Spring cleaning and Office Lounge
Have you had trouble keeping up with IWC additions? Here's a list
In my opinion, Iowans can’t really consider ourselves done with winter until April 15 — and sometimes not even then.
Newspaper timeline update
The Lamont Leader (folded 12/19/20) and North Liberty Leader (folded 2/10/22) have been added to the list of newspaper changes following reader notes.
Iowa Legislature non-update
Thursday marks the 23rd legislative calendar day since the Iowa House substituted the Senate’s school funding bill with its own and sent it back to the Senate. As of Wednesday night, SF 167 as amended has not been on the Senate debate calendar.
According to the Legislative Services Agency’s fiscal note on the Senate’s original bill (2% increase in state supplemental aid) vs. the House’s bill (2.25% increase in state supplemental aid +$10/pupil +transportation funding), the overall difference between the bills when all components are accounted for is $18.3 million.
Schools must finalize their budgets by April 15, which is kind of hard to do when they don’t know how much money they’ll be getting.
Meanwhile, current state Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, has applied to be on the Linn County Board of Supervisors instead.
My piece of pie
Don’t forget to stop by Springville for my story about Pi Day.
New IWC members
From the past three months of Sunday roundups, in alphabetical order, here are the new members of the IWC. The full roster, or at least a full-ish roster, is available on the main IWC site.
Chip Albright, a singer-songwriter: Chip Happens
Lorena López Altamirano, founder of La Prensa in western Iowa: From Managua to Main Street: Stories of Iowa Immigrants.
Deidre Baker, former Quad-City Times reporter: At the moment her Substack doesn’t look set up yet.
Romen Borsellino, Rekha Basu and Rob Borsellino’s son, currently making his way in Hollywood: Romen Borsellino
Hannah Breckbill, from Decorah but currently across the world in the Middle East: Humble Hands Harvest
John Crabtree, from Oelwein: Though the Heavens Fall
Todd Dorman, opinion editor at the Cedar Rapids Gazette and my former co-worker, is republishing his columns as part of the Collaborative. It’s under the same name as his column, 24-Hour Dorman, although the setup is a little different. Here’s a direct link to the archive page.
Daniel Henderson: Things We Don't Talk About Like Politics & Religion
Lynn Hicks, former Des Moines Register business editor, now with the Polk County Attorney’s Office: True Justice
Abena Sankofa Imhotep: The Imhotep Report (link goes to a subsection of Substack in Notes) (debut announcement here)
Rick Jost, a veteran business journalist: Biz Whispers: Fresh Iowa Business News and Commentary (link goes to his Substack Notes page)
Michael Judge: The First Person With Michael Judge (more on Crabtree and Judge can be found in the Feb. 8 Roundup)
Carol Montag, singer and songwriter from Cedar Rapids: Monday’s Music
Maxwell Schaeffer, a longtime central Iowa radio broadcaster: Maxwell’s Voice
David Thoreson, a world traveler originally from the Iowa Great Lakes area: David Thoreson
Christie Vilsack, former first lady of Iowa, recruited by Chuck Offenburger: Common Ground
Stacey Walker, former Linn County supervisor now in Florida: Dispatch: Revolution (debut announcement here)
There’s also the Iowa Startup Collective with Diana Wright, which debuted in the Feb. 15 Roundup.
That’s a lot of new people! Plus there’s all those of us who’ve been around a year or more!
Paid subscriber perks
Your house, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, or doghouse: The Office Lounge call is coming up this Friday, March 28, starting at noon. Here’s the Zoom link. Subscribers to any of the IWC sites can attend.
Lovilia: We will have regional events for paid subscribers! Save the date of June 29 to hear the Weary Ramblers play in concert at Beth Hoffman’s farm. (More information in the March 2 Roundup post, where I borrowed these two items from)
Winterset: Join fellow Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members for a special two-day gathering in picturesque Madison County, hosted by Marianne Fons, Debra Engle, and Vicki Minor. With local exploration, and an exclusive screening of the documentary “Storm Lake,” followed by a Q&A with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Art Cullen, featured in the film. It’s a weekend you won’t want to miss—mark your calendars for July 25-26!
My other work can be found on my website, Iowa Highway Ends, and its blog.
Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup homepage and writer listing