A conversation with a co-founder of one of Des Moines’ most famous haunted attractions and two of his key collaborators. Ian Miller and his brother started Big Al’s Slaughterhouse a decade ago. In the beginning, the duo’s DIY haunted popup attraction operated on the city’s Southside — behind the American Family Thrift Store on Southwest [...]
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Witness the on-ice action at Wells Fargo Arena as the Iowa Wild take aim at a return to the playoffs while offering an unforgettable fan experience. The Iowa Wild made franchise history last season. For the first time in its six-season existence, the team reached the American Hockey League (AHL) playoffs — faltering in the [...]
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Learn why some central Iowans are turning to holistic, functional medicine to cure body, mind. Brittany Cousins was frustrated with the moodiness and lethargy she felt from the thyroid condition with which she’d been diagnosed. About three years ago, her doctor diagnosed her with hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid becomes underactive and does [...]
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An Iowa businessman is poking around to see if he can drum up support from some colleagues to make an offer to buy The Des Moines Register. “Iowans have looked on as the newspaper’s owners and managers have attempted to stop the bleeding [in circulation and news coverage] by amputating limb after limb in [...]
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He’s a little Lyndon Johnson, a little Barack Obama, and that’s just the right blend for the time. Ro Khanna, a son of immigrants who earned a congressional seat in the nation’s most robust economic district, California’s 17th, home to Silicon Valley, is one of the more popular national figures in, of all places, Jefferson. [...]
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This sequel might put the franchise to rest for another 27 years. If you came across nightmares from your childhood today, how would you respond? That’s one of the questions at the center of “IT: Chapter 2” that audiences can explore long after they’ve left their seats. And it’s this question that simultaneously make is [...]
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Stars of the appetizer menu included the pata de negro Iberico, the leg of the most coveted pig in the world for charcuterie. Bistro Nomad sits downtown with a view of Jaume Plensa’s sculpture Nomade. It certainly lives up to its name. The café is owned by an Ames pair who opened Plus 39 before [...]
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Ex-convict serves heaping plates of home cooking to the hungry. It’s an indisputable fact: Bykrmark Carver (formerly known as Mark Carver) used to be a bad man. Indeed, this truth was confirmed by a jury, adjudicated in a court of law, and if you ever meet him, be ready, because there is a high likelihood [...]
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I want an Italian mother. Don’t get me wrong, the wedding itself was heavenly. It flowed with a gracious ease that can be so elusive at many formal events. For starters, the handsome groom came down the aisle sober. A definite plus. Even his buddies stood by his side with no noticeable weaving from too [...]
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“Mean Girls” provides different twists to the familiar odd fish in an established hierarchal pool storyline. “Mean Girls” soon will spill onto the Des Moines Performing Arts stage like students packing the hallways at final bell. The Civic Center will be filled with a sensory, bombastic assault of music, comedy and coming-of-age mayhem. With creative [...]
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I have been sputtering like an old pickup truck for the past three years over the sometimes outrageous, sometimes ill-informed, and often infuriating comments our president makes each day on his Twitter account. But before readers rush to judge me too harshly for that statement, allow me to add: It would be utterly foolish, absolutely [...]
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Urbandale bar opens early, closes late. Since 1983, Urbandale folks have kissed — or at least touched — the worn blarney stone located at the entrance just outside Mickey Finn’s. The neighborhood bar, located off Douglas Avenue, is tucked in a strip mall next to the fire station. The bar has its own charm, with [...]
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Did you ride the “Hydrotube”? The new season of “Stranger Things” has sparked nostalgic interest in shopping malls. The show highlighted an abandoned mall that was brought back to life as a surging metropolis complete with a pretzel shop, a food court and shopping options as far the eye could see. Although some malls are [...]
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“Kicking Abstract and Taking Names” The autumn art season kicked off with female artists dominating the galleries. Drake’s Anderson Gallery hosted “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” with an accompanying poster show and pair of lectures. Olson Larsen Galleries will present “Women’s Work” beginning Oct. 11 through Nov. 30. That show will include Diana Behl, Jen [...]
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Will music last? “Beethoven’s done well.” Bill Payne of Little Feat is excited to perform at Hoyt Sherman Place on Oct. 8 and for his return to Iowa for the group’s 50th anniversary tour. “We love coming to Iowa,” says Payne, “The pork tenderloins are great, and our (late) drummer, Richie Hayward, was from Clear [...]
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Dogs need a “job” to feel happy. When Michelle Hoile of Windsor Heights adopted two puppies from the Animal Rescue League seven years ago, she thought it might be a mistake. Joe and Nina, both pit bull mixes, were energetic adolescent dogs that hadn’t been trained properly. She thought a puppy class might help. During [...]
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Advertising agency executive shares her views on the future of digital. Kristen Sabin is the chief operating officer of full-service digital agency Happy Medium, running day-to-day operations across sales, processes and policies, and human resources, as well as working closely with the CFO on budgeting and financial planning. In other words, new age advertising. We [...]
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