Here in Des Moines, we have our share of 10K challenges. It seems like every weekend someone is raising money for a worthy cause at the minimal cost of running with some friends. Sure some folks compete with one another, but the goal isn’t to come out on top; it’s to raise enough money that [...]
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It was a phenomenon that defines irony: A town was put on the map for being all but wiped clean of it. It was five years ago, almost to the day, that Iowa made national headlines when the town of Parkersburg was ravaged by an EF5 tornado. It was an otherwise quiet Sunday on May [...]
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Those familiar with West Cabaret may have noticed some major changes in the place lately. The already-popular bar is sure to turn some heads this summer. While West Cab has been a wildly popular fixture in the West Glen bar scene, new owners decided it was time for some changes. What was once a happening [...]
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It’s easy to write-off the Insane Clown Posse. Really easy. I mean, just look at them. There’s the clown makeup, the clothes. Then there’s the whole “Juggalo” lifestyle and the songs about not knowing how magnets work. In short, it’s easy to understand why people would look at ICP as a running joke. But, as [...]
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“Sightseers” 4 stars Rated R 88 minutes Comedy Starring: Alice Lowe, Eileen Davies, Steve Oram Blacker than the La Brea Tar Pits, director Ben Wheatley’s dark comedy about a couple of serial killer lovebirds is an exquisitely funny movie. Wheatley, the director of British crime dramas “Down Terrace” (2009) and “Kill List” (2011), proves to [...]
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My first experiences playing in public were in nursing homes,” Erik Brown recalls while sitting in House of Bricks. “As a 12-year-old, I was petrified because it was just me, on my own, playing ‘Georgia on my Mind’ for a bunch of 90-year-olds. “(But) It was such a healing thing. All these old people wanted [...]
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Two Republicans who could top the 2016 ticket in Iowa offered similar messages on strategy during a party event Friday night in Cedar Rapids. Former State Rep. Rod Roberts of Carroll, a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate, and a Republican already in that chamber, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, stressed party-buildi ...
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No one seems to have noticed, but Jim Leach has resigned as head of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a job he has held since August of 2009. Leach, a Republican, served 30 years in Congress from eastern Iowa before he was upset by Dave Loebsack in 2006. Two years later, the Republican endorsed [...] ...
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Two new Balkan cafés sprouted last winter on a stretch of Merle Hay Road that already hosted Estrada and Tropik. Both new cafés specialize in burek, an historic category of baked foods. The world’s most popular travel publisher, praised the dish last year in its guide to “The World’s Best Street Food.” F ...
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