Welcome to our newest columnist, plus columns about eminent domain, tariffs, food in Northeast Iowa
...and a link to the Iowa Down Ballot podcast
National Politics….Iowa Politics….Around Iowa…Weather and Climate….Food and Dining…Cars…Media…Sports…Books & Arts…Humor…Poetry…Writers Roster
Are you a new subscriber? Welcome to a roundup of some of Iowa’s best commentators on topics ranging from politics to pork chops, pork manure, and federal pork - monies coming into the state from federal coffers. Together, in this platform, we refer our readers to one another and in so doing, connect each other to world affairs by way of a focussed, local lens. We urge you to sample the writers whose work appears in the categories listed below. Enjoy!
Please welcome our newest member,
; a quilter who upcycles textiles into stories of connection, identity, and belonging from the unique perspective of an adoptee and birth mother. A San Diego transplant, she moved to Iowa in 2012, where she became an accidental journalist, climbed the ranks of the newsroom, and earned a handful of Iowa Newspaper Association awards for her compelling human-interest stories. Sarah Scull lives in Creston, Iowa:
National Politics
All about tariffs: How a U.S. tax on a foreign government can inrease inflation and unemployment in America without providing any new revenue for increased government spending or internal tax cuts.
explains how.Our history can help us understand our present. Thomas Jefferson's plantation explains so much about American agriculture, writes
.
Negative political ads, political demagoguery at its most intense, traffic in subconscious appeals to your anger, fears, and grievances. Buyer beware, writes
.Our politics is not set up for this moment in time,
says. We are arguing left and right but we are being reoorganized top to bottom.In his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump has become the “not so artful dodger,”
writes from Washington, DC in his column “Barry Piatt on Politics: Behind the Curtains.” He says the Republican nominee fears his own new, personal brand of “kryptonite:” fact checking.: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are but one man with a combover.Iowa Politics
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative political analysts have a weekly podcast offered until just after the upcoming November 5th election. This week they talked about Iowa’s congressional races, and much more related to Iowa Down Ballot, the title of the podcast.
In her column this week
explores the campaign impact of an issue that's left an open sore on the Iowa landscape: Private Property Rights vs. Eminent Domain.
Also,
reported on an ugly campaign tactic, as Iowa Republicans spread FEMA lies to pit voters against migrants. has a new voters guide. Without engagement, will we get the government we deserve? conducts a conversation about how county boards of supervisors are not responding to citizen pushback over eminent domain fights in Iowa.Also, Leonard posts a guest column by fourth generation farmer Seth Watkins, who believes those who believe in the value of 4-H will conclude the Harris/Walz ticket better reflects their values.
Lies? Threats?
attends a briefing the Iowa’s Secretary of State about the upcoming election.Around Iowa
Quiet, please! Ever stop to think that for most of human history, people weren’t overwhelmed with noise? Our souls aren’t designed to be inundated with noise. We need to withdraw from the world periodically and seek more silence. Here’s how, according to
.For this week’s Ty’s Take,
wrote about a little town in Northwest Iowa that not many people have heard of and one of the people who made every visit to that community worthwhile for him.In Winterset,
transitions from quilt book author to novel writer and lights candles of hope for her manuscript.This week,
's column, entitled "Only the Lonely," makes us more aware of a national epidemic. Addressing the issue starts with greater awareness. writes about his mother's lifelong friendship with Mildred Armstrong Kalish, author of "Little Heathens," a bestseller about growing up in Depression-era rural Iowa. at Along the Mississippi gives us the latest news about Davenport’s secret settlements scandal.Veterans took an Honor Flight out of Cedar Rapids last week and
interviewed some of the people waiting for their return.
Weather and Environment
No, writes
, liberals are not sending hurricanes to red states. He adds, Who believes this crap?
Did
find some good news about the environment this week?Austen Camille is Canadian-American multidisciplinary artist, writer, builder and gardener. Camille primarily makes site-responsive public work to facilitate relationships with local environments. In "Mary Swander's Emerging Voices," Camille responds in poetry and visual art to an AgArts-funded residency on a farm in Chestertown, Maryland.
Food and Dining
wrote about two destination restaurants in Northeastern Iowa, and told us how to build a trip around a visit to each.Cars
A 4-year-old boy tells his parents he needs to learn to read faster so he can read scripts, audition for acting roles. All he requested for Christmas? Acting lessons. Now Henry Melitz is a pro. Check out
’s column, “Shifting Gears.”
Media
on Media says after two killer hurricanes, TV meteorologists can no longer ignore climate change.Sports
conjures the memory of legendary Des Moines Register columnist Maury White to tell a little bit about a lot of success by Iowa women’s sports teams in the fall sports season.Carroll native Nick Nurse and former Iowa player Luka Garza made a homecoming return when NBA teams Philadelphia and Minnesota met Friday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
shares details from press row.
Books and Arts
Macy Shofroth wrote about the book “How to Protect Bookstores and Why” by Danny Caine, a love letter to independent bookstores and the ways they foster creativity in the Midwest and beyond.
had an extraordinary experience during the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat. Read about it in “My Integrated Life.”Humor
Coming Sunday: Political ads drag Mayor McCheese. Find it in
’s Paragraph Stacker column.Losing teeth is a lucrative venture thanks to the tooth fairy, writes Vicki Minor, of
talk to strangers in a McDonalds at Lake Okoboji
Poetry
shares a news response poem called "We Need Power" that she wrote after hearing a TV news interview with woman who had lost electricity in this week’s hurricane.
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
Roster
Please explore the columns by members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Below is our current roster: Your support is vital. Pick five, if you can, and become a paid subscriber.