane crash killed three rock 'n' roll pioneers.
Kurt Meyer takes us along on a trip to Texas. And two of his favorite activities: strolling through art museums… and time with friends.
In his new "View from the Cedar Valley" column, Pat Kinney looks inside a new large veterans meeting and service center set up in Waterloo with a $1 million state grant and volunteer donations.
Dartanyan Brown reports about a puppetmaster, Monica Leo, who designed a story around Buxton, Iowa.
It's Heart Month and Vicki Minor’s love for my Aussiedoodle is stronger than ever. Unfortunately, her love for my furniture is even stronger.
We (women) aren’t there yet, baby, writes Cheryl Tevis.
And Jody Gifford’s column is an apology to her kids.
Sports
Rob Gray ‘rambles on’ on about attending an Iowa Wolves game with my 15-year-old son while Iowa State plays remarkable games against Baylor and Texas and more.
BRRRRRRR. Who rides a bike in the dead of winter? Kyle Munson wasn’t the only one.
Dining in the Metro
Nationally recognized food critic Wini Moranville reports on two separate visits to the Mulberry Street Tavern in the Surety Hotel. While the first visit was mixed, she found much to recommend on the second visit. In another outstanding piece, Moranville writes of waiting tables, her entry-level job in the restaurant business, and what she learned. Read an excerpt from her new memoir in Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices. And pre-order Moranville's book:
Poetry
Our resident poet, Suzanna de Baca, shares a poem called "Nothing Can Touch Me Here: The Rocking Chair," recently published in WayWords Literary Magazine with the theme of "Cozy."
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative roster. Please support who you can by becoming a paid subscriber. We are also proud to be affiliated with Iowa Capital Dispatch, where some of our content can be found.
Iowa Capital Dispatch staff won multiple awards in the annual Iowa Newspaper Association Better Newspaper contest.
We now have 48 writers as members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative and a Letters from Iowan's column managed by Jeffrey Morrison. To submit an essay: https://forms.gle/sKL2BPDcVqcrLDHZ8
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