Posted January 31, 2018in Lunch With...
The state of the arts of murder and suicide Polk County Medical Examiner Dr. Gregory Schmunk is a bona fide celebrity in his field. He was the forensic consultant for hit TV series “CSI,” “CSI Miami,” “Bones, Rizzoli & Isles,” “The Blacklist” and “Rosewood.” He has also made multiple appearances
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Posted January 03, 2018in Lunch With...
George Formaro obsesses about food. He wakes up in the middle of the night to read esoteric government manuals about pickling and charcuterie. He is owner/chef of Italian, French and Mexican restaurants, plus the Zombie Burger chain, Gateway Market and Café and South Union Bread Café. We asked him to
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Posted December 06, 2017in Lunch With...
Josh Mandelbaum was the new star in the local political sky this election cycle. He not only upset a likable Democratic party insider and party boss, but he trounced him by 22 points. Being a 38-year-old political rookie, whose campaign ended up being a single issue, he got our attention.
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Posted November 01, 2017in Lunch With...
Talking turkey and much more at Chicago Speakeasy Tai Johnson Spratt owned Iowa’s most exotic poultry facility ever until she closed Fox Hollow Farm five years ago. She was having some problems from motorcycle injuries and finding it harder than ever to make a profit raising the best-tasting birds in
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Posted October 04, 2017in Lunch With...
Lila A. T. Akrad is a patent attorney, veterinarian, dog rescuer, jewelry designer and cancer survivor. She is also the granddaughter of Dr. William Lacy Brown, the legendary scientist who was the first PhD that Henry Wallace hired at Pioneer, in 1945. Brown would serve both as president and CEO
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Posted September 06, 2017in Lunch With...
Kevin Cooney spent his professional life as a TV commentator, all but two years in service to KCCI and its predecessor KRNT. He was the longest serving anchor in Des Moines TV history and led his station to repeated landslide ratings victories. We asked him to lunch, and he proposed
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Posted August 02, 2017in Lunch With...
Bruce Gerleman is a developer, general contractor and restaurateur best known for reviving the Court Avenue district and creating Jethro’s. We asked him to lunch recently to talk about his career in Des Moines. He chose the Altoona Jethro’s. “This is the most successful store in the chain. We will
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Posted July 05, 2017in Lunch With...
As Chairman of the Board of Hubbell Realty, James (Jim) W. Hubbell III has watched Des Moines change and grow from a top-floor perch. We asked him to lunch to talk about 45 years of real estate development in Des Moines. He chose Bauder’s. “I have been coming here since
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Posted June 01, 2017in Lunch With...
To people who know him well, Bob Conley is associated with generosity and a sense of humor that ranges from dark to ironic and sometimes totally inappropriate. That’s at least partially a by-product of growing up in a funeral parlor. To those who merely know of him, he’s a gadfly
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Posted May 03, 2017in Lunch With...
Wanting to write this column with someone in law and order, I asked several people in the criminal justice system for recommendations. The unanimity amongst their responses amazed me. Waukee Police Chief John Quinn is so well respected among colleagues, and former adversaries, that phrases like “Iowa’s super cop,” “the
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