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Posted April 24, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

Iowa P***** Radio (cont.); Nancy Sebring’s ‘underware’

Iowa Public Radio has a “commitment to openness and transparency,” lawyer Wayne Reames told The Des Moines Register the other day. Oh. But, of course, it is not subject to the Iowa Open Meetings law, he has told Cityview, because it is not a governmental body. Sure, its licenses are

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Posted April 17, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

A history lesson as James Harlan comes home to Iowa — again

James Harlan has been evicted from the Capitol in Washington and is being sent back to Iowa. It isn’t the first time he has been sent home. Harlan was a noted and notable — and at times notorious — politician of the 1800s. He was the third Iowan to serve

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Posted April 10, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

How ISU spent about $1 million at the Liberty Bowl

The Des Moines Register had a little two-paragraph item in the sports section the other day that said Iowa State University made $15,366 from its participation in the Liberty Bowl. The university got $964,500 in bowl revenue and had $949,134 in bowl expenses, the item noted. Geez, Skinny wondered, how

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Posted April 03, 2013in Civic Skinny

Appel for Congress? Interim Regent Lang?

Will Staci Appel become the first woman to represent Iowa in Congress? The former legislator tells Cityview she is “strongly considering” running for the seat now held by Republican Tom Latham. It would be an expensive run against a well-financed incumbent, and Appel says she is “working on a potential

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Posted March 20, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

The mess gets messier at Iowa Public Radio

Maybe Iowa Public Radio should do a special report on organizations that abuse and misuse the Iowa Open Meetings and Open Records laws. The reporter wouldn’t have to leave the office. As Cityview pointed out two weeks ago, the closed meeting in February in which the IPR board decided to

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Posted March 13, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

A little history about Osage. But not much other stuff.

Cityview: “Dear [Rep. Josh] Byrnes. I write a column in Cityview, which sometimes is about politics. I’m told that you have told a few of your colleagues that you are considering switching parties. Is that so? And if so, why?” Rep. Byrnes: “I have a feeling something was taken out

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Posted March 06, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

Herrington was fired at an illegal meeting

Maybe the board of Iowa Public Radio could have screwed things up more when it met and fired IPR chief executive Mary Grace Herrington last week, but it’s hard to see how. As starters, it was an illegal meeting. As enders, one of the seven directors broke a confidentiality agreement

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Posted February 27, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

Marty Tirrell sues.

Marty Tirrell, the very loud sports-radio guy, is suing the owners of Toyota of Des Moines, the car dealership that housed his radio show on 1700 AM. He says his deal was supposed to run through 2014 but that on Nov. 2 the dealership’s lawyer sent him a letter canceling

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Posted February 20, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

Swati for Congress? Pat Murphy, too!

Democrats say former legislator Swati Dandekar is looking at running for Congress in the First District. She didn’t respond to Cityview’s query, but if she is running she’ll be a formidable candidate next year to fill the seat being vacated by Senate-hopeful Bruce Braley. But she’ll have to win a

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Posted February 13, 2013in Civic Skinny, Featured Story

Register reporter calls Obama ‘cult leader.’ More Harkin fallout. Dick Olson cheats death.

More on the fallout from Tom Harkin’s decision not to run again in 2014. It’s becoming more and more clear there will be primaries in both parties as state politicians eye the First District Congressional seat that Bruce Braley will vacate as he seeks Harkin’s seat. And it’s becoming more

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