Presidential politics in Iowa, two new columnists, and reaction to the horrors taking place in Israel and Gaza
Presidential politics in Iowa, two new columnists, and reaction to the horrors taking place in Israel and Gaza
...plus, new eateries and old
New subscribers: This weekly roundup features links (in red accent color) to columns posted by our members from the previous week. The complete roster of Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members is listed alphabetically below. We have commentators from across the state. Each member has previous or current professional writing experience. Together, we are linking readers to writers interested in Iowa. Please share.
Please Welcome Baart and Garson
Two new columnists have joined the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please welcome best-selling novelist Nicole Baart, a Sioux Center native, author of 11 novels, mother of five, and co-founder of the nonprofit One Body, One Hope. She is also a regular presenter during the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat.
Baart’s column is titled: This Stays Here, where she plans to explore the lifestyle of living in an Iowa town of 8,000:
Small town life is beautiful.
Small town life is hard.
Arnold Garson joins us this week, too. He is a semi-retired journalist and newspaper executive whose Iowa career included working a 20-year stint at The Des Moines Register, covering the Iowa Senate, being an investigative reporter, and then managing editor. Currently, Garson divides his time between a home in Sioux Falls, SD, and Okoboji, IA. He, too, is a regular feature of the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat and currently produces history memoirs for family clients.
Read more about his background and how he plans on approaching his new Substack column, Second Thoughts, and please welcome him to our ranks.
Reaction to horror in Israel and Gaza
Laura Belin reviews the Republican presidential candidates’ reaction to the Hamas terror attacks in her Capitol Week radio show and column summary.
Fern and Joe’s column discusses the Ames Public Library and a three-month series called “Palestine Unabridged,” likening the reaction to A Library’s Middle East. Fern takes the helm of this column.
Julie Gammack unearthed two letters from when the Wakonda Golf and Country Club voted to exclude Jews from membership: Antisemitism isn’t far from home.
Chuck Grassley Drops the Ball. Again. Why isn’t the senior senator standing up for U.S. military personnel in such perilous times?, asks Barry Piatt, our Washington, D.C. correspondent.
Presidential Politics
Candidate Doug Burgum is on the presidential campaign trail in Iowa, and columnist Douglas Burns has a report from Denison. Burgum's answers on rural, small-town economic battle with 'Generica' suburbs are among the best I've heard from any presidential candidate in three decades.
Around Iowa
A report from columnist Ed Tibbetts in the Quad Cities finds ‘A new study says the Illinois exodus is exaggerated…and on another subject, Davenports keeps things under wraps’. This is a fascinating piece about real population numbers and secrecy from the local city council.
Brother Art Cullen watches the obituaries more closely in his column: Bear down against the pitch count. He’ll get you thinking, as usual.
Day of the Dead celebrations around Iowa are listed this week from Hola Iowa.
Our food writer, Wini Moranville, shows a sneak peek of a new buzz-worthy restaurant on Ingersoll. Extra! A First Look Inside Oak Park + Five Questions Answered
What’s Next for Dave Price? Check it out!
Iowa Republicans couldn't have been more wrong about defunding Planned Parenthood, writes Laura Belin. Facts matter.
Macbeth and the Tragedy of My Random Thoughts, writes Jody Gifford. Oh, and by the way, please vote in your local school board elections on November 7. You can still request an absentee ballot until Oct. 23. the form is on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website. If you want to vote in person, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.
Robert Leonard says why not create working hours aligned with the school day schedule? He suggests a partial solution to our labor shortage: The “School Shift.”
Magdelena’s Stories are told through Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices column via Grant Holub-Moorman. Please read it to understand better the complexities and root cause of why people flee their homeland and the role of the U.S. in creating the problem.
The high schools are gone, but memories remain. Author James Kenyon shares stories from his book, and Jeff Morrison covers the discussion.
Her Waterloo Irish eyes are smiling, writes Pat Kinney, about the third-grade teacher in Cedar Falls who is the official sponsor of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS The Sullivans.
As a columnist and mental health advocate, Teresa Zilk writes about her experience working with Penny Furgerson and her Gateway Dance Theater, a 50-year fixture in the Des Moines cultural scene How I Became Enchanted and Upstaged.
Poetry, with Suzanna de Baca
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
Have you explored the variety of writers in the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative? They are from around the state and contribute commentary and feature stories of interest to those who care about Iowa. Please pick five you’d like to support by becoming paid. It helps keep them going. Enjoy: