Posted January 16, 2013in The Sound
Like a lot of musicians, Derek Lambert — titular head of Derek Lambert and The Prairie Fires — learned music through his family. “I started playing guitar when I was 14,” Lambert said during an interview. “My grandpa bought me an acoustic guitar. He was a bluegrass musician and taught
Read More →Car enthusiasts have auto shows; geeks have the Consumer Electronics Show. CES is an annual convention held in Las Vegas to showcase vendors, products and services. It’s where the prototypes of future products get revealed, and all the crazy gadgets get seen… and never heard from again. CES 2013 took
Read More →‘ANARCHY REIGNS’ (M) ***1/2 Sega PlayStation 3 Compared to “Anarchy Reigns,” other action games look like simulations of watching paint dry. In an average moment of play, you might find yourself halfway through a complicated combo with your chainsaw-swinging brute, only to be interrupted by a quick stiletto-heel kick to
Read More →Published arrest charges are obtained from official law enforcement records, which are available to the public. All who are charged are innocent until proven guilty. Play the “Name that Crime” quiz! BACK THAT VAN UP Officers were called to the 700 block of East Fifth Street on Jan. 8
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Posted January 16, 2013in Featured Story, Political Mercury
What a delight to chronicle the story of Lillian Braden and her 12 brothers and seven sisters, all biological kids of Jans and Elizabeth Peters, German Lutheran immigrants who settled near Glidden in the early 1900s. Mrs. Braden passed away at the age of 92 earlier this month, the last
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Posted January 16, 2013in Book Review, Recent Posts
Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Barb Palar Little Brown and Company Oct. 23, 2012 $30 720 pp. Every time Tom Wolfe takes on a sacred institution, such as New York City in “Bonfire of the Vanities” or higher education in “I Am Charlotte Simmons,” it’s a bit of an
Read More →Amount: $1,004.98 To: Aramark Uniform Services For: Purchase of uniforms and mats for West Des Moines Human Services and Public Works. Amount: $450 To: Arrow Stage Lines For: Rental of motorcoach for the Holiday Lights senior trip. Amount: $525 To: Philip L. Ascheman, Ph.D. For: Payment for psyche
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Posted January 16, 2013in Belly Up To...
If Maddy’s Again was the weird stoner who got shoved into lockers in high school, Mavericks is the star football quarterback who did it. Maddy’s Again might have been the only somewhat dive bar of the western suburbs. It was dark and dingy, and the only real, “high-energy” nights came
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Posted January 16, 2013in Locker Room
All right ya’ll, stop ducking around and let’s get serious about the races — duck races, that is. It’s that time of year again when the Des Moines Boat, Sports and Travel Show invades central Iowa and transforms what would be another mundane winter weekend into the place to be
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Posted January 16, 2013in Cover Story
Dec. 15, 1944: The morning train paused in the winter-quiet resort town of Spirit Lake just long enough to allow a scrawny pair of shabbily-dressed men to step off. They carried no luggage. The middle-aged man and his father were strangers to the town’s 2,200 off-season residents. They hung around
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