The hierarchy of Des Moines has changed a lot during the 10 years I’ve written this column. New leaders have surfaced as key players retired or moved on. Others, most notably Barry Griswell, Johnny Danos …
Former State Auditor Dick Johnson was one of those rare politicians with a storehouse of seemingly unlimited knowledge and a sense of public purpose larger than his ego.
He died recently at 87 following a …
Science magazine debunked a common gun violence myth a couple of weeks ago when it editorialized immediately after the Uvalde, Texas, massacre of 19 elementary students and two teachers.
Mental health isn’t the problem, the …
Growing up in Iowa gave me a false sense of agriculture.
I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I thought a lifetime of listening to cash-grain and feeder-cattle reports gave me an innate …
“It’s all about the numbers,” my friend K.C. said when I caught up with him at the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.
He was looking at “Thinker on a Rock,” the whimsical sculpture …
It’s time to move on.
The Iowa caucuses didn’t help or prevent Joe Biden from being nominated and elected in 2020. They also did not prevent the nomination of Donald Trump or help him in …
It was a typical spring day in Iowa, cloudy, cold and windy, when I saw my old friend K.C. on the sidewalk across the street from the Des Moines Art Center.
“This will be a …
If you don’t have enough to worry about with climate change, the pandemic and war in Eastern Europe, here’s one more thing to consider: Artificial intelligence is language aware.
Not like Siri or Alexa; this …
I bought “On the Trail of the Jackalope” because, like author Michael P. Branch, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of a mythological horned rabbit for much of my life.
Although I purchased the …
Efforts to create whitewater rafting, zip lining and other amusements along the downtown riverfront suffered a setback recently when the sole bid for an initial phase of work was $73 million, nearly double the estimated …
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