May 03, 2017 by Brent Antisdel
in Civic Skinny
Marty Tirrell‘s lawyer sued him the other day — and then withdrew the suit. Steve Hamilton said in the filing in Polk County District Court that he loaned the deadbeat talk-show shouter and serial loan-defaulter $14,750 and was promised repayment by Jan. 16 of this year. “Despite many demands,” Tirrell
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May 03, 2017 by Brent Antisdel
in Political Mercury
Iowa senator talks corn, trade, foreign policy and the draft In a 1981 movie partially set in Dubuque frustrated brewery workers had a message: “Take this job and shove it!” The Johnny Paycheck song served as the title of that folksy film, and today, those words sum up what some
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May 03, 2017 by Brent Antisdel
in Film Review
Entertaining film is action-packed with a thin plot Set in Boston in 1978, the film opens outside a warehouse where a group of Irishmen are waiting to buy guns from South African arms dealers. The Irish are led by (and that’s putting it generously) Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael
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May 03, 2017 by Brent Antisdel
in Food Dude
Analyzing the menus at Sam & Gabe’s and Tumea & Sons When is a comma worth $10 million? When a government dictates “manual of style” etiquette to lawmakers. In Maine, an Oxford comma (one used after the penultimate item in a list of three or more things, before “and” or
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May 03, 2017 by Brent Antisdel
in Your Neighbors
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Man & Woman of the Year will be announced at the Grand Finale Gala on Saturday, May 20 The nightmare began on Feb. 20, 2013. Tricia Gonyo took her daughter, Ashley, to the doctor. The 4-year old’s body pains were so extreme her mother couldn’t wash
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May 03, 2017 by Brent Antisdel
in Joe's Neighborhood
My wife is stuck. Having climbed up into the top bunk of the sleeper car, legs forward, head tucked, she can’t unfold. The ceiling is just a bit too close for her 6-foot frame to unbend. And now here she is. A human sandwich traveling to Denver on Amtrak. How
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May 03, 2017 by Brent Antisdel
in Center Stage
Playhouse board of directors implements a three-legged leadership stool John Viars is happy to break down the numbers. “When I began here, we did six shows a year and employed two folks full-time,” says the man who’s run the Des Moines Playhouse since 1982. No longer, however. “Now we’ve got
Read More →“Whiteout Conditions” The New Pornographers Concord The New Pornographers seems like a band that should have imploded a decade ago. It’s made up of enough successful individuals (A.C. Newman, Neko Case, Dan Bejar) that the band gets called a supergroup, making a Fleetwood Mac-style breakup all but inevitable. The band’s
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May 03, 2017 by Brent Antisdel
in At Home With
Half-court home court The gym can be a hassle. Parking usually isn’t great, lines form for equipment, and there always seems to be unattended children running around. Looking to shoot hoops? Forget about it. If a gym has a basketball court, it’s seemingly always occupied either by league play, pick-up
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