Winners

The Iowa State Fair opens this week, and as you meander the fairgrounds, you’ll notice a few buildings that might need some work. The Cultural Center, home to the state’s largest art show, is one of them. Built in 1949 as the 4-H Club Dormitory, it last underwent a transformation in 1981. But thanks to the $750,000 gift donated last week by Jim and Patty Cownie to the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation, the old center will get a face lift that includes infrastructure and cosmetic renovations to include electrical, plumbing, handicap accessibility, windows and — brace yourself — climate control.

The West Des Moines Valley High School Tigers’ softball team defeated Pleasant Valley 1-0 last Saturday to capture the Class 4-A softball title. It was the Tigers’ fourth state championship.

Good news for Iowa parents who have chosen to invest in the College Savings Iowa 529 plan to pay for their child’s college education. Money magazine recently compared 70 of the largest state-sponsored, tax-free 529 plans and Iowa’s is among the top five in the nation. The magazine says the Iowa plan is “recommended for residents and national shoppers,” and cites several reasons for its success including management by the Vanguard Group, low costs and multiple age-based investment options.

ChildServe, which already does a lot to help children and families, opened a transitional care unit this week to serve children who are recovering from injury or illness. The 20-bed unit, located at 5406 Merle Hay Road, is said to be the first of its kind in Iowa and will help children and their families make the transition from hospital to home.

You don’t have to travel to New York or Chicago to find quality opera and enthusiastic audiences, judging by the turnout for the Des Moines Metro Opera’s 35th anniversary summer series. The DMMO sold out all of its 16 performances. If that’s not a record, it’s at least the most that anyone in the DMMO’s front offices can remember. But don’t expect the DMMO to rest on its laurels. We hear that next year’s season is ambitious, with Blitzstein’s “Regina” joining Verdi’s “A Masked Ball” and Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love.” 

Though it was never the same without him in recent years, fans of late night television owe a debt of gratitude to Tom Synder, who died last week of complications associated with leukemia at the age of 71. The former host of “Tomorrow” and “Tomorrow Coast to Coast,” was a pioneer of the late-late TV talk show format. His charisma, abrasive style, humor and robust laugh — as spoofed by Dan Aykroyd on “Saturday Night Live” — was above reproach.

Losers

It’s a shame it took a tragedy like the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge last week in Minnesota to motivate government officials across the country and in Iowa to take a closer look at the safety of this country’s bridges. Safety inspections, we’re told, are routine. But according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, more than 70,000 bridges nationwide are rated “structurally deficient.” The bridges carry more than 300 million vehicles a day and would take several years at a cost of about $190 million to repair. Considering what happened last week it might be time and money well spent.

The American Bar Association is considering a resolution calling for limited access to criminal-case files in the name of helping released prisoners find work by limiting the public’s ability to conduct a background check where there has been no conviction and to seal conviction records “after passage of a specified period of law-abiding conduct.” In other words, access to closed criminal cases without convictions would be limited to everyone except law enforcement agencies. That’s bad news for journalists, employers, residents and other watchdogs. If the ABA passes the resolution, which will be voted on this week in San Francisco, it will undoubtedly lead to new laws in many states eliminating access to a wide range of criminal-case files and further set back the efforts of those who fight to preserve an open government. A group called the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is working to convince the ABA to reject the proposed resolutions that they say violate First Amendment and state public disclosure laws.

KIOA listeners were stunned last week to learn that the Des Moines Radio Group wasn’t renewing the contract of Polly Carver-Kimm, the stations’ news director and co-host of “Maxwell and Polly in the Morning,” and was announcing Dic Youngs’ “retirement.” DMRG General Manager Bill Wells said in a statement, “Polly will be missed. We’re proud to have had Polly on our team for over 20 years.” Youngs, the longtime host of the “Original Saturday Night Oldies Show,” will resign Sept. 30 on his 66th birthday. Comments by Carver-Kimm and Youngs to The Des Moines Register last Wednesday suggested they were unhappy about the decisions. “Let’s just say I’m not ready to retire, but it’s that time,” Youngs told the daily. Carver-Kimm added, “I feel like I was fired.” CV

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