Posted March 01, 2017in Your Neighbors
One is not the loneliest number Whoever said “one is the loneliest number” didn’t consider every aspect of life. When it comes to kidneys, “none” is the loneliest number. Curt Ricketts didn’t know he was sick. The only reason he went to the doctor in August 2015 was for treatment
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Posted February 01, 2017in Your Neighbors
As bus drivers go, Tami Randolph is as true as they come. “I’m a bus driver,” Randolph says with pride. “I’m a farm girl who grew up here, went to Runnells Elementary, and I rode the bus route that I drive.” Being a bus driver is an important job. The
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Posted January 04, 2017in Your Neighbors
While serving two weeks in poverty-stricken South Africa, Bill Raine saw children dying at such a high rate that graves were being mass produced, dug before anyone knew who would be buried there. Some graves garnered headstones, but most were set apart by something else. “In Africa, when they bury
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Posted November 30, 2016in Your Neighbors
A real estate purchase agreement is generally a boring, black-and-white, contractually binding document that is typically devoid of holiday cheer. Bill and Sarah Thorn knew that buying a house was serious business. But when the Thorns were prepared to make an offer to buy a Beaverdale home in 2001, they
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Posted November 02, 2016in Your Neighbors
Was Dowling Catholic’s wrestling program the most dominant in Iowa high school sports history? Maybe. “We only had one dual meet loss during the decade of the ’80s,” says Ron Gray, former Dowling wrestling coach. He says that crosstown rival, Valley, was the only team to beat them during the
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Posted October 05, 2016in Your Neighbors
Beaverdale has a birthday coming up, and it’s a big one. Sean Bagniewski is the president of the Beaverdale Neighborhood Association. He moved to Beaverdale in 2009, and he’s the man in charge of planning the celebration. He says the planning for the event is still in the early stages,
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Posted August 31, 2016in Your Neighbors
When Julius Bernal sees a problem, he’s the type of man who figures out a way to fix it. And when he sees a weed, he’s the kind of person who pulls it. Bernal is nearly 70 years old, retired, lives in Des Moines and enjoys frequenting the East Side
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Posted August 09, 2016in Your Neighbors
Four years ago, Richard Bywater moved into the house next to retired couple Jim and Diane Baker. A first-time homeowner and a student at the time, Bywater didn’t know what to expect. So, he was a bit surprised by his first encounter with the couple next door. “One of the
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