By Michael Swanger, Jared Curtis and Jason Hancock

January

We open the new year reporting that newly elected Iowa Democrats and the Legislature will have about $200 million more than the anticipated revenue for the year — not withstanding cigarette tax and TouchPlay lottery money. Let’s see how long it will take for them to spend it.

A letter to the editor suggests that Cityview’s longtime Food Dude Jim Duncan is a metrosexual in hiding because they didn’t agree with his delicate sensitivities. But anyone who has the stomach to review a week’s worth of food on a stick at the state fair has guts.

Tom Vilsack uses his final Condition of the State Speech (Jan. 9) to outline his presidential agenda. No one, in retrospect, was listening — except Hillary Clinton.

Week 3: On the cover — an inside glimpse at how local actors work hard to carve out a life for themselves onstage in Des Moines. Inside — the City of Des Moines Music Commission convinces the city council to allow licensed street performances, hoping buskers will boost the local live music scene. Everyone in the arts, it seems, is begging for nickels and dimes.

We conclude the month by doing what The Des Moines Register wouldn’t do at its recent televised presidential candidate debates — talk about immigration and investigate how Iowa’s undocumented workers exist in an in-between world.

February

Gov. Chet Culver celebrates his 41st birthday by signing the state’s much-anticipated minimum wage increase into law. The bill raised the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.20 an hour in April, and then $7.25 two days ago.

Say it loud: We profile Des Moines’ street poets and how they’ve found a home at the monthly Say What! Poetry Slams.

Cityview columnist Kent Carlson tells us why he loathes politicians and their dog and pony shows in an attempt to drum up votes to win the Iowa caucus. And it’s only February 2007. Carlson, also, wins Best Cityview Pull Quote of the Year with this little ditty: “Hillary may have been the First Lady, but she was hardly Bubba’s last.”

The Drake University men’s basketball team wins the mythical state basketball championship with its second win over the University of Northern Iowa. Earlier, the Bulldogs defeated Iowa and Iowa State, leaving no doubt who Iowa’s best college basketball team of 2007 was.

We wrap up February with our annual Best Of Cityview reader’s poll, which includes reader’s choices in 147 categories ranging from Best Hamburger to Best Place to Do it in Public. Shameless plug: Voting for the 2008 Best Of is open now at http://www.dmcityview.com.

Sixties folk music legend and activist Richie Havens brings his act to town for the Thresholds VI event designed to create dialogue and collaboration across economic, social and racial barriers and tells Cityview the more things change, the more things stay the same.

March

We profile Drake’s new athletic director, Sandy Hatfield Clubb, on the cover. She is the first female AD in the state of Iowa.

Des Moines residents walk with former Miss America Nicole Johnson for the annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure. Participants are reminded to keep their shoulders back and chest out while strutting.

Belly Up hunts for the perfect Manhattans and finds them at Chequers and the Cosmopolitan Lounge.

State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald displays some of the more unusual items left unclaimed by Iowans, including a Civil War era pistol, and encourages them to pick up their stuff so he can make room for more stuff.

Civic Skinny delivers this award-winning headline — “Blame the homosexuals and the Democrats” — when chiding the ignorant remarks made by William C. Sankey, Pomeroy city councilman, in an email to fellow members of the Iowa League of Cities regarding a workers’ comp bill.

Ankeny voters approve $83 million for schools.

More than 3,000 volunteers help raise more than $3.3 million for Variety.

April

We start the month by reporting some of the most shocking news of the year, including exclusive pictures and eyewitness accounts by local residents Rick Dingle and Dean Williams of rare sightings of a Namaycush — an ape-like animal and the Midwestern species of the North American Sasquatch — at Gray’s Lake in Des Moines. Thousands of people jam Cityview’s Web site (www.dmcityview.com) to view photos and raw video footage of the Namaycush at Gray’s Lake. As revealing as the sighting is, it’s only one of many titillating stories published that week, including news that legendary R&B singer Prince has purchased Hoyt Sherman Place and plans to host a month-long series of shows there, and that Hollywood has tapped Chet Culver to be the next Mr. Incredible, after realizing the cartoon character and Iowa governor bare a striking resemblance.

Week 2 on the cover: a preview of Court Center, home to some of downtown Des Moines’ hottest nightclubs and restaurants.

Local environmentalists ask politicians to make mandatory cuts in carbon emissions by 2050.

Need for speed. Cityview previews the opening of the first full racing season at the Iowa Speedway in Newton.
A jury convicts former Dallas County Sheriff Brian Gilbert of first-degree felony theft after finding him guilty of stealing about $120,000 from a drug bust.

Radio host Don Imus is fired for making insensitive remarks about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. We predict that in six months he will be back on the air… OK, so we were off by two months.

We the People profiles Carl Olsen, a Des Moines man fighting for the right to use marijuana in religious services as the last member of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church.

Bob Costas regales an audience of about 4,000 people at Drake University for the 10th anniversary of the school’s Bucksbaum Lecture Series and stays afterwards for two hours to sign autographs — for free.

Iowans who purchased Microsoft products from 1994 to 2006 begin applying for their share of a $180 million settlement as the results of a class action anti-trust case against Microsoft won by prosecuting attorney Roxanne Conlin.

May

We start off the month telling the tragic story of the life and times of Terri Burgess and how her boyfriend, Brian Ashby, is keeping her spirit alive by breaking down Burgess’s troubled past and questioning the difference between murder and self defense.

We also noticed, though not for the first time, that The Des Moines Register’s youth publication Juice has published a Condo, Townhouse and Loft Guide awfully familiar to our own Condo Guide. Another tale of stolen idea’s belonged to former leader of the Des Moines Music Coalition, Fritz Jünker, who accused David Arquette of ripping off Jünker’s independent feature “The Truth of Beef Jerky” with the release of Arquette’s “The Tripper.” Sadly, “The Tripper” is something no one should want to be associated with.

Next, we put our focus on the 2007 legislation session, who won (minimum wage was raised) and who lost (cigarette smokers paid for their addiction). Even though the bills didn’t affect everybody, somewhere a ditch digger is cheering and a three-pack-a-day smoker is coughing up dough.

In May, we also took a look at a how a new bill could bring more filmmaking opportunities to Iowa. We learned that while other states are offering tax incentives for filmmakers to shoot movies in their area, Iowa has not. But thanks to House File 892 we could see upcoming films like “Wild Ragbrai Adventures” or “Children of the Corn VIII: Return of the Ethanol God.”

We finished the month with our second annual Records and Rankings issue. A list filled issue offering all kinds of local information from the different weapons used in homicides in Iowa to the top 20 paid state employees.

June

We begin the month of June with an inside look into Des Moines’s Gay Pride weekend. Reporter Andrew Brink led us through the beginning stages of the event; full itinerary of the weekend and popular take-home items like George W. Bush toilet paper. Talk about wiping away discrimination.

In one of the biggest stories of the month, if not the year, we previewed the proposed Project Destiny 1-cent sales tax. Proponents — the Greater Des Moines Partnership, big business, The Des Moines Register — said the increased sales tax revenue would be used to pare down property taxes. But astute voters saw through their plan and resoundingly rejected the plan at the polls the next month.

On June 21, we celebrated our 15th anniversary of providing Des Moines with hard-hitting and entertaining news. We celebrated the milestone by sponsoring Brewfest in downtown Des Moines. Ummm, beer.

To end the month, reporter Sean J. Miller dug up the truth about organic farming and how it could save the struggling farm community. With industrial farming destroying small family farms, organic farming could open the door to a healthier lifestyle and a healthier wallet.

July

The 25th celebration of Jazz in July was our cover focus leading off the month. Who would of thought in the Midwest that a jazz festival would last this long? It just goes to show that although we live in Iowa, we don’t always listen to country music. Twenty-eight bands performing for more than 15,000 people — a great way for people to come together and celebrate the local music scene. We also reported on wrestler Chris Benoit’s horrendous murder/suicide in which the former WWE champion killed his wife and 7-year-old son; leaving us to believe that Benoit was no longer a candidate for the Father of the Year award.

Barflies rejoice! Our annual Bar Guide detailing every dance club, pub and watering hole in the area, unleashes a flask filled look at where to go when you get thirsty. But indulge with caution because like “Frank The Tank” reminds us, “Once it hits your lips, it’s so good”

Choppers rumbled onto our next cover as we wrote about how motorcycles are entering the mainstream. We took a look at all the different breeds from corporate weekend riders to hardcore, badass bikers. Too bad the renegade lifestyle was ruined with the release of “Wild Hogs.”

We finished the month with a tie-in between America’s health care system and the release of documentary filmmaker Michael Moore’s “Sicko.” Viewers were shocked at how our great nation was behind so many countries in offering free and available healthcare.

August

We discovered financial incentives that provide tax credits to developers who restore buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some said we need to preserve history and others say it is a subsidy for rich developers.

We got an inside look into the Mid Iowa Rollers, a group of women who formed a roller derby team based in Des Moines. Taking a look into the history of the sport and the players’ drive to push their team forward, while maintaining normal lives.

It’s August in Iowa, which means it is Iowa State Fair Fashion time. Each year we take a look at some of the best-dressed attendees. Our reporters brave the heat and hostility to bring you a fun look at some of the characters this yearly event brings out of hiding. Mullets, corndogs and beer belly’s… oh my!

September

We open the month the same way students all over the country did, by heading back to school. Students shared their experiences with us as they deal with cheating, bullying and, everyone’s favorite teen-age past time — sex.

The next week we learn about Judy Bradshaw’s 27-year journey from a cadet with the Des Moines Police Department to becoming its first female chief. We also got a sneak peak at Drinking Liberally, a political networking organization/group of boozehounds with chapters in 36 cities, and their plans to hold the group’s national convention in our fair city.

As with every election year (and anymore, the three to four years leading up to an election year), Iowa was swarming with politicos, media personalities and blurry-eyed campaign soldiers in 2007. We reported on the economic impact on Iowa when these people descend on us every four years, as well as the prospect that one day, Iowa’s “first-in-the-nation” status could be revoked.

Our sources told us of discontent in the labor movement with freshman Gov. Chet Culver after several event snubs, as well as the failure of the Democratic majority to pass “fair share” legislation. They can be brought back into the fold, insiders said, if fair share is on the Democrat’s agenda again this year.

September also brought the announcement that arena football would be returning to Des Moines. The Iowa Barnstormers will be back in 2008 after a 7-year hiatus. Whether the Capital City can support five professional teams (Iowa Energy, Iowa Stars, Des Moines Buccaneers and Iowa Cubs) remains to be seen.

October

Prohibition almost destroyed Templeton Rye, but when the whiskey is this good, and an entire small town is willing to become outlaws to keep it alive, a legend was soon born. We kicked the month off with the story of the sleepy town of 350 that has a long tradition of making quality rye whiskey even infamous gangsters couldn’t resist.

We also learned that Business Publications Corp., publishers of dsm magazine and the Des Moines Business Record, was sold to a company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, ending the local ownership of yet another media outlet.

It was in October that the rumors started flying about the fate of former KCCI Sports Director Heidi Soliday. By this time, it had been more than a month since anyone had seen her on the air, and the feeling was that KCCI was forcing her out after 31 years. Whether or not she was forced out or left on her own accord is still unknown, but the station announced Soliday’s departure (which quoted her as saying it was “time for this old dog to learn some new tricks!”), and subsequently Andy Garman was named the station’s new sports director.

The end of the month brought several realizations to Cityview. The first was that, as a child, our publisher and his friends used to spin records backwards in order to try to uncover “secret satanic messages,” a fact that immediately gave the entire newsroom the heeby jeebies (still no news on what messages are revealed when Bachman Turner Overdrive’s 1974 classic “Not Fragile” is reversed, but we’ll keep you posted).

The second realization was that witches, despite a lifetime of fairy tales to the contrary, are actually quite normal, quite boring people.

November

The Prince of Darkness started the month off right, returning to the scene of his most infamous performance — Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium, the place where he bit the head off a bat and had to be rushed to Broadlawns Hospital to receive rabies shots. But that was 25 years ago, and Ozzy has managed to put that part of his life behind him. Or at least we think he did. Since we could only understand about half of what he was talking about, we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The University of Iowa football program continued to have problems off the field, as wide receiver Dominique Douglas, who was already suspended from the team on suspicion of unauthorized use of a credit card, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree burglary after stealing three DVD’s from an Iowa City Wal-Mart. Douglas has since transferred from the school.

Drake’s new men’s basketball coach, Keno Davis, had a pretty good week in mid-November. He was featured on the cover of Cityview, where we discussed his coaching pedigree as the son of Iowa basketball legend Dr. Tom Davis, and the week the story was published, he and his wife, Krista, had their first child, who should be taking over the reigns of the Bulldogs’ program in 2047.

The Jefferson Jackson Dinner, a huge fundraiser for the Iowa Democratic party, was bigger than ever this year, with a crowded field of presidential candidates, and throngs of loyal supporters, making the event stretch late into the evening. Unless, of course, you’re Gov. Chet Culver, who quietly slipped out early to get a jump start on travel plans to Green Bay for a Packers game.

Ryan Lebo’s grand vision for a concert venue in West Des Moines closed out the month. The 30-year-old Clive resident’s idea is so good, he said, that Nadas founder Jason Walsmith allegedly stole it from him, with the help of an architect accomplice. Walsmith’s lawyer, of course, denies this, and a court will eventually decide who can lay claim to the plans.

December

As the year was coming to a close, we decided to take a look at the nation’s foreclosure crisis and its effect on Iowa homeowners. The picture was not good, as Iowans hoodwinked by shady mortgage brokers and predatory lenders faced near ruin in their attempts to put their lives back on track. But there is hope. The Iowa Attorney General’s office is trying to get out in front of the problem, which is a good thing, seeing as most experts agree the worst is yet to come.

The next week, a group of students from Scavo High School showed us all that we can make a difference in our community, and they also showed us there is more to a quality education than just reading, writing and arithmetic.

December also brought us Oprah, who on a particularly ugly, icy day packed Hy-Vee Hall with nearly 19,000 people when she came to town to stump for presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama. Actor Kevin Bacon also came to town to support former Sen. John Edwards, but his rendition of “Footloose” probably did more harm than good.

The final gathering of Republican and Democratic candidates before the caucuses, otherwise known as The Des Moines Register debates, proved that politics could be a tiresome affair. Critics all over the nation, citing a lack of candidate interaction and a complete disregard of two issues of tremendous voter interest, immigration and the Iraq war, almost universally panned the debates, and moderator/Register Editor Carolyn Washburn.

Last week we paid tribute to six individuals who are making a difference in Central Iowa. This worthy group is made up of individuals with diverse backgrounds and even more diverse interests. From a school crossing guard who was nearly killed while on the job to a retired man who stands in the snow to collect money for the Salvation Army, these individuals represent the very best among us, and they deserved every bit of praise they received. CV

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