Bleeding Heartland

Julia Rendon is a retired minister in the United Church of Christ. As a member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, she has shamed businesses into paying their workers back wages, shone a light on predatory lending practices, and pressured the governor to reinstate the summer food program for kids. As a Christian, she believes that every person matters and everybody should have a voice in our life together, which is why she is working for free and fair elections in November.

Chip Albright is a lifelong Midwesterner with rural Kansas roots and urban Iowa branches, an independent singer-songwriter, storyteller, and strategist seeking beauty and truth in this wild & wonderful world. Visit chipalbrightmusic.com for music and more. Since I wrote “If It’s Turek, That’s Terrific!” earlier this year, I have witnessed Josh Turek up close and personal on many occasions.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com It’s 36 counties covering 21,546 square miles across northern and western Iowa. It’s the state’s largest Congressional district, but often overlooked, neglected, and forgotten by politicians and pundits.

Dan Piller was a business reporter for more than four decades, working for the Des Moines Register and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He covered the oil and gas industry while in Texas and was the Register’s agriculture reporter before his retirement in 2013. He lives in Ankeny.

Slaughterhouse CTE Friday, Sep 4 2026 0 Comments Former Des Moines Register assistant sports editor Ira Lacher writes about the games and business of sports for various newspapers and magazines. “Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?” The quote is from the 2000 film Gladiator, which followed a deposed Roman nobleman’s quest to avenge the executions of his wife and children.

all photos are by Katie Byerly Iowa wildflower Wednesday: Wild parsnip Wednesday, Sep 2 2026 0 Comments Katie Byerly of Cerro Gordo County is also known as Iowa Prairie Girl on YouTube. Her video about wild parsnip is at the end of this post. I don’t use the word hate often. If you asked me if I liked black licorice, I would say “I don’t like black licorice.” I know I wouldn’t say “I hate black licorice.” Hate is a strong word, and I avoid using it.

Charles Bruner is a former Democratic Iowa legislator (1978-1990), was the founding director of Iowa Child and Family Policy Center (1990-2015, now Common Good Iowa), and is national director of the InCK Marks Initiative’s Child Health Equity Leadership Group.

“Not enough people know the story about how this court got captured by a bunch of creepy right-wing billionaires,” U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse told hundreds of Iowa Democrats on August 29.

Rachel Bruns is a maternal health advocate in Iowa. Earlier this year, I wrote a three-part series for the Des Moines Business Record’s Fearless publication titled “From Personal Experience to Policy Change: Fighting for Improvements in Maternal Health Care in Iowa.” With that series, I was excited to highlight, in part 1, promising practices at hospitals across the country that were making positive improvements in maternal health care – improving both patient satisfaction and outcomes.

A copy of this Federal Reserve chart appeared in the August 19 edition of the New York Times National debt is "speeding towards a cliff" Saturday, Aug 29 2026 0 Comments David Elbert is a former business editor and columnist for the Des Moines Register. He now writes about local history for DSM Magazine. The national debt recently passed the $40 trillion mark, which means your share is about $117,000, or roughly half the cost of a typical Iowa home.