Cityview | Central Iowa's Independent Weekly

Taken away

Uncovering facts behind one of Iowa’s darkest secrets

Repeat after me: “Iowa is a great place to raise a family.”

Those words echo through generations of Iowa parents and grandparents. Take us for example. “Iowa is a great place to raise a family” was reassuring when we moved here with our daughters, then ages 2 and 4.

No regrets.

Decades later, however, you look at opinions issued by the Iowa Court of Appeals and you wonder about the Iowa “family” mantra; you wonder whether Iowans might be too self-satisfied, almost smug, when we could be working to preserve, if not extend, that treasure for others. ...Read More>>

Today’s names: Dave Funk, Chet Culver, Fred Hoiberg, Tom Kollings

Comes now a tale of woe and politics: What do you do if you’re bright and articulate, but you bumped your head one too many times, you see stars, you take Vicodin, you can’t sleep, your ability to concentrate is diminished, you’ve lost your $150,000-a-year job, your left thumb is numb and heavy lifting is out of the question?

You run for office.

What do you do if you’re a Tea Party kind of guy, a guy who thinks government is too big, a guy who thinks government spending is unsustainable, a guy who doesn’t have much use for people “who want to drink at the public trough?” But, still, you’re seeing stars and you can’t sleep and you’re taking Vicodin and you can’t concentrate and your left thumb is numb and you’ve lost your $150,000-a-year job and heavy lifting is out of the question? ...

Anchor Coffee House launches ninth, most ambitious concert series

Joel Kinser isn’t looking to reinvent the folk music wheel in Greater Des Moines, he just wants to keep it rolling.

Now in his ninth year as volunteer organizer of the Anchor Coffee House at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Des Moines, a secular concert series that he helped create nine years ago, Kinser is a steward of folk music in central Iowa. Though he doesn’t get paid for his efforts, he does it for the love of music.

“We just want to bring good music to town; that’s the reason we started all this,” said Kinser on his 49th birthday last week while packing his bags for a solo tour of his own out West. “We’ve even approached other churches to do the same thing because I can’t book all the people I want to book.”

Ingersoll sees red

Des Moines votes like a progressive but when it comes to attitudes about Ingersoll Avenue, the town is as conservative as a National Park Ranger warning campers to leave things exactly as they found them. National chains have given up on this street after Henry’s, Arby’s, Hardee’s and Burger King were all vanquished. Two of city council’s hottest issues in recent years resulted from minor proposed changes to Ingersoll — bike lanes and a convenience store in Dahl’s parking lot. Yet, the soft opening of Red last month completed a remarkably quiet transition of two Ingersoll houses into the three-story Adio Building.

Ingersoll’s newest resident is a wellness center that includes a chiropractic clinic and offices; studios and galleries that advocate art and color therapy; and a restaurant named after the longest wave length in the color spectrum — the only one that can penetrate smoke and seemingly controversy. Though the Adio was a rare Ingersoll innovation that didn’t generate protests, it wasn’t born easily. A billboard announcing its future weathered so badly during long construction delays that it faded to invisibility. That gave Red owner Su Nong time to reconsider. Her restaurant’s name changes to Red Poppy, Red China and Red China Bistro depending on which menu or business card you read.

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