We have a new member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please welcome
, whose column today rings true for those who have tried to find nature’s rare, seasonal gem. Read his Mushroom Diary…Notes on Morel Season.Avery, 30, is a writer living and working in Marengo, Iowa. He was raised next to the Mississippi River and has never strayed too far from it. He has been writing about arts and culture across the state and greater Midwest since 2015, most recently for Belt Magazine, The Daily Yonder, No Depression, Iowa Public Radio, and Little Village. Click for more from his Five and Dime column.
Dartanyan
Meandering down a river with
is also a thoughtful way to begin our Roundup of columns from this past week: Rivers, Respect, and Reverence.State and National Politics
True Independent candidates for statewide offices have become unusual in America. When it happens, the candidates usually are on the fringe with no chance of winning. Meet Dan Osborn, who is running for the U.S. Senate as an Independent in Nebraska and getting standing ovations from Democratic and Republican audiences. What's different in this race is that voters will have only two choices in November -- a Republican or an Independent who thinks it's time for a more bipartisan approach in politics.
Can an Independent win a U.S. Senate race in a nearby state?
has an interesting take: An Independent candidate for the Senate is challenging convention and attracting attention in Nebraska. raises several serious questions about what at first feels like a significant win for Boone County, where she lives. and Dennis Hart said farewell to the Iowa legislature's 2024 session in the final "Capitol Week" broadcast featuring Dennis. Belin also reviews an ‘extremely difficult’ legislative session for LGBTQ Iowans.Lawmakers have turned America's gunfighter myth into law, writes
in The Paragraph Stacker. has some final thoughts about the 2024 Iowa Legislature and a final question about how it ended. Watching the Sausage MadeFrom
: A Scott County judge struck a blow for openness in the City of Davenport's cynical attempt to keep secret details of its controversial payment to a former top administrator. Read Ed Tibbetts' take on the ruling and the reaction in Iowa to the Biden administration’s move to raise salaries for millions of American workers. has an important piece about how farmers fear the Koch takeover of an Iowa fertilizer plant. FTC Chair Lina Khan held a listening session about the issue.Media and Local News, Des Moines to Davenport
The news on government transparency in Iowa is good but disappointing. on Media has two posts this week. He looks at unbalanced coverage of day one of the Trump criminal trial and explains why your TV news team might be smiling more than usual.Around Iowa
Iowa Boy
, who is such a fan of college life that he calls himself the “eternal sophomore,” says he’s worried about Iowa’s colleges and universities now. They’re getting cutbacks in programming and financing, topped with political and cultural restraints. What they need is growth, innovation, and more creative thinking.How have things changed in Storm Lake, Iowa?
spoke to community leaders about the issue and turned his remarks into a column. has a delightful story about Iowa's ties to a movie role comedian/actress, Carol Burnett. The renowned star portrayed Vietnam War protester Peg Mullen, whose son was killed in ‘friendly fire’ during the war, fueling the mothers’s activism.Also, from Kinney, Military kids at a grade school in Japan named for five Waterloo brothers who died in World War II got a lesson about them from their only granddaughter, who teaches in Cedar Falls. Read it in Pat Kinney’s new “View from the Cedar Valley” column.
gains a new perspective on the national and international news—from Albia, Iowa, to Jerusalem, Israel— through the writing of the Anabaptists (Amish, Mennonites, Brethren) in their weekly newspaper, The Budget.A local banker, now gone for over a century… but still well worth knowing about.
tells about the life and times of Banker Brush, in his column, Showing Up.Two posts from
for the Roundup this week:From April 16:
The “Tama County Rifles” participated in major Civil War events, from the siege of Vicksburg to the March to the Sea. Jeff Morrison shared their story from a presentation earlier this month.
April 21 was the 110th anniversary of the Lincoln Highway through Ames being named “Lincoln Way.” Jeff Morrison investigates the history of the highway in its earliest days near, and perhaps on, the Iowa State University campus.
, has a podcast with Dana James that focuses on advocates against domestic violence who urge others to join in the fight to help Black women in Iowa.Follow Up
did an "after-action review" of Austin Frerick's Iowa CCI discussion of his book Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry in Iowa Falls on April 11th. Leonard used the event to share ideas about how we can use Democratic values to build power and victory as we seek to restore Iowa and our nation from the damage caused by Kim Reynolds and the MAGAverse.Dining Out
breaks a lot of scoops in her column, Wini’s Food Stories. Her post this week is newsy and tantalizing. She reviewed Mitzi's, a fun little spot for casual bar-grille food in a late-70s-inspired atmosphere. She also interviewed the key players in the much-anticipated reopening of Table 128.Entertainment
What do Gladys Knight, Nicki Minaj, and a pair of guitar heroes have in common?
saw them all in a week.Sports
headed to Pella to watch Central College softball and talk to George Wares about his 40 years of success as the school's coach. Read about it in her Crossover column.Tornados in Iowa
, aka J. Dudley Gilbert— — has a post from her pup’s point-of-view on his diligence around storm-watching. Take cover now, insisted Dudley.Podcasts
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Poetry
writes a poem about healing the most undesirable parts of ourselves. shares that her poetry was recently published in the April Lit eZine literary magazine, where she was also selected as this month's featured author. Check out her poems and an interview with her in this issue centered on the theme of transformation.Thank you, Tom Mott, for becoming a Founding Member
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Good piece! Welcome!