Posted September 30, 2026in Feature 1
I’m not a believer. And if people ever ask me to explain what that means, I won’t tell them. You can interpret that however you want to. That’s fine by me. A week before writing this story, I took a trip to Farrar Elementary School in Maxwell. I knew nothing
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Posted September 30, 2026in Feature 2
The Iowa Wild hockey team has reached 27 wins in three straight seasons now, finishing last year with a record of 27-36-6-3. Last season, the Wild hired a new head coach in Greg Cronin. Cronin’s stint in Iowa was short-lived, now having left to be an assistant for the St.
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Posted September 30, 2026in Business Feature
Before the digital age, people gathered in homes, farms and auction houses to bid on items from estates. Food was often provided, friendships were formed, and memories were made. Travis Mansfield, owner of NativeBid Auction Services, grew up attending in-person estate auctions with his grandfather. “I loved it,” he said.
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Posted September 30, 2026in Cars in the City
For this month’s Cars in the City column, I am trading four wheels for two and taking a look at the growing popularity of e-bikes. An e-bike is a bicycle equipped with an electric motor and rechargeable battery. The motor provides assistance while you pedal, making it easier to travel
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Posted September 30, 2026in Civic Skinny
Each October, we take a look at property sale records and various home sale sites like Zillow and Redfin to see what the highest-priced residential homes were in the metro since January of this year. The focus seems fitting right now, as the most expensive home in Iowa just listed
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Posted September 30, 2026in Food Dude
This appears to be the year of bargain stalking. It’s the No. 1 thing our readers ask about, and that’s never happened before in our 38 years on the food beat in Iowa. Young people are foregoing the old rites of youth like going out to restaurants and bars on
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Posted September 30, 2026in Political Mercury
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker — a potential candidate for the presidency in 2028 — is keeping in touch with at least one influential Iowa supporter. Does Booker’s check-in one recent weekday with Nancy Bobo of Des Moines mean Booker sees Iowa as filling its historic role in the presidential nominating
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Posted September 30, 2026in Des Moines Forgotten
I loved going to the video rental store as a kid. In the Quad Cities, there was Hogan’s Video in Moline along with The Movie Store and Jeff’s Corner in Milan. The first two shut down when chains such as Blockbuster Video moved in. Jeff’s got in trouble for dubbing
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Posted September 30, 2026in Film Review
The cleverly named law firm of Avery, Jones and Maltese (after legends Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese) tells you right away how much affection is baked into this merrie melody. It’s a small miracle “Coyote vs. ACME” exists. Warner Bros. shelved the finished film as a tax write-off,
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Posted September 30, 2026in Center Stage
Halloween brings a special theatricality to our lives. A glut of horror film reruns and literary choices are as plentiful as pop-up Halloween supplies shops with classics from Poe to the modern king of horror Steven King to more recent delights such as R. L. Stine. For many, it’s the
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