Posted July 01, 2020in Stray Thoughts
The decision illuminated an embarrassing disconnect from the norms of government transparency and accountability in our state. The decision to cancel the Iowa State Fair was a reminder of the seriousness of coronavirus and the consequences of many people’s anxiety about returning to activities that normally are an important part
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Posted July 01, 2020in Art News
The art world has traditionally had an off-season, usually summer. Before air conditioning, patrons and artists aestivated in the mountains while urban arts venues shut down. The Des Moines Metro Opera capitalized on this by luring talent to Indianola in a season when singers were unemployed by the major companies
Read More →‘Schrödinger’s Dog’ Following the death of his wife almost 20 years ago, Yanis Marès was left to raise his son, Pierre, now a college student and aspiring writer. A cab driver, Yanis has been able to arrange his schedule to allow him to have a close relationship with Pierre; the
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Posted July 01, 2020in Des Moines Forgotten
July is “America’s Party Month” to me, and a few weeks back we accepted the decision that the Iowa State Fair was going to be postponed due to that thing most all of us have been talking about since March. In fact, much of our customary summer fun has been
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Posted July 01, 2020in Lunch With...
After nearly 30 years in the employee benefits business, Steve Flood retired from Holmes Murphy at age 57. Reflecting on his career, he said, “I have embraced our company’s two major goals. The first was to help our business partners attract, retain and retire the most productive workforce in the
Read More →There were more closings than openings for the first period in quite a while. Calamity breeds chaos. The last three months were piled high with a lot of both. Never have so many restaurants changed hands so quickly here. Reopening is hard in large part because many restaurant and bar
Read More →Roling creates unique illusions When Kathleen Roling paints a picture, it sometimes doesn’t last more than a few days — or even a few hours. Does it bother her? Not really. She knows it’s a one-of-a-kind creation every time she sketches with a certain medium — chalk. Roling wanted to
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Posted July 01, 2020in Sound Circuit
When you think of a violinist, you might envision a musician dressed in conservative black attire while expertly bowing her instrument to a Mozart song. Not for Kathryn Fox. Her recent repertoire includes the gamut of genres from western swing, to bluegrass, to classic rock. Her latest gig had her
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Posted July 01, 2020in People & Pets
Two-hundred-ninety-nine. That’s the number of cats that have lived with Terry and Stephanie Kruse since 2004. Not all at once, thankfully, but most stay for a few weeks until forever families adopt them. The Kruses volunteer with the Animal Rescue League, fostering cats. The pair began fostering as a way
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