The Elbert Files

Dave Elbert is on assignment and will take a brief hiatus on his weekly column. The Elbert Files will resume in a few weeks.

City council and school board races in Iowa are traditionally nonpartisan. …

When Don Smithey retired as director of Omaha’s Eppley Airfield in 2009 at age 68, Des Moines seemed like a good place to live – midway between Wisconsin, eastern Iowa and Missouri, where Smithey’s relatives …

I’m a sucker for roadside attractions.

When I saw the new book “Secret Iowa: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure” ($27, published by St. Louis-based Reedy Press), I had to have it. The …

In 1941, when members of the Des Moines Chamber of Commerce landed a U.S. Army National Guard base at the Des Moines Airport, they secured the airfield’s future for the …

My friend K.C. was inspecting an odd piece of art near the east end of the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. The bronze sculpture by Martin Puryear is titled “Decoy,” although many think it …

Polk County voters will decide the future of Des Moines International Airport on Nov. 7.

Passage that day of a ballot issue for $350 million of airport bonds will secure funding for a new terminal …

It was a hot September day when I saw my friend K.C. admiring Joel Shapiro’s untitled sculpture of a stick figure in the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

The legs are splayed in a …

Aaron Burr is the highest-ranking federal official ever charged with treason. His trial in 1807 resulted in an acquittal and helps explain why there have been few treason cases since then.

Like everything in Burr’s …

What I am about to propose is not likely. In fact, it’s probably more likely that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will be the Republican candidate for president or that Democrats will make a clean sweep …