Winners

Sen. Barack Obama returned to Des Moines last week to speak to a large, energetic crowd of supporters gathered in the East Village. Obama has secured 11 superdelegates in Iowa, outpacing rival Sen. Hillary Clinton with three from Iowa, as he races toward the finish line in securing the Democratic Party’s nomination.

The Des Moines Arts Festival maintained its Top 10 status by being ranked No. 7 in the nation in artist sales by the Art Fair SourceBook. Artists who participated in SourceBook’s survey reported gross average sales of $7,432 at the 2007 Des Moines Arts Festival. This year’s event will be held June 27-29 in downtown Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park, where 175 artists will sell their wares.

The cost of food might be on the rise, but it hasn’t slowed Americans’ appetite for hamburgers. The Iowa Beef Industry Council says that’s good news for the state’s $5.1 billion beef industry. In 2007, 41 percent of American consumers reported eating a hamburger at least once a week, while 84 percent said they ate a burger at least once a month for a total of 11.9 billion burgers consumed, according to The Burger Consumer Trend Report. Use it like a Cliff Clavin-like conversation starter next time you’re at the grill with family and friends.

Thanks to the generosity of a record number of attendees and donations by Iowans, proceeds raised by Hope Ministries’ fifth annual Hearts for Hope Women’s Tea will benefit several organizations that serve the needy. On May 3, more than 650 women attended the event held at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel, and through gifts and pledges raised more than $90,000 to benefit the Hope Family Center, a Christian long-term residential and life recovery center for homeless mothers and their children. The Hope Family Center is one of several Hope Ministries facilities located in Des Moines operated by Hope Ministries. Next year’s tea is scheduled for May 2, 2009.

The Des Moines Social Club’s capital campaign got a shot in the arm thanks to a $100,000 donation by the Kruidenier Foundation. The group has launched a campaign to raise $2.2 million to renovate a downtown Des Moines building located at 1408 Locust St., which will be home to the country’s first sustainable artistic and cultural center (politically and socially relevant free theater). Elizabeth and Lisa Kruidenier presented their gift to club’s artistic director, Zachary Mannheimer. Earlier in May, the non-profit Des Moines Social Club — which has founded The Subjective Theatre Company of Des Moines — hosted its first annual Subjective Circus and raised more than $10,000 from more than 700 attendees.

Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa (Des Moines) is one of five Goodwill agencies nationwide selected to receive a 2008 “Goodwill is Good for Families” award. They are being recognized for an “agency-wide commitment to family strengthening that includes an increased financial investment in family services and human resources policies,” among others. And if you have to stretch your dollar shopping for clothes, you could do worse. The Des Moines Goodwill chapter will be honored during Goodwill’s International Delegate Assembly in Washington D.C. in June.

Losers

The University of Iowa and Iowa State University men’s basketball teams each lost one of their best players due to conflicts with their coaches. Hawkeye guard Tony Freeman left Iowa for Southern Illinois after claiming he didn’t get enough respect from coach Todd Lickliter, then Cyclone star forward Wesley Johnson left ISU claiming that his relationship with coach Greg McDermott was at the heart of his decision to leave. Though the programs will be better without unhappy players, you have to wonder if the state’s top two college basketball programs continue to lose quality players whether they will rebound anytime soon.

Relatives of Tom Lyon, the Milo farmer who was killed by neighboring farmer Rodney Heemstra, will have to return cash and property seized from Heemstra’s family as the result of Judge Michael Huppert’s decision to overturn a wrongful death verdict. Huppert also said Heemstra is liable for Lyon’s death and that Lyon’s family will be allowed to pursue punitive damages in civil court. Heemstra remains in jail for the 2003 shooting as Iowa’s Hatfield and McCoy farmer feud continues, making it more difficult to sort out the winners and losers in this case.

A follow up to an item we told you about a few weeks ago regarding a lawsuit between two free alt-weekly newspapers in San Francisco. A judge has ruled that the San Francisco Weekly must pay the San Francisco Bay Guardian $15.9 million for undercutting its rival with below-cost ads. Lawyers for the Weekly, which also was issued a 10-year injunction barring it from selling display ads below cost, plan to appeal the ruling. The judge agreed with the Guardian’s claims that the Village Voice Media-owned Weekly was purposely undercutting the Guardian with bargain display-ad rates, then used cash infusions from its Phoenix parent company to stay afloat. Let that be a lesson to any large daily newspaper or corporate media group that produces a free weekly newspaper in hopes of driving out independent competition through predatory pricing. CV

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