Reynolds as VP? Not going to happen

...to taking a grandson to a drag show, and lots in between

Mar 26, 2023

∙ Paid

Photo from Fern and Joe’s column

Here is your Sunday morning roundup of columns. ENJOY.

The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative group hosts a monthly Zoom call for readers to interact with our columnists. This month’s call will be hosted by Doug Burns. It is available for those who are paid subscribers to any one of our columns. Join us on the last Friday of the month (March 31).

Here are the columns filed by our members this past week:

BARRY PIATT

Barry Piatt on Politics: - Behind the Curtains

What Governor Reynolds Doesn't Know About Running for Vice President

It is obvious that Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds wants to be picked as the Vice Presidential running mate for whoever wins the 2024 Republican presidential nomination - even if it is the twice impeached, and by then likely felon Donald Trump. You read it here first, folks: It. Is. Not. Going. To. Happen…

2 years ago · Barry Piatt

ART CULLEN

Art Cullen’s Notebook

Policing where we pee

It’s 6 a.m. I’ve had a strong cup of black coffee, two pieces of toast and a cigarette. There’s the pit-pat of feet and a knock-knock on the bathroom door. “Snookums, are you about done?” She always calls me snookums in the pre-dawn darkness. “Just finishing up a chapter of War and Peace!” I reply. “It’s just getting to the war part…

2 years ago · 26 likes · 10 comments · Art Cullen

LAURA BELIN

Iowa politics with Laura Belin

Governor, spare us your fake concern for trans kids

This reporting first appeared at Bleeding Heartland and is shared here as part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Previous posts reviewed the key legal questions surrounding Iowa’s ban on gender-affirming care and the latest version of the “bathroom bill…

2 years ago · 11 likes · 8 comments · Laura Belin

DOUGLAS BURNS

The Iowa Mercury

Workplace law changes would make for lost, dangerous Iowa childhoods, Council Bluffs labor leaders, parents, say

COUNCIL BLUFFS Labor leaders, parents and Council Bluffs community members say proposed radical changes to Iowa's child-labor laws would redefine what it means to be a kid in the state, placing young people in jeopardy while driving down wages f…

2 years ago · Douglas Burns

SUZANNA DE BACA

Dispatches from the Heartland

Well it’s about time there was some happiness

This week CNN reported on the happiest countries in the world (Denmark is #1) and showed data indicating benevolence has increased 34% over the last 3 years. That hopeful news inspired this poem…

2 years ago · 2 likes · 3 comments · Suzanna de Baca

FERN AND JOE

So I Took our Grandson to a Drag Show at the Public Library

2 years ago · 2 likes · Fern Kupfer and Joe Geha

PAT KINNEY

View from the Cedar Valley

NATO expanding due to Putin's Urkraine war, retired Waterloo general says

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s brutal war on Urkrainian civilians is only serving to strengthen and expand the NATO alliance, according to a retired Waterloo general wh…

2 years ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · Pat Kinney

ROBERT LEONARD

Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture

Republicans Demand Teachers Out Gay and Trans Kids

(My apologies if this piece is a bit choppy. I felt the need to get it out quickly). The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports that the Iowa Senate passed a bill on Wednesday restricting books and instruction related to LGBTQ identities in Iowa classrooms and libraries…

2 years ago · 14 likes · 9 comments · Robert Leonard

KURT MEYER

A Friendship Buffet

Paula and I returned recently from our first multi-stop, driving vacation in three decades, give or take a few years. While we saw magnificent countryside and several notable museums, we’ll undoubtedly remember this trip for the people we connected with… relationships refreshed and friendships renewed throughout our journey…

2 years ago · 2 likes · Kurtis Meyer

JANE NGUYEN

The Asian Iowan

A Long Journey to a Global Classroom

In my childhood home on Terrace Drive in Carroll, Iowa, I had a playroom in the basement. I had a play kitchen, doll beds, dress-up clothes, and wooden puzzles. One day, my mom brought home a pair of student desks from a local auction. I added two sma…

2 years ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Jane Nguyen

JOHN NAUGHTON

My Life, in Color

Route 66: The mother of all nostalgia

There was a time when cars drove across eight states, from Chicago to coastal California. But the 2,400-mile path known as Route 66 seems to live on as a sentimental journey. The Mother Road, as outlined in John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” was part of America’s first highway system, according to the National Park Service…

2 years ago · 1 like · John Naughton

CHUCK OFFENBURGER

Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger

Our rural county’s bold multi-cultural initiative

JEFFERSON, Iowa – From the time 18 months ago when I agreed to take a leadership role in the Greene County economic development group’s bold initiative to diversify and grow our workforce and population, I’ve been clear and open about what I think my role is…

2 years ago · 2 likes · 3 comments · Chuck Offenburger

MACEY SPENSLEY

The Midwest Creative

Welcome to the Next Chapter

I won’t lean into the cliché metaphor of my life as a novel too much, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to absorb how it feels to be looking forward right now. My fiancé Matt and I officially moved to the Des Moines Metro area this past weekend (hence, the lack of a column last week). With how the timing of my job starting and Matt traveling f…

2 years ago · 4 likes · Macey Spensley

MARY SWANDER

Mary Swander’s Buggy Land

Amos, the owner of the Amish bird shop, stood outside near his purple martin house pole. His heavy work boots crunched on the icy ground. “Purple martins only eat on the run,” he said. “There are a couple of them back now from the South. But the ground is still frozen with no insects in sight. So, y…

2 years ago · 4 likes · 3 comments · Mary Swander

ED TIBBETTS

Along the Mississippi

It's good to have friends.

Sometimes, watching the Iowa Legislature can tell you a lot about how this state works. It’s not pretty sometimes, but it is instructive. I’ll start at the beginning. A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how the state Senate voted to change the way county supervisors are elected in Iowa’s five largest counties. Instead of vote…

2 years ago · Ed Tibbetts

CHERYL TEVIS

Unfinished Business

Unfinished Business

When I was growing up on the farm in northwest Iowa, bald eagles were nearly extinct. After the pesticide DDT was banned in 1972, and Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1978, bald eagles staged a successful comeback over the next three decades. When the miracle of modern technology made it possible to install a we…

2 years ago · 3 likes · 4 comments · Cheryl Tevis

TERESA ZILK

Meet Kayla Bell-Consolver

The lamp's warm glow in her office is no match for the full-wattage smile that Kayla Bell-Consolver flashes. She is everything that you'd want in a leader and a therapist: confident, knowledgeable, and empathetic. She feels like someone that anyone could connect with…

2 years ago · 2 likes · 1 comment · Teresa Zilk

Here is our columnist list in alphabetical order:

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

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

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

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar

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 Curtains, Washington, D.C.

Macey Spensley, The Midwest Creative, Davenport and Des Moines

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

For our paid subscribers:

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