Posted December 31, 2025in Stray Thoughts
Days removed from the winter solstice, when Iowa’s nights are the longest, we have another example of the absence of sunshine in Iowa government. And this example shows why the Legislature has much to do about openness and accountability when it convenes on January 12. A court decision last week
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Posted December 31, 2025in Feature 1
Each winter, the desire to shut the doors, close the blinds and stay hunkered down while the wind, snow and cold weather creep in grows stronger. We would say we don’t blame you, but we do. When winter comes, instead of staying under the blanket with a warm cup of
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Posted December 31, 2025in Feature 2
We reached out to the staff of Iowa Architect, the official magazine of The American Institute of Architects, Iowa Chapter, and requested permission to reprint portions of their cover story, Respite: Places That Restore Our Resilience, from their summer 2025 edition. In it, they featured projects by Iowa architects that
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Posted December 31, 2025in Business Feature
Launching a small business is often fueled by passion and a vision, but nothing replaces the legal foundations that keep a business protected and positioned to grow. Whether for a solo consultant, a tech startup founder or a brick-and-mortar shop owner, the legal to-do list is longer and more consequential
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Posted December 31, 2025in Civic Skinny
The Iowa Department of Revenue released its fiscal year 2025 report, which includes the alcohol revenue numbers. Each year, the department details which spirits, from beer to wine, and which brands, from local to national, were the most popular in Iowa. All in all, total sales were $434,938,128 and total
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Posted December 31, 2025in Political Mercury
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld and his orbiting panelists relentlessly mocked the weight of a Dunlap, Iowa, Democrat, a rural middle- and high-school band teacher and candidate for the Iowa Legislature, in a viral three-minute national broadcast recently. The barbs aimed at Dunlap City Councilman Benjamin Schauer, who is running in Iowa
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Posted December 31, 2025in Film Review
The perfect whodunit doesn’t exist. Or, does it? Writer and director Rian Johnson challenges that age-old question with his latest film, “Wake Up Dead Man,” and gives audiences a clever, unconvoluted caper that is as intellectually satisfying as it is wildly entertaining and proves the “Knives Out” series is far
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Posted December 31, 2025in Food Dude
Noah’s Ark has been selling pizza since World War II. It is certainly the oldest restaurant in Iowa to sell them continuously and, arguably, the first to offer them. “After serving in the army, Noah (Lacona) got a government contract to feed soldiers passing through Des Moines. To get it,
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Posted December 31, 2025in Des Moines Forgotten
The past 12 months were wild ones, and this didn’t fully sink in until a reader approached me at the dungeon synth show I promoted at the Locals bar here in Des Moines. He was a former Des Moines Register reporter and shared with me that he attended Mini-X theater
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Posted December 31, 2025in Joe's Neighborhood
Jay Holstein died the other day. Most of you don’t know him. He was 87 when he died, and his time in the public eye had long passed. Or maybe you didn’t know him, but you heard of him when you were a college student. And, maybe even then, you
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