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Hot girls, cattle calls, Iowa's past, present and future

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Hot girls, cattle calls, Iowa's past, present and future

...and for a touch of click-bait: Bruce Springsteen, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama

Aug 20, 2023
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Hot girls, cattle calls, Iowa's past, present and future

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We believe in local news and supporting organizations that cover our communities and state. The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members serve to add local commentary to the mix as a complement, not a substitute for legacy media. On Monday morning at 5 a.m., The Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll will publish current GOP caucusgoers’ presidential choices. Please support your local news sources, as many as you can. Click here for more: IOWA POLL and pollster, J. Ann Selzer.

Pat Kinney sheds new light on one of the bigger Iowa stories of the Vietnam War era, while Steph Copley bids adieu to her ‘hot girl’ summer. Our newest columnist in Davenport, Alison McGaughey, introduces an Iowa-based musician she loves, and Jeff Morrison reports on how the Lincoln Highway is at a crossroads.

Dave Busiek’s media column tackles the conflict between print deadlines and immediacy.

Art Cullen takes us to a Bruce Springsteen concert in his irascible way, while Beth Hoffman tells us about a different kind of ‘back street’ exchange. She and our food writer, Wini Moranville, have cooked up a plan for something on September 8 that you’ll want in on. And Wini introduces readers to a French-style wine bar in our backyard. John Naughton combines three crowd-pleasers: the fair, butter sculptures, and sports. And Nik Heftman has a video piece on a barber school.

Kurt Meyer has a new report on the eminent domain fight in his town of St. Ansgar, while Bob Leonard advises the Iowa GOP on how they can ‘dump Trump.’

Doug Burns writes a lovely essay on why he appreciates his home state and country.

In our Politics category, Ed Tibbetts writes about the possibility of Kim Reynolds endorsing in the GOP caucus; Cheryl Tevis tells us about a visit by Robert Kennedy, Jr. to Iowa decades ago. Who knew? Cheryl, that’s who. It’s fascinating. And in another look in Iowa’s rearview mirror, Richard Gilbert, Julie Gammack’s husband, weighs in on his popular take on former governor Robert D. Ray.

Dave Price hangs out with Trump supporters at the Fair.

Our talented poet, Suzanna de Baca, is sensitive to family issues.

Laura Belin writes the Dems have a possible Iowa Senate pickup with the announcement of a new candidate, Matt Blake, facing incumbent Brad Zaun, and sums up the caucus cattle call at the fair. While Barry Piatt offers his take on the former president’s cancellation of a press conference.

Water quality is becoming a key issue, and Julie Gammack introduces subscribers to the director of Lakeside Labs, Dr. Mary Skopec.

Sports columnist Rob Gray writes about muscle training.

And Macey Spensely’s getting married!

Photo by columnist Jody Gifford during the 2012 Iowa State Fair


POLITICS

LAURA BELIN

Iowa politics with Laura Belin
Sizing up a Matt Blake/Brad Zaun race in Iowa Senate district 22
This original reporting and analysis first appeared at Bleeding Heartland and is shared here as part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. For regular emails linking to all recent Bleeding Heartland articles and commentary, subscribe to the free Evening Heartland newsletter…
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a month ago · 2 likes · Laura Belin
Along the Mississippi
Kim Reynolds looks down the road
Along the Mississippi is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. One of the most intriguing developments amid the presidential politics…
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a month ago · 1 comment · Ed Tibbetts

CHERYL TEVIS

Unfinished Business
Unfinished Business
Twenty-one years ago, I jumped in my car after work and drove two hours from Des Moines to a Clear Lake meeting in hopes of a one-on-one interview with its keynote speaker. I arrived home at our farm around 11:30 p.m., following another two-hour drive. I was up the next morning, writing an online story, based on this in…
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a month ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Cheryl Tevis

SH*T RICHARD SAYS (IN JULIE GAMMACK’S POTLUCK)

Julie Gammack's Iowa Potluck
Sh*t Richard Says
Regular readers of this column have come to clamor for posts submitted by my husband, Richard W. Gilbert. The title of his submission - Sh*t Richard Says - was borrowed from the book by Justin Halpern, Sh*t My Dad Says, which is hilarious. Since we moved back to Iowa, Richard is often reminded of the past -because he was a young press secretary to Gove…
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a month ago · 15 likes · 11 comments

ROBERT LEONARD

Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture
Iowa Republicans can Dump Trump and Save their Party and Democracy
Governor Reynolds and other Republican candidates campaigning in Pella before the 2022 midterms. Todd Dorman with the Gazette has, for the umpteenth time, pointed out how fearful Governor Reynolds and the Iowa Republican Congressional representatives are of losing Trump voters…
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a month ago · 11 likes · 13 comments · Robert Leonard
Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart Shares Strategy for Rural Iowa
I spoke with IDP Chair Rita Hart yesterday and asked her about the IDP’s plans to make gains in rural Iowa. She lays out how she is working to help build stronger county parties and the strategy for the future. She discusses the recent county survey, the new county ambassador program, and messaging. She stresses she is part of a team, and that they are …
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a month ago · 11 likes · 14 comments · Robert Leonard

IOWA LIFE

DOUGLAS BURNS

The Iowa Mercury
At home and real everywhere in America
Carroll, Iowa Since our nation is more idea than geography, a collection of principles above anything else, this intellectually secessionist notion of two Americas, one with good people, and another peopled by "the other" should be dispatched. It flies in the face of everything I have sensed as an American, for I have felt…
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a month ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · Douglas Burns

JODY GIFFORD

Benign Inspiration
The Mistakes We Make
Shout out to the parents dropping their kids off to college this week. Judging by all the posts on my Facebook feed, there are a lot of you out there. I see you and I sympathize. My daughter is a senior this year and we’ll be in your shoes come August 2024…
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a month ago · 2 likes · Jody Gifford

STEPH COPLEY

It Was Never a Dress
So Long, Sweet (Hot Girl) Summer
As the evening chorus of cicadas grows louder each August, my grasp on the last fleeting moments of summer always gets tighter. I develop a bit of a pit in my stomach around this time every year—an anxious agitation I’ve experienced since childhood. In years past, this uneasiness has stemmed from not wanting to say goodbye to late sunsets, warm morning …
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a month ago · 7 likes · 3 comments · Steph C

JEFF MORRISON

Between Two Rivers
Lincoln Highway bridge at a crossroads
TAMA — The iconic Lincoln Highway bridge here will have to be replaced in some manner, but the exact strategy has yet to be decided. Th…
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a month ago · 4 likes · Jeff Morrison

PAT KINNEY

View from the Cedar Valley
'Friendly Fire' 50 years later: Waterloo vet looks back
Martin Culpepper didn’t stand for injustice. Not for an Army buddy killed in Vietnam, nor for others of color in Culpepper’s chosen trade. In fact, it was because he stood up for his fallen friend – Michael Mullen, killed by friendly fire – that Mullen’s folks, Gene and Peg Mullen of La Porte City, arranged for Culpepp…
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a month ago · 6 likes · Pat Kinney

MARY SWANDER’S EMERGING VOICES

Mary Swander's Emerging Voices
Erin's Heart
Erin’s Heart By Julie Russsell-Steuart My friend Erin’s post-Covid heart hurts. “Anything that gets my heart rate up will cause an insane amount of pain and I'll pay for it for days.” Erin says she’s lost the ability to enjoy the few exercises she was capable of. “I had been able to use a trike and go swim in the pool, two things that I could actually do …
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a month ago · 7 likes · 6 comments · Mary Swander

JULIE GAMMACK

Julie Gammack's Iowa Potluck
Shhh...the best kept secret on Lake Okoboji
Listen now (56 mins) | AUGUST 18: OKOBOJI, IA One month from today, over 250 writers will converge on a part of the Iowa Great Lakes area few know exists. The Lakeside Labs consists of 147 acres of natural land developers would love to get their hands upon, but thanks to the foresight of the original benefactors and contemporary community leaders, the property owned by the Iow…
Listen now
a month ago · 6 likes · 2 comments · Julie Gammack and Mary Skopec

MEDIA

Dave Busiek on Media
Immediacy, urgency lost due to early print deadlines
Regular readers of The Des Moines Register have noticed for several years now that stories in the print edition are often several days after the actual event occurred. Monday’s city council meeting shows up in Wednesday’s or Thursday’s paper. Friday night football scores show up on Sunday. A new report shows we are not alone. In a…
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a month ago · 12 likes · 20 comments · Dave Busiek

NIK HEFTMAN

Become Inspired...
"ALL-INCLUSIVE"
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a month ago · The Seven Times

ENTERTAINMENT

ALISON MCGAUGHEY

The Inquisitive Quad Citizen
I Love Lissie (and you should, too).
We may not be as hip as Iowa City (a college town an hour away on Interstate 80), but we do have an amazing array of options for live music here in the QC. And though they may be occasional, the hometown shows by Rock Island native Lissie — a now Iowa-based artist with a soulful voice and a talent for writing great songs — are one of the absolute best p…
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a month ago · Alison McGaughey

WINI MORANVILLE

Wini’s Food Stories
Des Moines’ Frenchest Place for a Drink
Here’s why I love The Cave, followed by why you might want to visit this weekend for a fun celebration. Most everyone can conjure up an image of the classic Parisian Café—the zinc counter, the spacious windows open to views on the boulevard, those intimate marble-topped tables, the black-vested waiter with the full-length apron . . . the list of touchsto…
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a month ago · 9 likes · 2 comments · Wini Moranville

BETH HOFFMAN

In the Dirt
Back Street Deals and a Happy Hour Invite
We parked at the back of the parking lot, so as to not be too conspicuous. She handed me the cash, a 20 folded nicely, and laid in my hand quickly. I handed her the goods, each carefully weighed out and neatly packaged into baggies; she inspected each one by one and placed them delicately into the trunk of her car…
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a month ago · 1 like · 1 comment · Beth Hoffman

ART CULLEN

Art Cullen’s Notebook
Rockin’ with The Boss
“So what are you doing in Chicago?” the young lady smoking behind the bar asked Saturday night. We were there to see Bruce Springsteen at Wrigley Field.Art Cullen’s Notebook is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber…
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a month ago · 18 likes · Art Cullen

DEB ENGLE

A Whole New World
All's Fair
Every August, Bob and I head to the Iowa State Fair, and every year, I’m grateful that we still feel like making the trek. This year we had a special reason to go: We were celebrating the one-year anniversary of our friends Gaylyn and John moving to 70 acres in southern Iowa from Boulder, Colorado…
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a month ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Debra Engle

JOHN NAUGHTON

My Life, in Color
A State Fair butter trinity: Clark, Trice, Warner
Well, butter me up. Jack Trice’s sculpture stands outside the football stadium named for him in Ames. Kurt Warner has his bust in bronze at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And Caitlin Clark may be the most-viewed Iowa college female athlete of all time on the Internet…
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a month ago · 1 like · John Naughton

SPORTS

ROB GRAY

Rob Gray's Area
On strength, muscle and grinding grist for growth in football and life
My son is built like me. Tall. Lanky. Reasonably athletic. His metabolism at age 14 whirs at the speed of lightning, so packing muscle onto his 6-2 frame is damn near impossible. For now, anyway. He’s trying, though, and he’s getting stronger and faster via weight training and pickup basketball games. But gaining mass? Right now that’s a fool’s errand …
Read more
a month ago · Rob Gray

EMINENT DOMAIN UPDATE

KURT MEYER

Showing Up
Pondering a Pipeline
Are you familiar with Miles’ Law? Just eight words: “Where you stand depends on where you sit.” I’m a true believer. Coined in the late 1940s by Rufus Miles, a government bureaucrat, it’s a reminder that we generally see what comes through our own limited prism…
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a month ago · Kurtis Meyer

POETRY

SUZANNA DE BACA
Dispatches from the Heartland
Sweat and Dust
Dear Readers: I am pleased to share that one of my poems was recently featured in literary journal Voices de la Luna in their May issue, which was themed “Writing Pride.” The fact this poem was published in this particular issue was especially meaningful as it was written about my aunt, who was a gay woman and LGBTQ advocate, women’s literature professor…
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a month ago · 3 likes · 6 comments · Suzanna de Baca

We, the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members, are grateful for your support of our work. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to our individual columnists. They put great effort into providing content you won’t find elsewhere. If it is not possible, consider sharing this roundup with those you think might be interested in joining our subscriber base.

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Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Columnists

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup
Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny
Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Letters from Iowans, Iowa
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities
Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines
Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids
Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines
Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Iowa
Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
The Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.
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Hot girls, cattle calls, Iowa's past, present and future

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Hot girls, cattle calls, Iowa's past, present and future

iowawriters.substack.com
Jason Liegois - Author
Writes The Writing Life With Jason Lie…
Aug 21

Some really good articles here, such as those from Art, Ed, Leonard, and some others. But am I a bad Iowan if I wish this year was the last year for the Iowa Caucuses? I think they've run their course and there's a better way of winnowing down the presidential candidate field.

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