Your Sunday Roundup

...gloves, birds, eminent domain, anti-woke moves, a sports story, and remembering an Eagle Scout

Photo by Sam Battaglieri on Unsplash

Compiling the Sunday Roundup for the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative is what my mother would call a labor of love.

Each columnist makes a significant contribution to all of us here in Iowa. Some raise issues in unique ways, making us think. Others make us laugh. And some are such damn fine writers they can make us fall in love with a lost glove or understand why the words ‘thank you’ don’t exist in the culture of some of our Iowa neighbors.

Stories can bring awareness and understanding of others we would not comprehend without them.

Your stories, our stories, and their stories connect us in powerful ways.

We have exemplary reporters in our ranks, covering the shenanigans of the Iowa Legislature and Congress in important ways. Come to think of it, ‘shenanigan’ is too kind a word. Feel free to fill in the blank.

Savor each of the pieces below, and while you’re at it, understand they are doing this out of a commitment to provide commentary in what is becoming an opinion desert in some parts of the state. If you can, please support these writers individually by becoming paid subscribers. And share their columns. Together, we are making a difference by connecting readers and writers directly. This content comes to you now, without advertising, and results from folks taking the time to write for you.

Cheryl Tevis, for example, schools us on the hazards of the past, current, and potential transportation of toxins through Iowa. Her column is a must-read. Heck, all of the columns listed today are important reads.

Enjoy.

Julie Gammack

CHERYL TEVIS

Unfinished Business

MARY SWANDER

Mary Swander takes us into the otherwise secret world of neighbors who live among us yet don’t share the majority culture.

A Call from the Phone Shack

DAVE BUSIEK

Do facts even matter to Fox viewers?

Suspending All Rational Thought

LAURA BELIN

Iowa Republicans are moving more anti-LGBTQ bills than ever

"Capitol Week" meets the Iowa legislature's funnel week

JOHN NAUGHTON

Waterloo West's Sahara Williams: A burning competitive fire

ART CULLEN

Pipelines pressure GOP legislators fraught with internal contradictions

KURT MEYER

There is a difference between birding and birdwatching. Our columnist from St Ansgar writes a delightful piece about his wife’s path to becoming a bird watcher.

For the birds!

ROBERT LEONARD

The oh-so-talented Robert Leonard takes us on a walk in the woods, discovering a lost object. He weaves the tale in with personal reflections and leaves us thinking.

Hello, Friend...

MACEY SPENSLEY

Macey reviews the performance and mission offered through the Des Moines Community Playhouse by the Pyramid Theatre Company.

…I felt that if I were to walk on the stage, I would walk straight back in time. Macey Spensley

The Illumination of Art

ED TIBBETTS

What’s the opposite of the word ‘progress’? Our columnist in the Quad Cities discusses two area legislators working toward turning back the clock on same-sex marriage.

QC lawmakers seek same-sex marriage ban

The woke war on your 401(k)

PAT KINNEY

Our Waterloo-based columnist writes about a granddaughter’s quest to honor her Eagle Scout ancestor:

There were 32 all-Black Boy Scout troops nationally, and seven were from Iowa, including two troops in Waterloo which eventually consolidated. Others were formed within the Boy Scout councils based in Burlington, Davenport, Clinton and Des Moines.

On their honor, say their names

JULIE GAMMACK

Julie highlights reader engagement through her weekly Zoom conversations. This coming Monday, an internationally renowned ‘futurist’ joins the call. Subscribe (free or otherwise) to be a part of the call.

First time caller?

TERESA ZILK

Women's History Month

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Here’s our illustrious group of Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members 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

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