Around Des Moines

The 14-mile section of interstate running through the city is typically called “Interstate Highway 235” (as designated by the DOT) or “MacVicar Freeway (as dubbed by the 1960 Des Moines City Council). But the roadway received its nickname, the “MacVicar speedway,” because of the day-to-day antics of those who travel it. Drivers like area blogger Chris Moeller.

I don’t mean to pick on Moeller who considers MacVicar an “open-track.” It’s just that he’s just quite candid about reaching 85 mph on the roadway in his Grand Prix. At least he did in the past. Construction work may have slowed him down in recent years.

MacVicar wasn’t always seen as a race track, although it seems to have come with rules all its own. Back in 1965, Des Moines Register reporter Donald Kaul described a local man’s I-235 experience in these words: “He found the
freeway’s unhurried atmosphere and the general refusal there to bow slavishly to arbitrary driving rules quite charming, almost European in character.”

But why the name “Mac Vicar?”

The roadway was named after a father and son, both John MacVicars, who held political offices within the city for a span of over 50 years. Each served terms as mayor and streets commissioner.

Currently being rebuilt, the speedway has typically seen approximately 850 collisions annually in recent years. In fact, safety is cited as the number one reason for its reconstruction. Other factors include area changes since its
design. According to its website (yes, I-235 has its own site!) the freeway was designed in the 1950s and constructed in the 1960s. BOMA Iowa puts its completion date at 1968 and credits the route with opening up growth to the western suburbs.

As construction nears completion will MacVicar drivers pick up the pace once again? For your birdseye-view of traffic along I-235, visit DM Metro Trip Guide, choose a camera from along the route, and decide for yourself!

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

As I travel around the city running errands and gathering news, I inevitably encounter items that merit mention but not their own posts. Minor observations by themselves, collectively they help create the daily flow of the urban tide.

Olympic Flame in the 500 block of East Grand now has a glass front. This restaurant serves Greek and American food and its wait staff can make diners feel like family. The old front had an enclosed entryway and small windows
making it hard to tell if the restaurant was open. A recent lunchtime visit found the place quite busy. The Grand Piano Bistro opened earlier this year a couple doors away. It also is glass-fronted…

On Sunday the 23rd, I noticed a family jaywalk across Grand on the west side of the city. As part of a city program, sidewalks a few blocks either side of 56th Street are being repaired. Apparently there was some type of gathering at a house in one of these blocks. Instead of parking in the driveway, guests were using the parking lot of the school across the street. Crosswalks were quite a distance away so two adults and two young children dashed across mid-street.

The feel of fall finally arrived on the 25th. That was the day leaves fell in noticeable quantities for the first time this year. By the 28th, autumn decorations lined Locust Street in the East Village. The scent of hay was quite strong and a bit too reminiscent of the farm. Don’t forget to check out the stores and bars along East Fifth Street between Locust and Grand. The Blazing Saddle honors the men and women who have served in the armed forces with a small flower bed edging the street’s western sidewalk.

Work was being done inside and outside of the Capitol this week. New asphalt was being laid on a parking lot along Walnut. The rotunda was blocked off by scaffolding. A pathway around a statue was being re-shaped.

DART has set October 14 as the date for its Sunday service to begin. I have been told that there was Sunday service a few years ago but that it did not last long. Hopefully this time it will be kept. Sunday service generally will replicate Saturday’s routes and schedules. However, it will start an hour later and end about an hour earlier on Sundays.

Alan Loots signed copies of his first novel at The Book Store downtown on the 29th. The book, “Storm Lake,” is labeled suspense and is partly set in Iowa. (Copies of Leading Voices: Iowa are available at The Book Store,
located at 606 Locust.)

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

September 21 was established as an International Day of Peace by the United Nations in 1981. It is an annual observance of non-violence and ceasefire, according to the U.N.’s web site. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for a 24-hour cessation of hostilities and for a minute of silence at noon local time as part of the 2007 commemoration. In Des Moines. the day was acknowledged by a Peace Fair held on Saturday, September 22 on the Court Street bridge over the Des Moines River.

Several organizations, approaching peace from a variety of directions, were represented at the event. Code Pink DM was there to let the public know it now exists. Judee Barnes was attending a protest at the Federal Building in downtown Des Moines when she met Code Pink activists from outside of the area. That, in turn, led to the August 1, 2007, launch of Code Pink DM. The local chapter is still getting situated but it has a group list at code_pink_DM@yahoogroups.com.

The Iowa United Nations Association (UNA) staff member at the Peace Fair talked with me about organizational issues, humanitarian agencies, and other issues related to the U.N. In addition to promoting discussion on assorted topics and support for the U.N., Iowa UNA gives priority to youth programs. It encourages participation in the Model U.N. at the University of Northern Iowa and in the Youth Symposium on the U.N. at the state Capitol in Des Moines. Iowa UNA is based in Iowa City, but there are activities in the Des Moines area.

Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) were two other large organizations with people willing to talk about peace at the event. Amnesty International meets the third Thursday of each month in the basement of the Friends Meeting House at 42nd and Grand. (This is near the 42nd and Ingersoll stop of the #1 bus, but the meetings start at 7:00 p.m. by which time the bus route is quite limited.) The ACLU’s efforts resulted recently in Iowans being given the opportunity to identify a party affiliation other than Democratic or Republican on their voter registration forms.

Short-term, issue-specific campaigns were advocating their positions. Kelly Mitchell, with Greenpeace’s Project Hot Seat, was sharing a cell phone so attendees could leave a message for Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA) to encourage him to lend his support to the Safe Climate Act (H.R. 1590). The Iraq Campaign, formerly Iraq Summer, had yard signs recommending “Support the troops, end the war.” Des Moines for Darfur asked people to use the presidential caucus process to help end genocide in the Sudan.

There were many more organizations at the Peace Fair than there is room to identify, let alone discuss, them. Even the Des Moines Public Library had a table to promote its range of books on peace, particularly those written for young readers. In this context, peace was at a very personal level, such as being kind to your neighbor.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

While Gov. Chet Culver’s professional youth commission talked at Drake University on September 25 about student debt and jobs, the Older Iowans Legislature (OIL) was debating legislative priorities for seniors at the state Capitol.

OIL was started in 1978 by the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs and the Area Agencies on Aging. A few years ago state funding for OIL was cut. Membership dues and corporate sponsorships support the organization but delegates to the annual legislature have to pay their own way to participate. As a result, even though 100 delegates from nine districts are allowed, there were fewer than 70 at this year’s legislature. (The meeting is held in the House chambers at the Capitol, which seats 100.)

The OIL delegates met in four committees (ways and means, state government, appropriations, and health care) to hear testimony and to discuss the proposed legislation. Bills voted out of committees on Monday the 24th were voted on by the full legislature on Tuesday the 25th. The delegates then ranked the bills that passed to select those that would be presented to the General Assembly in 2008. The 5 bills given priority out of 22 originally filed were: (1) to restore the Senior Living Trust Fund, (2) to expand the elder abuse program, (3) to establish parity on reimbursement for home- and community-based care, (4) to standardize long-term care insurance policies, and (5) to tax Internet sales.

Taxing Internet sales was the only bill identified as inter-generational that was passed by the OIL delegates. Even then floor discussion drifted towards how the estimated $50 million that would be raised from the taxes could benefit elder programs.

Students from Norwalk High School in Warren County served as pages. Justin McClure was the speaker’s page. A senior in high school, McClure participated in OIL last year. He volunteered for the event because he will receive credits needed to complete a class. He is not sure what his future interests are other than to attend DMACC next year. He described the senior legislatures as opinionated and said it is “good to hear all the views.” Other pages I talked with were juniors who were volunteering because it would look good on their college applications. Business was the expected career of several pages, although one said she wanted to be an architect..

Debate on some of the bills was more than a formality. A bill to give property tax relief to low-income elderly homeowners saw an objection from one delegate who opined that anyone with an income less than $18,000 was living in subsidized rental housing, not owning a home. Delegates from Polk County and the Sioux City area responded that they knew of several people who would benefit. A delegate from the North District questioned the need for tax relief because he sees numerous elderly people gambling and buying cigarettes.

One very noticeable difference between the Older Iowans Legislature and the General Assembly was that the seniors finished their session well ahead of schedule.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Forget the Arts Festival, the Hy-Vee triathlon, and even state wrestling championships. For me, it is the regatta that labels Des Moines as a city of note.

Okay, I’ve never watched a regatta. Yet, the image of shells gliding through water always makes me think of Cambridge and Oxford and the prestige their graduates have offered to world-class institutions. Back in Des Moines, the local river may not lead to sites of ancient history but the local rowing club can offer up a darn good education.

The Des Moines Rowing Club hosts the Head of the Des Moines regatta on the last Saturday in September. This year that date is September 29. Club members are excited that Lesleh Heim will be coxswain for the men’s eight. Heim rowed on the Canadian women’s team for a decade and now lives in Carroll, Iowa. There will be 600 other participants competing in 60 races. Races are scheduled for high school and collegiate teams, for gender-segregated and gender-mixed teams, and for rowers over 50 years old, just to mention some of the categories.

Races begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. Competitors will row downstream from the Birdland Marina to the starting point near the Botanical Center. They will then row in timed races upriver to Prospect Park. I asked Jill Emmert, a second year rower and regatta committee member, to share some insights that would help a novice spectator better appreciate the competitions. This is what she wrote:

“[W]hat spectators need to realize is that all the boats are on their own timer and start at different times. So no one knows who won until all the boats have crossed the finish line and the times have been reported. The ways you can tell if a boat is doing well is by watching the bladework. If the blades are all off of the water and the boat is doing a good stretch of gliding between strokes, they are doing well. Another thing to watch is the rowers. If they look like they are all doing the exact same thing at the exact same time, they are doing very well. If watching from Prospect Park (the finish line) you will notice that a lot of this stuff is not happening because many rowers are very tired by now. It is, after all, a three-mile race. And they have been rowing for at least 20 minutes before you even get to see them. Another thing to remember is that rowing is a total body workout. There isn’t a part of your body that isn’t tired after 3 miles/20 minutes. All you can do is concentrate on your crew members and your cox. You try to forget about everything going on around you and keep your head in the boat. And row like a bat out of hell.”

This is the 24th year of the regatta. Now that I know what to expect, I am looking forward to the races.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

When the next group holds an art fair or any festival in Des Moines that
attracts families with children, please have more interesting activities for
the younger attendees. I have seen far too many folding tables littered with
pieces of plain paper, crayons, and a token sign announcing the spot as a
youth activity area. About half the time there will also be a table just as
boringly decorated where some young adult is present to paint pictures on
children’s faces.

First off, add some color to the booths, appropriate to the season and
possibly with seasonal decorations. That doesn’t have to mean holiday
seasonal. It could be big leaves cut out of construction paper and put on
the edges of the table cloth. It could be a robin pulling up a worm as long
as the canopy’s pole is tall or a bouquet of flowers springing from the
edges of the tent. It could be a colt or a winter squash, but maybe
brightened with a bit of creative coloring.

Place some objects with simple shapes, such as a tree, a building, and an
orange on the table. I’m thinking in terms of toys and models, not the real
items. Have a sign that asks the youngsters to draw what they see when
looking at a triangle, a rectangle, or a circle.

Construct a large color wheel and ask the youth to experiment with placing
different colors side-by-side. Have colored blocks on the table and ask what
color a child likes. Turn the block around to show that color in a piece of
abstract art.

Would it be too difficult to arrange for examples of the musical arts? Put
out a toy tambourine, some inexpensive drums, and other instruments such
that a conveniently-placed bottle of hand sanitizer will encourage parents
to let their children explore the wonders of sound. Ask youth to listen to
the steps of the scales as a xylophone is played. Surely there are creative
people in Des Moines who could create a device that plays middle C when
activated but then turns it into a sharp or a flat depending upon the
direction a lever is switched. The colorful table top at this booth could be
a staff with various notes, perhaps showing a song played with a tape
player. (Remember tape players? It’s easy to control the volume so several
people can hear it at the same time without disturbing other people standing
nearby.)

A bonus to be found in these wider, more interesting activities is that
adults who failed to receive training in the arts could also have the
opportunity to learn. The bottom line is that the philanthropists who and
the corporations which underwrite many of these festivals certainly can
spare $100 for a few pieces of construction paper and the time of someone to
decorate a booth and to put together an interesting presentation, or have we
already passed irreversibly into the clipart world of ready-made
visualization?

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

As the social summer season neared in May, I took pictures of the rose
garden in Greenwood Park for this web site. I also reported on how the
plants were doing around the Fourth of July. Now that the celestial summer
season has ended, I visited the park again. As I write this, I realize that
I forgot to check the level of Walnut Creek along the Bill Riley bicycle
trail. Upstream from the trail head, pebbles in the creek bed were visible
from Grand Avenue a week ago. The creek’s waters had risen past flood stage
in May, covering the trail.

A tree stump that had been in the sidewalk leading from the parking area to
the garden has been removed and the pathway patched. The flowers were past
their prime, at least in quantity. There were a few prime specimen still to
be appreciated. A map to the garden’s layout and a guide to its history was
available from a mailbox-style dispenser near the northern part of the
garden.

According to the pamphlet from the Park and Recreation Department, the
garden was dedicated in May 1933. Amos Emery of Des Moines designed the
pillars, benches, and flagstone walks. General plans for the garden were
prepared by landscape architect Harlan Bartholomew and completed by Harold
Parnham. The passing decades took their toll but the Greenwood Park Rose
Garden Advisory Committee has been working to reinvigorate the garden for
about the past 25 years.

On the first day of autumn, the middle third of the garden was the most
colorful. It was here that the Brass Bands were among the first roses to
bloom in May and are among the last to be blooming in September. Most of the
plants in the southern third were close to exhausting their production of
flowers for the year. In the northern part of the garden, Bride’s Delight
roses had grown large and were showing their ages along the edges but they
still carried a blush of delicate pink beauty in their hearts.

The Earth Songs were probably my favorite, or near favorite, flower of the
day. It seems appropriate to honor them on the day of an equinox. They are a
hybrid tea developed in 1973 from the cross of Music Maker and Prairie Star.
They were produced by Griffith Buck at Iowa State University, have a
rose-pink double flower, and are resistance to cold and to disease.

If you wish to help support the rose garden financially, you may make a tax
deductible contribution to the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation at
1915 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50309. Be sure to specify that your
support is for the Clare and Miles Mills Rose Garden at Greenwood Park Fund.
The garden was named after the Mills in 2002. If you would like to offer
assistance of another type, call the Park and Recreation Department at (515)
237-1386.

Related posts: Deer, Floods, and Roses and A PSA and Roses

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

The 20/30 Road Rally is tomorrow! September 22, 2007

The starting point is at American Dream Machines, 1500 Locust St. in downtown Des Moines (map). Registration is at 7 a.m. and you can register the day of the event. All vehicles are welcome.

What is a road rally? It’s not a race in the traditional sense. In fact, speeders get fined It’s a competitive timed event and teams compete against each other on a 250-mile scenic Iowa loop with 8 checkpoints. The route is not disclosed in advance and only revealed to each team throughout the day.

This event is a fundraiser for the 20/30 Society. It’s a group of 20- and 30-year-olds who want to do some good in the world. They raise money to provide grants to a wide range of charities. Keep an eye out for additional events.

About a year ago a pedestrian-triggered lighted crosswalk-warning sign was placed on University around 26th Street. The light blinks to alert motorists that a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. Four more of the blinking signs have been added at various locations in Des Moines during the past month. The solar-powered lights were paid for by the city and with a traffic safety grant from the Department of Transportation. The new locations are: (1) East Grand near East 13th Street and the state Capitol, (2) around the 2200 block of West Grand, (3) between Mercy Hospital and the hospital’s parking lot in the area of 4th Street, and (4) on University at about 27th Street.

I spoke with a city traffic engineer after seeing the new signs at multiple locations recently. The first blinker was installed because people at Drake had expressed concern about traffic not stopping at crosswalks and pedestrians not crossing the street safely. A study was conducted to assess vehicle and pedestrian numbers before the decision was made to place the light near 26th Street. There has been positive feedback on the sign from the university.

It took about a year to put the additional signs up. This was due to the need to apply for the state grant, to receive the money, to put the work out for bid, and then to complete the work. The engineer with whom I spoke believed that it was in Colorado that another engineer from the city first saw the blinking pedestrian lights.

According to the traffic engineer, pedestrian safety decreases as the number of traffic lanes on a street increases. Painted crosswalks give pedestrians a false sense of security. On a two-lane street, pedestrians often will make eye contact with drivers which increases safety. However, with multi-lane streets, such as Grand and University, the driver of the vehicle closest to the pedestrian may stop but drivers in the next lane, lacking eye contact with pedestrians, are just as likely not to stop.

The engineer also said that the lighted crosswalk-warning signs are a step between crosswalks with static (i.e., non-blinking) signs and traffic signals that take time to go through the green-yellow-red cycle. I tested the blinking pedestrian light near the Capitol and observed that it was quick to engage and allowed sufficient time for a moderately-paced pedestrian to cross. Unfortunately, I later saw a woman running across Grand without first walking to either the lighted or the static crosswalks that were nearby.

Let the traffic and transportation office know what you think of the signs, either as a motorist or as a pedestrian. The telephone number is (515) 283-4973. Just be sure to wait until you park your vehicle or are on the sidewalk if a pedestrian before you make the call.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Cafe Paradiso
607 West Broadway
Fairfield, Iowa 52556
641-472-0856

The Paradiso Harvest Moon Festival was held last weekend, but there’s plenty of events on the calendar every week. It’s a great place for art, local and international music, and of course excellent coffee!

Hours:
Monday - Friday 7:30am-5pm
Saturday - 8am-5pm
Sunday 8:00am-5:00pm

Wednesday Open Mike 8pm
Thursday Film Night 7:30 pm
Sunday Brunch 9am-1pm
Saturday Breakfast 9am-1am
Live Entertainment most weekends