Posted December 03, 2025in Feature 1
Publisher’s note: Forty-six years ago, when Michael Gartner was editor of The Des Moines Register, he walked over to the desk of writer Bob Hullihan and said, “How about writing me a Christmas classic for the holidays?” Hullihan said, “Sure.” And he did. It ran in the Register and years
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Posted December 03, 2025in Feature 2
Established in 1948, the Des Moines Art Center has brought world-famous works of art right into central Iowa’s backyard. Whether it be at an exhibit inside one of the three unique buildings, which are considerable artworks themselves, or the renowned John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in downtown, the Art
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Posted December 03, 2025in Business Feature
Pop-ups may look effortless — a cute booth, a friendly maker, a handful of products inviting you in — but there is so much more behind every display. Across the Des Moines metro, small-business owners are using pop-ups not just to sell but to connect and bring their brands
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Posted December 03, 2025in Civic Skinny
Elections were in full swing across the nation and Iowa in November. City council seats were up for grabs, with one race finishing incredibly close, and school board elections were interesting once again. But who is donating to these campaigns? And how much? Three Des Moines city council elections took
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Posted December 03, 2025in Political Mercury
I’ve covered a lot of traffic-crash deaths. “Walking down the track, picking up body parts gives you an appreciation for the power of a train,” an Ames police sergeant told me in the early 1990s in the hours after a collision, just along the Union Pacific Railroad line, in the
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Posted December 03, 2025in Film Review
A director’s unique voice is the most powerful asset. It is the authorial stamp, the stylistic flair that transforms a mere story into a distinct experience. That is what makes Edgar Wright’s 2025 remake of “The Running Man” such a profound disappointment. On paper, the pairing of Wright’s hyper-kinetic style
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Posted December 03, 2025in Food Dude
When Colorado cowboy Paul Trostel rode into Des Moines in the early 1970s, the city thought: appetizers meant a choice of shrimp cocktail, tomato juice or fruit cocktail; that wine choices were simply “red or white;” and that French dressings were all orange and very sweet. He changed Des Moines
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Posted December 03, 2025in Des Moines Forgotten
I was in Ingersoll Wine & Spirits back in October to pick up a couple bottles of wine as a treat to myself for getting through a challenging commercial project. Full disclosure: I am not much of a drinker these days. My brother in-law loves to talk about whiskeys with
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Posted December 03, 2025in Joe's Neighborhood
My mom was a hoarder. And I don’t say that harshly. Listen, I’ve got my own problems. And my mom was not the worst hoarder I’ve ever seen. But her home does make for quite the excavation as we prep her house to sell after her death. For example, over
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Posted December 03, 2025in Center Stage
The holiday performing arts options are a bounty on which to feast. Like a cultural Whitman’s Sampler, there is variety and appeal to attract anyone. The diversity this year is enticing from classical like “The Nutcracker,” the Des Moines Symphony and Central Iowa Wind Ensemble, to classics like “A Christmas
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