The Elbert Files

If you’ve paid attention – and it’s hard not to this year – you’ve heard the scenarios about how this presidential election could produce a result other than the one rendered by voters.

Although most …

Des Moines’s Gateway Park neighborhood holds a remarkable collection of 21st-century architecture. 

The 13-acre park was conceived during the 1990s as much-needed green space. A main feature is the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park, …

“It’s the economy, stupid.” 

That’s what Democratic strategist James Carville famously told candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.

He was right. Clinton, a virtual unknown in 1991, went on to defeat incumbent President George H.W. Bush, …

I was walking near the Des Moines Art Center when I saw my old friend K.C. His head was down, and he was mumbling to himself, which was not unusual. 
As I got closer I …

I’ve known Roxanne Conlin a long time. 

I covered her successful 1979 prosecution of Maj. Gen. Joseph May, head of the Iowa National Guard, for using guard aircraft to visit his fiancee in Florida. Her …

President Donald Trump has accused Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of being a “Trojan Horse for socialism.”
It’s a catchy phrase, but one that left the barn decades ago. 
Accusing U.S. politicians of being socialists …

Nearly a century ago, Des Moines planners envisioned a downtown riverfront bedecked with wide plazas and monumental architecture similar to 1930s Berlin. They even included a Brandenburg Gate-like feature.  

The proposals never got off the …

Reasonable people who read Mary Trump’s book about her uncle Donald may come away with a strong sense of dread. 

Her up-close and personal view of our 45th president paints a much darker picture than …

“Never waste a good crisis.”

It’s an old saying but appropriate as we prepare for a roller coaster school year.  

The idea behind the saying is that challenging times force us to solve difficult problems …