Recent Stories

Apple Computer

Evans: State Help Shouldn’t Overlook Our Small Towns

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Community leaders always prefer to see the glass as half full instead of dwelling on trends and policies beyond their control that could easily produce anxiety — or ulcers. I had a friend for many years who fit that description. I would call him an optimistic realist. I’m sure he had opportunities to follow a career path that would have taken him to a large city, just as I did. Instead, he chose to work and expend his leadership energy in a smaller town with fewer people than some neighborhoods in Des Moines have.

health care costs

Health Insurance Concerns Driving Increase In Older Workers

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Many Iowans nearing retirement age are driving an increase in older workers who keep their job to cover high health care costs their life savings cannot cover. Story includes a podcast of an IowaWatch Connection radio report on the problem.

opinion

Evans: Reynolds’ Amendment Deserves Our Support

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Faithful readers of this space know I have not been shy about disagreeing with Gov. Kim Reynolds’ positions on a variety of issues. But I am here today not to criticize our governor but to praise her — for her courage that is both political and personal. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He is a former editorial page editor and assistant managing editor of The Des Moines Register. Opinions are his own.

Center News

IowaWatch Starts 10th Year on Feb. 4, 2019

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The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism started its 10th year of operation after hitting its ninth anniversary on February 4, 2019. Here are some fast facts about the center.

Randy Evans

Evans: More Politics Is Not What Iowa Courts Need

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Today, the Harold Hills working our state are not concerned about pool halls or bands. But they are again trying to gin up public anxiety about a supposed problem right here in Iowa — that politics, with a capital P, is tainting our court system, especially the selection of judges.

environmental journalism

Journalists, Students Interested In Environmental Communications: Register For Iowa Summit

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An opportunity exists on March 5 for journalists and students interested in environmental communication to network, explore issues with researchers, promote environmental journalism and strengthen the capacity for regional environmental reporting in Iowa and the Midwest. The day-long “The Climate of Environmental Journalism: A Regional Summit” is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Drake Community Library in Grinnell. IowaWatch is a summit cosponsor with the University of Iowa Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Grinnell College’s Center for Prairie Studies. IowaWatch is focusing on public health issues in 2019. Participation in the summit is available free of charge but registration is required by Feb.

government transparency

Evans: Making Laws Should Not Be About Lawmakers’ Convenience

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One of the biggest contrasts in public access to state and local governments in Iowa came into focus last week, and Iowans should be concerned by what occurred. A bit of context: Iowans have long had the right to sit in on almost every meeting of state government policy-making and governing boards and on meetings of their local school board, city council and county board of supervisors. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He is a former editorial page editor and assistant managing editor of The Des Moines Register. Opinions are his own.