March 14, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Stray Thoughts
Many years ago, I sat at the kitchen table of a pots-n-pans salesman from Pleasant Valley. We didn’t talk about cookware. He was laying out with lots of precision why the United States government had no legal basis for prosecuting him for willfully refusing to file federal income tax returns.
Read More →
March 09, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Morain
For decades I’ve thought of myself as pretty much a liberal. I favor empowerment of average people, the right of all individuals to decide their own value system, a living wage for working people, no discrimination in law and employment on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation,
Read More →
March 08, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in The Culture Buzz
From the dynamic MainFrame Studios Building at 900 Keosauqua Way in Des Moines, Iowa comes your Listener-supported Community Voice, the Award-Winning independent radio station KFMG-LP 98.9 FM, bringing you music, literature & cultural news from the American Heartland and beyond. ― John Busbee for The Culture Buzz 2014 Iowa Governor’s Award for Partnership & Collaboration in the Arts
Read More →
March 07, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Stray Thoughts
Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart has been a lightning rod during the past three years over the way Iowa’s public schools have responded to the Covid pandemic. Ahart announced last week that he is leaving, effective June 30. But the Des Moines school board ensured that Ahart will continue to
Read More →
March 02, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Feature 1
Do you enjoy playing tennis? How about ping-pong? Or badminton? If you checked all three boxes — or even if you didn’t — we have a sport or you: pickleball. Played indoors or outdoors on courts less than half the size of a regulation tennis court, with paddles and a
Read More →
March 02, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Feature 2
A close friend of mine lived directly behind his elementary school. On St. Patrick’s Day in his fifth-grade year, he went to school without wearing any green. Shamed by classmates and his teacher, he walked home at lunch time, entered his family garage, foraged a partially used can of green
Read More →
March 02, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Business Feature
When it comes to the holiday season and Valentine’s Day, love is in the air — and warm, fuzzy feelings abound. No wonder then that the number of engagements spikes. As most of us begin looking forward to the warmer days ahead, the betrothed dive into planning for the day
Read More →
March 02, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Civic Skinny
Five days after Apollo 14 launched in 1971, Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the moon. Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter, orbited above in a command module. Roosa’s personal kit had small containers with hundreds of tree seeds, part of a joint project with NASA
Read More →
March 02, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Political Mercury
First elected in 1958 to the Iowa Statehouse — during the Eisenhower administration — U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has served in public office continuously for more than 60 years — and that’s too long, said former Iowa Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate.
Read More →
March 02, 2022 by Beckham Miller
in Film Review
“Robin Robin” Directed: Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, and featuring voice actors Stars: Gillian Anderson, Richard E. Grant, and Adeel Akhtar. (Watch complete short film on Netflix) An optimistic young robin raised by a family of mice makes a heartfelt wish on a Christmas star. Will she finally learn who
Read More →
