May 13, 2013 by justin
in Featured Story, Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – Good intentions aren’t the only driving force behind Iowa’s education reform efforts. State education agencies, special interest groups and for-profit education companies have spent thousands in 2012 and 2013 to hire lobbyists and pad the campaign coffers of lawmakers who sit on key committees. Many of these
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May 09, 2013 by justin
in Featured Story, Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – Family members and close friends of Iowa‘s Congressional Delegation benefit from their position, whether it be special one-time funding for an alma mater or hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to one lawmaker’s son for working on his campaign, a review federal records shows. Take for example
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May 08, 2013 by justin
in Film Review
“Kiss of the Damned” 3 Stars Rated R 97 minutes Drama Starring: Joséphine de La Baume, Milo Ventimiglia ,Roxane Mesquida Vampires are by definition a retro construct. Living forever means always looking back. The future is merely a continuing cycle of corruption and death. Flesh-and-blood is the only reliable thing
Read More →The good The Polk County Health Department recently received a $10,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Vaccine Program Office and JBS International Inc. to increase vaccination rates among adults in Polk County, specifically the Tdap vaccination that protects against whooping cough (pertussis), diphtheria and
Read More →Remember last Thanksgiving? Here, let me help. That was when your mom questioned your wife’s ability to make cranberry salad and both women marched angrily out of the kitchen. I would not call that a win-win for you. And you remember your sister? She arrived with her husband, which is
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May 08, 2013 by justin
in Featured Story, Political Mercury
Former State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll, is one of many Iowa Republicans in a political career holding pattern as U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, continues to roll over a decision about a Senate bid. “I think that needle’s just a little over 50-50 right now, just a little over,” King
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May 08, 2013 by justin
in Sound Stage
Former Misfit Michale Graves performed a set at Vaudeville Mews on Thursday, May 2, and opening for him were three Iowa acts: Des Moines’ own Die Mutts, Switchblade Saturdays and Suite Little Sister out of Waterloo. The brave few who made their way through the snow down to Fourth Street
Read More →I’ve always considering myself a liberal Democrat. But lately I find myself agreeing with right-wing conservative types on many issues. Have I moved to the right with old age, or is the left going off the chart? Some examples: 1. I oppose the expansion of gambling in Iowa. We already
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May 08, 2013 by justin
in Cover Story
Lazerfest. Even if you’ve never been to it, you know what it’s all about. It’s big, it’s loud, and, to hear the folks at Lazer tell it, “it’s the best time of the year.” Every year, thousands of people pass through the turnstiles, but what are their experiences actually like?
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Boston and news coverage — what we bargained for?
News coverage of breaking stories — such as the explosions at the Boston Marathon — are more miss than hit because of two fundamental flaws in such coverage. If you’re puzzled or confused by the breathless on-the-scene commentators, you should be. For one thing, almost everything we know about such
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