Pictures from our holiday party, and stories about Feenstra, Ernst, Lear, and more
...breaking news from Laura Belin, and a disturbing trend reported by Arnold Garson
Are you a new subscriber? Welcome. Below are links from some of the 40+ professional writers who make up the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Each is independent, yet we refer to one another as a service to readers interested in content about the state. We encourage you to read the posts below, subscribe to those you enjoy, and support their work by becoming a paid subscriber.
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Please welcome our newest member, Vicki Minor, editor of the Winterset Madisonian, who offers a humor column, Relatively Minor. And, from the Quad Cities, Tory Brecht promises to write about the Hawkeyes, yet this week's column tells of an interview with a cat psychic. Two fine additions to our roster!
Celebrating the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Paid Subscribers
Kyle Munson summed up the holiday party in his column posted this week. You’ll also be able to watch a video clip from the event. He’s a pro and not only reports about the party but is a master storyteller in the process.
Usually, the Roundup column features poetry by Suzanna de Baca as the anchor to this weekly summary of posts. We will switch it up today to take you to the opening poem she composed honoring the members of this group: The Local Beat. It was read by veteran radio broadcaster Robert Leonard.
Those who attended the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative’s holiday party last Thursday could sample the grass-fed beef raised by Beth Hoffman and her husband, John Hogeland, on Whippoorwill Creek Farm. This week's column, Market Melancholy, gives her audience an idea of the severe obstacles in selling livestock today.
We had such a great time; we’ll be doing this again more than once a year. All you need to do to be invited is to become a paid subscriber of any of our writers.
Politics, Issues, and Solutions
Laura Belin; Exclusive: Agencies spent $1 million on Iowa governor's office costs last year. Also, Belin uploads a podcast version of the radio show she co-hosts on KHOI community radio.
Ed Tibbetts continues to find and report on shenanigans in the Quad Cities. Don’t they know Ed is watching?? Scott County Supervisors violate the law. [editors note: this is why local journalism matters]
Dave Price reports on Faith, Family, and the Feenstras, an event featuring presidential candidates in Sioux City.
Arnold Garson writes: The number of documented cases of anti-Semitism in America – harassment, vandalism, assault, and even murder – has tripled over the past seven years. His column gives eye-opening context to the past and present.
Senator Joni Ernst choked on a piece of pork, and Art Cullen wrote a column about her retelling of the story.
Batch and Billed? What’s that? Read Chris Jones from this week.
What’s working, and what can be better? Asks Kali White VanBaale about the 988 Mental Health Hotline.
Veteran broadcaster Dave Busiek weighs in on Cabinet pick observations.
Kurt Meyer spills the tea as to why he’ll be drinking tea on December 16.
Around Iowa
Pat Kinney visited our newest Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member on the Meskwaki Settlement and filed this profile of poet/writer Ray Youngbear for his column, From Cedar Valley. Youngbear’s column is coming soon.
Hola Iowa has a story about a program reuniting immigrants with family members. Christina Fernández-Morrow.
Nicole Baart’s column is an authentic, self-revelatory contribution that many readers can relate to. Check out Brave.
Robert Leonard introduces readers to a local Bardic poet, with audio clips included.
Douglas Burns has other interesting Substack columns to recommend. Find out why this reporter has discovered them and why you might like it.
For a change of perspective, check out what Macey Shofroth learned through an experiential exercise she shares with readers.
News you can use around the holidays: Cheryl Tevis celebrates enterprising local businesses in the rural area where she lives.
Council Bluffs is in Jeff Morrison’s line of sight in this week’s contribution.
Mary Swander posts a story titled, the Gaman Mittens, in her Emerging Voices column written by Susan Strawn, author of Knitting America: A Glorius History from Warm Socks to High Art.
Julie Gammack knew the late, great television producer/director Norman Lear, who died last week. She reminisces about Lear’s relationship with Iowa.
Happy Holidays
Wini Moranville offers great food-gift ideas from Iowa producers and purveyors, and Nik Heftman has a video story about a Black-owned watch business. John Naughton weighs in with an Iowa angle to Christmas music standards.
Coming to Carthage
If you’re from Carthage, Illinois, as our Inquisitive Quadcitizen is, you’ll want to know about some ‘big news.’ Allison McGaughey.
More Pictures from the Holiday Party
Columnists
Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center
Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Tory Brecht: Brecht’s Beat, Quad Cities
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
Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls
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, Lovilia
Chris Jones, Chris’s Substack, 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
Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities
Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Vicki Minor, Relatively Minor, Winterset
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 Shofroth: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk
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
Kali White VanBaale, 988: Mental Healthcare in Iowa, Bondurant
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
