Posted March 03, 2021in Civic Skinny
Print circulation of The Des Moines Register continues to plummet. Reported digital circulation is holding more or less steady, but at a low level, but internal numbers show it rising nicely. Executives can’t explain that discrepancy. In the six months ended Sept. 30, the latest period for which figures are
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Posted January 20, 2021in Civic Skinny
Looking fresh and healthy behind his University of Iowa facemask, Marty Tirrell, who led a complicated life as a boisterous sports-radio host and a glib conman and who was an alcoholic and gambling addict who went from living the large life with the rich and notable to being homeless and
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Posted January 06, 2021in Civic Skinny
Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz is an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa, where she has taught for eight years. She makes $75,204 a year, according to state records. A year from now, she will take a one-semester sabbatical. She will, according to a Board of Regents document, “complete
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Posted December 02, 2020in Civic Skinny
Twelve drummers drumming… …for Helen Eddy, the very busy Polk County health commissioner…and Karen Schunk and all the other women (and men) who make and give away masks to help protect us from the virus…including Linda Cravens, who sends masks to Iowa friends from far-off Salt Lake…and the men and
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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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