Caucus, Caucus, Cuba, Charles Starkweather
a Cullen Uprising, and a whole lot of other good/bad stuff
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Many of our members covered the Iowa Caucuses on Monday, January 15. We’ll start with our reporting from around the state.
Politics
Defying the conventional group-reporter-think coming out of the Iowa Caucus, Bob Leonard has a different analysis of the results. He was there.
Donald Trump got more support than any other candidate on caucus night. But did anyone really win? Dave Price, who just covered his sixth caucus, is left wondering.
Ed Tibbetts, at Along the Mississippi, analyzed what the caucuses said about Iowa—and Iowa Republicans.
Kyle Munson writes about the “sad, sparsely attended circus” of this year’s caucuses, where empty rhetoric held more sway than a “full Grassley.”
What does a 98-year-old former Iowa attorney general do on caucus night fraught with wind chill warnings and two feet of snow on the ground? Evan "Curly" Hultman "went big" for an underdog and didn't stay home. Read it in Pat Kinney's "View from the Cedar Valley" column.
Barry Piatt wasn’t impressed by Trump’s ‘win’ either. Does there appear to be an Iowa Writers’ Collaborative theme?
Douglas Burns covered the Manning-Templeton caucus, and found someone who switched his vote that night.
Kurt Meyer reports on TWO Democratic caucuses, two counties and fifty years apart.
Chuck Offenburger, dateline: Jefferson singles out his favorite Iowa caucus goer.
Jeff Morrison was on caucus reporting duty in the town of Reinbeck, in Grundy County: It is one of three counties in the eastern half of Iowa that didn’t vote for a Democrat for president at least once in the past 30 years, and one of six overall that hasn’t done it since Franklin D. Roosevelt was on the ballot.
Julie Gammack had a podcast featuring Iowa Democratic Party activists and officials to discuss what was going on in their side of the aisle on caucus night. Also, Gammack has a link to her Monday Zoom session January 22, featuring Iowans for Health Liberty, a political action committee founded to support candidates in favor of reproductive healthcare freedom.
Earlier in the week, Laura Belin and Dennis Hart discussed Iowa caucus takeaways and the busy early days of the state legislature's 2024 session.
Garson
Charles Starkweather was not the first mass murderer in America. But his killing spree, 66 years ago this week, probably was the inspiration for what has become a mass murder pandemic in the U.S. Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts takes a look back: Who was Starkweather? How did his killing spree begin and progress? Why did he do it? And finally, Arnold Garson's personal connection with the murderer.
Yikes
Fasten your seatbelt and get a grip! Cheryl Tevis conducts a reality check on the turbulent unrealities swirling around us in 2024. Read about the lies arriving in Iowa mailboxes.
Speaking of Templeton
How do you save the farm during bad times? In this week’s column, Mary Swander writes about Templeton Rye and how it pulled many Western Iowans through the Depression.
Sports
Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer is making history this weekend. At The Crossover, Jane Burns looks at how Iowa’s teams have helped the Hall of Famer reach a memorable milestone (by losing, mostly).
Tory Brecht wrote about how I fell in love with college basketball and why Iowa men’s basketball is worth watching despite having some ups and downs this season.
An Uprising Lead by Cullen
Art Cullen puts out the call to all Iowa music lovers to save the famed Byron’s Bar in Pomeroy, which the city council fears is unsafe for occupation as the Main Street in this burg of 500 falls into a heap. Iowa’s musical laureate Greg Brown says he is in. How about you?
Laura Belin is in the news (for doing her job)
Laura Belin is suing the Iowa House Chief Clerk over the denial of press credentials. And, Dartanyan Brown has an opinion about her current fight.
Dave Busiek on Media writes that lawsuits against Iowa leaders seem to be the only way journalists can stand up for their rights.
Around Iowa
In This Stays Here, Nicole Baart pens a roundup of Substack articles that inspired, entertained, and challenged her this week. Are you looking for a good read?
Macey Shofroth tells her readers about the first Black-owned Iowa comic book company.
Blizzards, and we’re not talking about the Dairy Queen kind
What was everyone in Iowa talking about last week? Weather. Check out Larry Stone’s column about blizzards past.
Our humor columnist, Vicki Minor, also weighs in on the weather. It will be a cold day when…
And Richard Gilbert weighs in with a ‘Sh*t Richard Says’ item about a 1971 blizzard that involved the Iowa National Guard, former Governor Ray, and a crushed car.
Let it snow, but Dana won’t go. Dana James, founder of Black Iowa News and Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member, has a more sensible approach to blizzards and a message for those who drive during treacherous conditions.
And John Naughton has a fun angle to the Iowa weather story. He has a penchant for finding stories under the ‘Who Knew?’ category.
Food, Glorious Food
Last week, Wini Moranville wrote about two upcoming restaurants: Roots 95, featuring craft American cuisine from popular restaurateur Arturo Mora, and Chikin Lickin, a new Korean fried chicken spot coming to Waukee.
Travel
Beth Hoffman wrote about her eye-opening experience in Cuba: It’s Complicated. Her column is also fascinating.
Poetry
Our resident poet Suzanna responds to recent news in this week's poignant poem: Fourteen Ways to Prevent Birds from Flying into Your Windows.
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