Posted November 02, 2020in Civic Skinny
The hiring of political veteran John Norris to be the new county manager — which was expected to be announced after CITYVIEW went to press — was not without its drama. There were two finalists for the $230,000-a-year job vacated in June by Mark Wandro — well-connected state and national
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Posted September 30, 2020in Civic Skinny
It pays to be a scofflaw. The proposed consent decree between the federal government and Dico — a decree in which the City of Des Moines would end up owning those 43 acres of polluted wasteland at the corner of MLK Parkway and 16th Street — is a great deal
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Posted September 02, 2020in Civic Skinny
In 2019, Des Moines police officers responded to 202,000 calls. Twice, officers fired their guns in the line of duty. Each time, the officers were fired upon first. So why does the police department need to spend $99,029.76 for 396,000 rounds of ammunition for the next 12 months? What does
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Posted August 05, 2020in Civic Skinny
Four well-known Des Moines men — all in their 80s or beyond — died within days of one another last month. All were interesting men who led interesting lives. Owen Newlin and Tom Urban were sons of men who built Pioneer Hi-Bred into one of the great agricultural companies of
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Posted July 01, 2020in Civic Skinny
Companies owned by Harry Stine, the richest man in Iowa, are among the 60,000 or so Iowa companies that have received around $5.1 billion in forgivable loans from the federal government under the coronavirus bailout program. Stine Seed Co. of Adel and Stine Seed Farm Inc. of Adel each got
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Posted April 01, 2020in Civic Skinny
Updated: June 12, 2020 A Drake University student accidentally shot in the head by a Drake basketball player at a party two years ago now has sued the university, the basketball player and the owners of the off-campus apartment where the player and several other Drake athletes lived. The injured
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Posted March 24, 2020in Civic Skinny
CITYVIEW is taking a break with its printed edition — until we’re all hale and hearty again — so here’s an update on news Civic Skinny has been following. Marty Tirrell is out of jail in Massachusetts. While awaiting sentencing in federal court in Des Moines for mail fraud, the
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Posted March 04, 2020in Civic Skinny
Marty Tirrell, the smooth-talking scammer and loud-talking sports-radio host, has been kicked out of the Door of Faith residential treatment center where he was awaiting his April 7 sentencing in federal court. And now he’s in jail in Greenfield, Massachusetts. At the Door of Faith, Tirrell was deemed to be
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Posted February 05, 2020in Civic Skinny
No one seems to have noticed — there’s not even a press release on the website — but Matt McCoy was elected chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors last month. Ordinarily, that would hardly be worth more than half a paragraph, for the Democrats won control of the
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Posted January 01, 2020in Civic Skinny
The Des Moines City Council on Dec. 16 gave the go-ahead for the plan by developer Jeff Young to turn the old Franklin Junior High School into an entertainment center, gathering place, office building and hotel. There were a few questions about signage and sidewalks before the unanimous vote, but
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