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Oct 16, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Herb Strentz |Randy Evans |Rick Morain |Jim Chrisinger
Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000. To illustrate problems with the news coverage of the 2024 presidential campaign, this essay begins with a comparison and ends with a contrast.
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Oct 15, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Kentin Waits |Randy Evans |Rick Morain |Jim Chrisinger
Kentin Waits is a writer and small business owner living in Des Moines. His work has appeared in Inc., Christian Science Monitor, U.S. Airways Magazine, and Kiplinger. If the thought of a stranger using your loved one’s cemetery plot as a campsite upsets you, proceed with caution. In late July, I checked Facebook postings from my hometown of Knoxville, Iowa. On Wednesday, July 24, the community of 7,500 hosted an estimated 18,000 RAGBRAI riders overnight.
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Oct 15, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Randy Evans |Rick Morain |Jim Chrisinger |Laura Belin
Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes openness and transparency in Iowa’s state and local governments. He can be reached at [email protected]. A family acquaintance was on Vice President Dick Cheney’s Secret Service detail during George W. Bush’s presidency. His Christmas photo one year was a portrait of him, his wife and Cheney together at a White House reception.
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Oct 14, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Rick Morain |Jim Chrisinger |Laura Belin |Clark Kauffman
Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column. On October 14, the state of Iowa observes Indigenous Peoples’ Day, in recognition of the roles native tribes have played in the state’s history and culture. It’s not a federal holiday, but an increasing number of states and cities now observe it instead of Columbus Day, the traditional name for the mid-October holiday.
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Oct 13, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Jim Chrisinger |Laura Belin |Clark Kauffman |Katie Byerly
Jim Chrisinger is a retired public servant living in Ankeny. He served in both Republican and Democratic administrations, in Iowa and elsewhere. He also holds a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Preserving American democracy and the rule of law motivates me every day. I feel compelled to reach across the divide to those in my world who, wittingly or unwittingly, would undermine or even throw these foundations of our republic overboard. So of course I want to persuade them.
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Oct 2, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Luuk Clark |Randy Evans |Rick Morain |Jim Chrisinger
Luuk Clark is a Prairie Steward and Pinnated Grouse advocate. He thanks Laura Walters of the Tallgrass Prairie Center and John Pearson of the Iowa DNR for helping him find a nearby location to photograph Silky prairie clover for this post. Silky prairie clover (Dalea villosa) is a bit of a nomadic species relying on sandy, sparsely vegetated places. In Iowa it may be mainly associated with ancient post-glaciated delta systems and watersheds surrounding the Cedar River.
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Sep 25, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Kenny Slocum |Randy Evans |Rick Morain |Jim Chrisinger
Kenny Slocum is the naturalist and natural resource manager for the Clayton County Conservation Board. The first time I had an opportunity to write for Bleeding Heartland, I wrote about one of my favorite places. Bloody Run County Park, outside of Marquette, sparked my interest in plants years ago when I began to find a litany of unique native plants, stuff that I’d mostly consider “meat-and-potatoes” kind of species now.
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Jun 10, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Randy Evans |Laura Belin |Rick Morain |Jim Chrisinger
Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at [email protected]. Five months have passed since a 17-year-old Perry High School student walked out of a school bathroom and began shooting toward students who were having breakfast before heading to their classes on the morning of January 4, 2024. The first details about the tragedy had barely started trickling out when the first questions began.
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Jun 9, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Herb Strentz |Laura Belin |Rick Morain |Jim Chrisinger
Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000. The people called “leaders of the free world” and some 4,500 of their citizens gathered on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on June 6 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. D-Day is often considered the beginning of the end of World War II.
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Jun 8, 2024 | 
bleedingheartland.com | Rick Morain |Laura Belin |Jim Chrisinger |Katie Byerly
Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column. The facts are as follows:On May 30, a New York trial jury of five women and seven men unanimously convicted former President Donald Trump of falsifying business records regarding a hush money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.
