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Our columnists weighed in on the most radical push to privatize schools the state has experienced. Dave Busiek, Laura Belin, Art Cullen, Ed Tibbetts, and even John Naughton cover the topic, with our sports writer quoting high school coaches on the impact.

LAURA BELIN

Belin’s take on the IDP chair race:

Iowa politics with Laura Belin

Rita Hart has her work cut out for her

This reporting first appeared at Bleeding Heartland and is shared here as part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. For previous analysis of the 2022 elections, click here. For regular emails linking to other Bleeding Heartland coverage, subscribe to the free Evening Heartland ne…

2 months ago · 1 like · 2 comments · Laura Belin

Iowa politics with Laura Belin

Vouchers, vouchers, and more

It was a late night at the Iowa capitol and a later night in my home newsroom as state House and Senate Republicans approved Governor Kim Reynolds’ top legislative priority: an unlimited entitlement for Iowans who send their kids to private schools…

2 months ago · 1 like · Laura Belin

ART CULLEN

Art Cullen’s Notebook

Republicans are determined to test their limits

Republicans are bearing full steam ahead on their platform to shift Iowa hard to the right, and in doing so might give Democrats the opening they sorely need. The minority party was left in a shambles following the midterm elections. The GOP controls the governor’s office, both legislative chambers, and the state congressional delegation. State Auditor R…

2 months ago · 7 likes · 3 comments · Art Cullen

Welcome to our newest Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member, Macey Spensley. She’ll lower our collective age curve a few notches. We look forward to reading her perspective, not too far away from becoming a college graduate.

MACEY SPENSLEY

The Midwest Creative

The Midwest Creative: A Becoming

When I was around fourteen or fifteen, I sat in the sunroom of my parents’ house. Surrounded by my mom’s ever-growing collection of novels (my niece recently counted and she owns well over 1,000 books), I shot off a text to a friend. The Midwest Creative is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a fre…

2 months ago · 7 likes · 3 comments · Macey Spensley

SUZANNA DE BACA

Dispatches from the Heartland

I hope you make your flight

Let me get that for you The stranger says And opens the heavy door Of the convenience store As the snow falls around us. Here I got this for you My husband says Handing me a steaming cup of coffee From the drive-through kiosk across town The warm aroma fills the room. There’s bundt cake in the kitchen My colleague says The new gu…

2 months ago · 3 likes · 13 comments · Suzanna de Baca

KYLE MUNSON

Columnist Kyle Munson sums up the only-in-Iowa tradition of RAGBRAI in his column this week by telling us about one of the first riders.

RAGBRAI represents both a fixed destination and an infectious ideal. It has become an acceptable way for adults to run away to the rural Spandex circus each summer. The rest of the year we strive (and too often fail) to live up to the spirit of “RAGBRAI Nation” in our everyday lives: goodwill to fellow travelers, no bike locks, no ego, no stress, etc.

Kyle Munson's Main Street

50 years ago, he was among the few to finish the first RAGBRAI.

The young bicyclist was hungry for freedom. Eager to chase adventure along the open road. It was the summer of 1973 in northwest Iowa. By week, Stephen Gaul, 18, toiled for a moving company. On weekends the young guy from the town of Spencer worked a second, sunny job at Manhattan Beach Resort, 22 miles north on the shores of West Okoboji Lake…

2 months ago · 1 like · 2 comments · Kyle Munson

Four days ago, Julie Gammack announced a new venture she and former Register columnist Rekha Basu are cooking up:

What the hell happened to Iowa?

Julie Gammack's Iowa Potluck

A big announcement for Rekha Basu

Rekha Basu and Julie Gammack will soon launch a podcast titled: What the hell happened to Iowa? Here’s another effing learning curve and growth opportunity. I’ve downloaded Adobe’s Audition software, and Bob Leonard has given me a tutorial over a Zoom call on how to edit audio. Substack offers podcast hosting capability, and…

2 months ago · 15 likes · 1 comment · Julie Gammack

NIK HEFTMAN

Nik Heftman uses his television production skills to tell stories about businesses owned by people of color through his column series, The Seven Times. Catch this week’s piece:

Become Inspired...

ADVERSITY

Watch now (2 min) | Paola Elena Acuña faced a number of challenges when she immigrated to the U.S. nearly two decades ago. She worked a number of jobs to support herself. At times, she struggled to put food on the table. Acuña never gave up, and she now owns her own business …

2 months ago · 1 like · The Seven Times

PAT KINNEY

Our Waterloo columnist tells a heartwarming story about Coach Hayden Fry and a football player.

View from the Cedar Valley

Playing for the man

This is a…

2 months ago · 3 likes · Pat Kinney

ROBERT LEONARD

Our heartland chronicler, Robert Leonard, is always up to something interesting. Catch his post from Friday, and look forward to his perspective on a variety of topics:

Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture

Midwestern History, Academic Freedom

I would like to invite you to our monthly gathering of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative today at noon via Zoom. This is for everyone who is a paid subscriber for any of our columnists, who will be able to get the link to the meeting below. If you aren’t a subscriber, please consider doing so if you can afford it. It’s always fun and interesting…

2 months ago · 2 likes · Robert Leonard

KURT MEYER

One of our newer members is Kurt Meyer, who writes about evolving perspective on insensitivities to Native American culture in this week’s column, It’s a start:

Showing Up

It's a Start...

“The Guthrie would like to acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the Dakota People and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations, including the Ojibwe and other Indigenous nations…

2 months ago · 1 like · 1 comment · Kurtis Meyer

JANE NGUYEN

The majority population of this state is not regularly offered stories about immigrants to Iowa and the United States. Columnist Jane Nguyen is changing that here in the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative.

The Asian Iowan

From South Korea to Iowa; a lavish life left behind to chase the American Dream

As a little girl, in Busan, South Korea, Le Wang loved pretty dresses. Her father, Hou Shiang Wang, owned an upscale restaurant on the very top floor of the posh Commodore Hotel Busan. His restaurant served elegant Korean and Chinese dishes. Le recalls the lowest level of the hotel was lined with shops and her favorite was the dress shop was filled with…

2 months ago · 6 likes · Jane Nguyen

MARY SWANDER

She introduces readers to various new voices through Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices column. This week, we glimpse how a young climate activist from Iowa City sees the world around him. Here’s a piece by Massimo Paciotto Biggers:

Mary Swander's Emerging Voices

The Climate Crisis in a Theatre (and Town) Near You

James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel to his first film, Avatar: The Way of Water, has hit the theatres. Movie goers have been transported to the planet of Pandora in a battle over environmental protection and greed, and the fallout of climate change. For Gen Z viewers like me, it’s not like climate crisis has been missing in f…

2 months ago · 1 like · Mary Swander

CHERYL TEVIS

Unfinished Business

Unfinished Business

When the company of Vaudeville comedian Herb Williams arrived at Sioux City, Iowa, in 1926, sisters Eunice and Nelle Adams were at the front of the line to buy tickets. After the first show, a performer named Robert Q. began flirting with them. Robert asked Eunice for a date, followed by another one or two before the troupe left for its next booking in …

2 months ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Cheryl Tevis

BARRY PIATT

Barry Piatt on Politics: - Behind the Curtains

Echo Chambers Don't Foster Sound Thinking

As a cub political reporter for Iowa’s Dallas County News, I was in the audience on November 13, 1969, and heard Vice President Spiro Agnew launch his famous - some say infamous - attack on the news media. The speech was delivered in Des Moines at the Hotel Ft. Des Moines. The TV networks were there to cover it live, in prime time. No speech by an Ameri…

2 months ago · Barry Piatt

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