Posted May 31, 2017in Feature 1
The people, the places and the dirt on central Iowa motorsports Iowa has 3 million people and nearly 60 racetracks. Depending on how you count it, that makes us, according to many, the “racing-ist” state in the nation. Most of the tracks dotting the Iowa countryside are short, about a
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Posted May 31, 2017in Feature 2
Once the weather warms up, it’s easy for music fans to find something to do almost every night of the week. For fans of outdoor music, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas in July. And June. Plus August and early September. Many of those outdoor shows are
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Posted May 31, 2017in Feature 3
Who said diamonds are a girl’s best friend? There is a certain magic to motorcycles. There is an air of freedom, romance and rebellion. However, common societal views associate motorcycles with machismo and outlaws, and almost all iconic motorcycle figures are male. So what about the women who ride? The
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Posted May 31, 2017in Civic Skinny
Chief Justice Mark Cady on Monday (June 19) barred all weapons from “courtrooms, court-controlled spaces, and public areas of courthouses and other justice centers occupied by the court system” in Iowa. The exception: peace officers carrying weapons in courthouses while performing law-enforcement duties. Cady cited “increasing concern over the security
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Posted May 31, 2017in Political Mercury
“Testing the waters” with a swing through Iowa Red Oak native John Norris, a former top staffer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and key figure in Iowa campaigns for a generation, brings a lengthy resume of advocacy for farm life to his potential — and seemingly odds-on — campaign
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Posted May 31, 2017in Film Review
Timeless tale is promising at first but disappoints King Arthur is a timeless tale that has been told many times in books, plays, movies and for TV. It makes one wonder why we needed a new big-budget 3D King Arthur film, but Warner Bros. decided we did. At first the
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Posted May 31, 2017in Food Dude
Six flavors of southeast Asia Since I began writing about the dining scene in Des Moines in the 1980s, most innovation has come from immigrant restaurants. A Dong, India Star, Taste of Thailand, Los Laureles, El Salvador del Mundo, Soul Africa, Miyabi 9, Irina’s, Baru 66, Café Salzburg and Kathmandu
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Posted May 31, 2017in Your Neighbors
The umpire strikes back, back, back… play ball! “Relationships are started in the oddest places, from home plate to the outfield fences, and I’ve had many,” George Davis says. Indeed, Davis has had many relationships and worn many hats. Each hat led to more relationships. He’s retired from teaching, but
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Posted May 31, 2017in Joe's Neighborhood
“I remember…” began the old man. The streetcar sits high in the air, click-clacking across the tracks. A long bridge with eight buttresses, wood and steel framing, and exposed sides stretches out in front. There is no idle creek running below, instead, Merle Hay Road heading north to Camp Dodge.
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Posted May 31, 2017in Center Stage
Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) may be nearing the half-century mark, but it’s still open to fresh thinking. One of its three major productions this summer — “Billy Budd,” a masterwork from Benjamin Britten — will premiere an orchestration no one has used before. For the 1951 original, Britten let
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