99 counties
Iowa is divided into 99 parts, called counties. If 99 seems like a lot, it’s not compared to Texas with 254 or Georgia with 257. Even in our own neighborhood, [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Feature 2
September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Business Feature
Leveraging temporary and as-needed employees
Ashley Laudick spent the beginning of her career working for the same employer day in and day out. As a full-time speech and language pathologist, she got bored. She did [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Civic Skinny
Polk County’s ‘true’ homeless rate. Favorite make-out spots. And a win for the rooster
The Des Moines City Council’s proposed ban on camping within city limits, which criminalizes encampments of the city’s homeless, has raised the ire of some citizens and has been delayed [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Political Mercury
Tim Walz paints two Americas when southern-frying Iowa
A modern political Mason-Dixon line appears to be taking form north of Mason City and south of Albert Lea — somewhere around the Minnesota-Iowa border. The crash of cultures is [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Film Review
‘Jackpot!’ is an action-comedy with ‘lotto’ potential
“Jackpot!” is an American action-comedy directed by Paul Feig and written by Rob Yescombe. With an intriguing premise set in a not-so-distant dystopian future, the movie had the potential to [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Food Dude
Aposto — the fruit of deep roots
When the millennium was new, Tony Lemmo opened his first café in the Metro Market. That brilliant incubator of food businesses was doomed by its limitations — mainly that it [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Des Moines Forgotten
Proudfoot & Bird
In my July column, I mentioned that I went on the walking architecture tour downtown. I wrote about the first and only “death by elevator” event in Iowa history, which [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Joe's Neighborhood
Lost in a big box store
Well, here I am in a big box store, and it’s happened again. The start is simple enough. My wife goes one direction to get granddaughter clothes, and I go [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Center Stage
Stage diversity in September
As the month begins, the final Broadway chords of the North American Tour of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” continue to reverberate from its signature two-week run at Des Moines Performing [...]
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September 04, 2024 by Brent Antisdel
in Book Review
Book Reviews
‘A Haunted Girl’ Over the last decade or so, mental health and its importance has been a balm for anyone with a chemical imbalance. Understanding and empathy have vastly improved [...]
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