It's May - we have a lot on birds and Bird this week
...Lisa Bluder has an announcement and oh so much more!
Two new columnists joined our ranks this week
We now add the town of Ottumwa to our Iowa Writers’ Collaborative roster by welcoming
, a former Des Moines Register columnist and author of several books, including two nonfiction works about the once-thriving mining town of Buxton, Iowa, where African American and Caucasian families lived and worked as neighbors. Rachelle moved from California to Iowa at the urging of her writing mentor, Leigh Michaels, and she has since put down solid roots in her adopted state of Iowa. Please read her first column and know there are terrific stories to be told by .If you are immersed in the quilting community, you probably know the name
, who created an international brand fueled by authoring books, creating a popular show about quilting on public television, and speaking to countless groups active in quilting. For more about her background, partnerships, and successes, click About Marianne Fons. She joins The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative by launching her column, Reporting From Quiltropolis (Winterset).Iowa Gives the Bird to a Trump Trial
- argued that Trump loyalists like Attorney General Brenna Bird have no room to point fingers about political prosecutions or "election interference."
In Brenna Bird's Big Adventure,
says that Bird's trip to support Trump in New York was unethical, but it was probably a good career move in a Republican party without ethics.Most Americans trust juries, but not Brenna Bird.
at Along the Mississippi writes Iowa’s attorney general should believe in the court system she serves to do the right thing rather than run interference for Donald Trump.- Live From New York..It’s Iowa’s attorney general.
And
has questions about the trip Bird took to New York.Barry
on Politics: Behind the Curtains - What’s really happening to prop up Donald Trump: A behind the curtains look; BTW, Iowa’s AG Bird has some questions she needs to answer for her part.
George A. Clark joined
on KHOI Radio's broadcast about the biggest Iowa politics stories of the week. says you might be surprised by the meaning of the Product of the U.S.A. label on beef and pork products. She explains why our concentrated livestock industry has little appetite for Country of Origin labels.Second Thoughts
reports on the Iowa ties modern-day political polling can claim.Stray Thoughts
longs for one thing the COVID-19 isolation brought us: the live streaming of government meetings.Wash, Rinse, Repeat
, of the Swine Republic, has sobering news due to overflowing river banks.More than a few university faculty have been helping the nitrogen-selling industry sweep the over-application of nitrogen under the rug for 30 years at least. These people are a disgrace to what it means to be a scholar and a public servant. Chris Jones
In our
column edited by , Josiah Wearin offers his take on the nitrogen spill that destroyed fish, turtles, and living things in the East Nishnabotna River.Do you have something you’d like to say? Please submit your essay here:
Around Iowa
, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, invites us along on her drive back home to Davenport from Coon Rapids, shares a song for the drive, and ponders isolation vs healthy alone time. recaps his experience at an Iowa PBS trivia night., In the Dirt, has a lot stirring on the farm, including classes on the farm you’ll want to consider. writes that as we leave Iowa’s rural villages to decay, it induces a unique sort of poverty where things are lost to the bulldozer that cannot be restored. unearthed a story from Greene County, connecting golf, high fashion, and high school students.Mary Swander
How did a European American utopian society relate to people of color? Read Rob Cline’s review in Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices:
Two Cents
A Mom offers her two cents worth to her son,
in this View from the Cedar Valley.Garage Sales
One never knows what treasures await when approaching a garage sale. In this lovely essay,
found a life lesson. had the opportunity to hear adventurer Charlie Witmack speak at the Lake View Library, and she shares why it was so inspiring. encourages reader responses to his column. This week, in “Reading Over my Shoulder,” he shares reactions to the question, “Are you a placed person?” No surprise: answers varied widely. shares an invitation from the Iowa Asian Alliance to attend CelebrAsian in downtown Des Moines to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. writes: Be like Kayla.Sports
Coach Lisa Bluder made a major announcement this week, and
responded immediately in her popular column, The Crossover. She reflects on the parts of Iowa coach Lisa Bluder's legacy that are less about basketball and more about fun times and kindness. author Daniel Finney remembers Lisa Bluder. reports on how Iowa track pioneers open doors for para-athletes. unearthed some notes about the journalism profession he sought to join as a young man. In another post this week, he takes us back to sound recordings used by the Science Center Planetarium and a brush with William Shatner, of Captain Kirk fameDana James,
, is getting ready for another print run and could use some help.Deepfakes?
will feature Michael Dahlstrom, dean of the ISU Greenlee School of Journalism, on her podcast Monday. Get the link. They’ll discuss disinformation, deepfakes, how to spot them, and the future of journalism.Macey Shofroth profiled a young visual artist who has built a full-time business selling her art with "Midwest Nice" values.
visited Pella during Tulip Time with her family, a long tradition for many families.
Poetry
offers a Poem for a Solar Flare. wrote a poem dedicated to someone she lost in 1989 due to HIV Aids.The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative is growing. This week, we added two terrific members. How are you supposed to keep up with all of these posts?
You are not.
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