Tuesday, January 13, 2026

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Posted November 02, 2022in Civic Skinny

An update on Marty Tirrell. Judicial performance and voter outreach. Veteran homelessness. Top home sales. And a historic conversation.

Marty Tirrell, the sports broadcaster and conman, is back in Des Moines, wearing an ankle bracelet while on “home confinement status” until his release date from the federal prison system [...]

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Posted October 05, 2022in Civic Skinny

Profits at Prairie Meadows. Firearm at airport. No more IMAX dome. Historic preservation grants.

“We are having a record year,” said CEO Gary Palmer at the September board meeting of Prairie Meadows Casino and Hotel. “When we did our budget, we thought the inflation [...]

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Posted August 31, 2022in Civic Skinny

Palmer postpones retirement. Campaign dollars climb. VA clinic opens.

The Prairie Meadows Board of Directors recently voted to extend the contract of CEO Gary Palmer, who had formerly planned to retire at the end of 2023. “I had a [...]

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Posted August 03, 2022in Civic Skinny

University athletics contracts. Roosevelt’s new projects. And a canceled 515 Alive’s future.

It’s that time of year again: Several athletics coaches at Iowa’s state-funded universities have amended their employment contracts. Although most took pay cuts in 2020 during the pandemic, they are [...]

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Posted July 06, 2022in Civic Skinny

Prairie Meadows Casino gambling grows. Greyhound racing concludes. DART evolves.

Ever wondered about surveillance at Prairie Meadows Casino? With the jaw-dropping amount of cash traveling through the establishment every day, it’s no wonder the casino needs an equally astonishing amount [...]

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Posted June 01, 2022in Civic Skinny

Traditional parking meters on the out. Political campaign contributions on the rise.

As more employees return to the office and in-person events are scheduled, the City of Des Moines is nearing the completion of its transition away from traditional parking meters. The [...]

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Posted May 04, 2022in Civic Skinny

George Flagg Parkway to be renamed? Domestic violence soars. Register costs $3.49.

A petition to rename George Flagg Parkway was posted on March 30 as a joint effort by the Des Moines Black Liberation Movement (DSM BLM) and Des Moines Peoples’ Town [...]

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Posted April 06, 2022in Civic Skinny

22 will take you through? DART usage plummets during COVID. And what happened to the Ankeny Press-Citizen?

One would correctly assume that the use of Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority, better known as DART, dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. But how much? In DART’s fiscal year [...]

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Posted March 02, 2022in Civic Skinny

Costly copyright infringements for schools. $13 million in transportation grants. And a moon tree in Des Moines?

Five days after Apollo 14 launched in 1971, Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the moon. Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter, orbited above in a [...]

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Posted February 02, 2022in Civic Skinny

University sabbaticals: robot handicaps, turtle DNA, mosquito hearing… and the boudoir

The following excerpts are a sample of the professional development assignments, also known as sabbaticals, that were approved by the Board of Regents for 2022-23 at the University of Iowa, [...]

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