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Thursday, June 9, 2005 Edition
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Cover Story: The Art of Healing


Using markers to draw out emotional turmoil

By Erin Randolph

Jean Hume's 37-year-old daughter has a 26 percent chance of living to age 60. That's not an easy reality for anyone to deal with.

Her daughter, a single mother of a 9-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, had a malignant brain tumor. And the night before having surgery to remove it, Hume did some artwork with her grandchildren to relieve the tension of an already tough situation.

In March, the night the tumor was discovered, Hume stayed up all night painting an abstract picture of a young woman with a tunnel going into her head. She also keeps a journal in which she doesn't write entries, but rather uses for pictures to illustrate the emotions she's feeling at the time - things like nightmares that haunted her as a child, faces that are one half happy and one half sad or a chicken on a skateboard. >> more

 
Gaskell: Worst timing ever

Witherspoon's flirting is beyond contemptible

Former Des Moines School Board member Graham Gillette let me have it after I wrote an editorial stating, in part, that I thought it took some guts for Des Moines School District officials, particularly superintendent Eric Witherspoon, to decide to shut down schools. A dying rural Iowa, I strongly feel, gets too big a piece of the state's pie, while metro schools are forced to scavenge. >> more

Scene Scribe: Local bands pitch in to fight poverty in Africa

By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

While Bob Geldof organizes Live 8, a series of international concerts by the likes of U2 and Paul McCartney to be held July 2 in hopes it will draw mass attention to the fight to end poverty in Africa, a number of local bands and music lovers are carrying on the same battle on concert stages across Iowa.

Last week, ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, launched a series of 150 grassroots events and concerts in 20 states, including Iowa. They were designed to inspire President George Bush and other leaders of the world's wealthiest nations to reach an agreement to wipe out Third World debt during their Group of Eight (G8) Africa Summit in Scotland on July 8. >> more

Civic Skinny: Cronyism 'sickening' at county

Racism 'worse' at Des Moines Public Schools

An anonymous letter that was written by an individual who claims to work for Polk County Recorder Tim Brien, and obtained by Cityview, accuses Brien (and Polk County as a whole) of extreme partiality when it comes to promotion and hiring practices. The letter, which states that people in Brien's office are promoted and hired based solely on who they are "related to or engaged to" and favors individuals who have been with the county for "less than two months," was written to Polk County Supervisors after the unidentified individual was passed over for advancement. The letter identifies Polk County Supervisor's Chief of Staff >> more

Upfront: Sip wine and view the city


New to Winefest this year, Sips & the City provides a casual, affordable alternative event for wine lovers and novices. On Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., the State of Iowa Historical Building Terrace will transform into an uber-hip locale for people to mingle, sip on unique vintages and savor artisan breads and cheeses for a mere $30. >>more

City Sounds: Most likely to go his way

Luke Zimmerman does what comes naturally, whether its music, art or literature
By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

Luke Zimmerman is a versatile artisan. He plays music. He writes novels and screenplays. He sculpts metal. He builds furniture. He's a manually skilled worker, a 27-year-old craftsman who feeds his soul through a variety of media.

"I like to make things," Zimmerman says. "When I'm not playing music I'm doing other things. It gets me hopped up."

Playing music, it would seem, comes naturally to this up-and-coming Minnesota singer-songwriter. His father, David, is a veteran of the Minneapolis music scene; his brother, Seth, leads the alt-country outfit Tangletown; his cousin, Jakob Dylan, fronts The Wallflowers; and Uncle Bob (you know who) arguably is the most influential musician of the past 40 years.

"I tend to work with what I've been given," Zimmerman says, adding that the family name can be both a help and a hindrance. "There's always expectations, real or unreal, negative or positive." >> more

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