December 03, 2025 by Brent Antisdel
in 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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December 03, 2025 by Brent Antisdel
in 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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December 03, 2025 by Brent Antisdel
in 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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December 03, 2025 by Brent Antisdel
in 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
Read More →1210 FIRST AVE. N., ALTOONA SALE DATE: 2025-07-09 SALE PRICE: $208,578 SELLER: F&S ROSENBERGER LLC BUYER: DCW INVESTMENTS LLC ACRES: 0.798 SQUARE FEET: 0 1301 FIRST AVE., N. ALTOONA SALE DATE: 2025-07-09 SALE PRICE: $790,000 SELLER: ABRAHAM PROPERTIES LLC BUYER: UCS HOLDINGS LLC ACRES: 0.638 SQUARE FEET: 4,500 5075 S.E.
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December 03, 2025 by Brent Antisdel
in Your Neighbors
The United Way of Central Iowa has been in operation since 1917. Though it has operated under a number of different names since its inception, its goal of uniting the community and its various charitable efforts to make central Iowa a better place remains the same. One of its employees,
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December 03, 2025 by Brent Antisdel
in People & Pets
Jennifer Schmit has been a dog-lover her whole life. Fortunately, it didn’t take much to convince her cat-loving boyfriend, Sam, to share in her love of dogs. Today, the now married couple has three dogs. “I had cats, but I liked the idea of a dog. Cody (Jennifer’s dog) was
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December 03, 2025 by Brent Antisdel
in Sound Circuit
From lounge acts to jazz standards to pop music and Broadway tunes, it’s safe to declare that Gina Gedler is at home singing any genre. Gedler’s wide vocal range shines across genres, garnering many awards and accolades. This year, the Greater Des Moines Community Jazz Center Hall of Fame honored
Read More →One afternoon 50 years or so ago, when I was president of The Des Moines Register and Tribune, Bill Knapp called me. “What are you doing?” he asked, and before I could answer, he said: “I’m on my way to pick you up. We need to raise $250,000 this afternoon
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Twelve drummers drumming…
…To the nation’s 14,000 air-traffic controllers — especially those who kept working without pay after the politicians closed down the government while continuing to get their own pay…and to the quarter-million or so of Iowans — including 50,000 in Polk County — whose SNAP benefits were cut off by those
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