You may not find your path on your own time, if at all. Some give up, others find it later in life. Then you have those who’ve been on their own path since age 15, like Rayna Ross. Indian tattoo artist Ross has shaken the Central Iowa tattoo scene by utilizing her skill and background […]
Central Iowa Community/News
Posted inCentral Iowa
Central Iowa libraries partner with DART to bring back free bus rides for cardholders
If you don’t already have a library card, Central Iowa library locations are partnering up with DART to give you another reason to get one. The Read and Ride program returns this week, offering free DART services to people who show their library cards while boarding a DART bus. The free rides are available for […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Forty years after the Johnny Gosch disappearance, fear continues to fuel conspiracy theories in Iowa and beyond
Listen an audio version of this article here, or using the player at the bottom of the page. On Sept. 20, 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech in Cedar Rapids as part of his reelection campaign. In it, he advocated for slashing taxes and “the simple values of faith, family, neighborhood and good, hard […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
The couple behind new shop Thistle’s Summit encourage Des Moines to eat, drink, be gay and get witchy
After bidding adieu to their Eastern Iowa bed and breakfast in 2020, partners Marti Payseur and Ash Bruxvoort are carrying its spirit forward in a new downtown Des Moines bakery/retail space. Payseur — the owner, recipe developer and baker for Thistle’s Summit — and Bruxvoort — an ancestral astrologist, earth intuitive and herbalist — have […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Dana James: State rankings lists are out once again. Here’s where Iowa (actually) stands.
Here we go again. Yet another news company propped Iowa up on a pedestal. Iowa fell a bit this year on the 2022 annual rankings by CNBC, but still ranked No. 12 on a list of America’s best states for business and No. 10 on a list of America’s best states to live. You’ll find […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
‘It’s just the most Iowan thing’: A day at the Iowa State Fair with fair mega-fans, the Stumps
Since his freshman year of high school in 1969, Gary Stump has not missed an Iowa State Fair. “I had a girlfriend whose father worked at the fair and he got free tickets for everything,” Stump recalls. “And then when I was in college, a friend of mine worked there and he was able to […]
Posted inCentral Iowa, Central Iowa Community/News, Community/News
Deep in a Des Moines golf course sits a haunted observatory with a far-out history
The Drake Municipal Observatory is probably the only scientific facility of its kind more familiar to local golfers than local school kids. Since 1921, it’s sat between the green on the 17th hole of Waveland Golf Course and the tee of the 18th. It’s an anomalous presence among the fairways and the nearby tennis courts, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Des Moines Fire Department, IMPACT collect fans and A/C units to beat the heat
With temperatures lingering in the high 80s and 90s, creating heightened risk for heat-related illness, community action organization IMPACT has teamed up with the Des Moines Fire Department to provide families with a cooling solution. IMPACT asks the community to donate new fans and air conditioners to 11 fire departments during business hours. Station 1 […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Indianola, the hot air balloon heart of the U.S., hosts the nine-day National Balloon Classic
In 1970, after seven years of moving from state to state, the U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship was held in Indianola, Iowa for the first time. Indianola’s wide open spaces made it desirable for ballooning, and the championship would return to town every year for the next 18 years. In 1989, the tournament went […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Photo Gallery: Iowans rally for fair contract from Bridgestone-Firestone
On Thursday, approximately 250 people, members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 310 and their supporters, marched over NW 2nd Street in a show of solidarity as the union engaged in contract negotiations with Bridgestone-Firestone. Local 310 represents almost 900 workers at the Des Moines Bridgestone-Firestone plant, which manufactures tires for agricultural equipment. The union’s existing […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Swirling guardrails accent Altoona’s new 1st Avenue roundabout as a four-year public art project wraps up
Much like Charles Bradley and Ozzy Osbourne, Altoona is going through changes. This year, the city released an amendment to their 2014 Comprehensive Plan that would put in infrastructure to “recognize the potential growth of the community and propose key concepts to be followed as community growth and change occur.” Among many other measures, the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Adult recess’ encourages Des Moines grown-ups to play like a kid again
Old or young, everyone needs a break — a respite from school, work, stress and boredom in which to stretch our legs and relax our minds. Unfortunately, arguably the best version of the break — recess — tends to end with elementary school, despite the positive effects including socialization, exercise, improvements with memory, concentration and […]
