In his recap of the 1984 senate race between Roger Jepsen and Tom Harkin, non-columnist Michael Gartner reminds us that then Sen. Jepsen had “used a credit card at what was euphemistically called a massage parlor.” All this was true. But did the author really say that polls back then suggested Jepsen
Read More →Much attention had been on Bruce Braley missing hearings when he has a voting rate of 95 percent in Congress. What about Joni Ernst missing 36 percent of votes in the Iowa Senate and at the same time being paid to do her work in the Iowa Senate? Braley has
Read More →I was a little disappointed to see The Hull Ave. Tavern left out of your “100 favorite bars” list. As a musician who plays there, I can attest that they have fantastic live music and never a cover, as well as tasty bar eats and an amazing crowd. Plus, it’s
Read More →First Cooney’s Tavern is left off of Cityview’s checklist of 100 favorite bars. Then Braveheart’s own descendants vote to keep themselves under the rule of the Queen. Being 1/256th Irish and 1/512th Scottish, this has been a tough week. I think I will start to work on that checklist immediately. Mike Rowley
Read More →In the Sept. 11, 2014, issue of Cityview, Civic Skinny wrote a great article on our outgoing senator, Tom Harkin. Although Tom had the vision and the caring to help Iowans and many many others throughout his career, I think it is important to note that it was a great
Read More →[Cityview’s Civic Skinny column on Sept. 3 about changes in the newsroom at The Des Moines Register] contains several errors…. In terms of the process, decisions will NOT be made by me, another Gannett editor and an HR representative. The interviews will be conducted by a team made up of
Read More →I am the first to admit that I have no expertise in print advertising, and at 57 years of age I may not be the intended target audience, but did anyone else notice the placement of ads and content on page 42 last week? In the largest font was the
Read More →OK, Cityview, what’s up with the tits issue? You can’t honestly tell me you’ve run out of sacred-cow news to break in this town. If you wanted to go on summer vacation, or just milk a bunch of easy advertising bucks, you could’ve just run a rigged “Best Of” issue,
Read More →Several weeks ago, Civic Skinny shined the light on some of the goofiness in the Iowa Republican Party platform. I have been waiting for a similar review and enlightenment on the Iowa Democratic Party platform for 2014 It contains more than 430 items of support and opposition. Moses would have needed a forklift to deliver all
Read More →The amount of Des Moines properties exempt from property taxation was reported in May to have increased 38 percent in the last 10 years. This ever-present problem has frequently caused local leaders to seek remedies such as persuading or requiring exempt entities (government agencies, hospitals, schools, churches, etc.) to pay
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