Around Des Moines

There was a fire at Barton Solvents northeast of Des Moines on Monday. By 10:00 p.m. it was known there were no serious injuries and concerns about any toxicity from the smoke plume were muted. Thus, I was ready to smile and adore the cute little kitten at the Animal Rescue League that one local television channel showed in a side piece about businesses in the path of the plume. As a worker at ARL commented that the only harm seemed to be that the animals couldn’t be let out until later in the day, the station showed a large dog in a cage looking woefully at the camera operator, begging to be let out to play.

On a walk I took today I noticed a reddish dog, about the size of a labrador but with a coat more common to an irish setter, standing beneath a tree aflame with red leaves and in a yard covered with leaves of russet brown. I was very tempted to pull out my camera and snap a shot but the dog was so perfectly still I dared not challenge him (or her). Instead, I merely smiled in appreciation both of the dog’s pose and of the beautiful color scheme.

My favorite dog tale took place in the late 1990’s in Boston’s Public Garden. I was walking past one of the water features at the same time an art instructor was wrapping up a lesson. Heading towards the gaggle of college-aged students rising from the edge of the fountain was a Brahmin couple and a golden retriever. The retriever saw the group of youth and headed towards them, but the Brahmins were not amused. Nevertheless, the dog had flushed the students and he wanted his reward. I was debating whether to respect the desires of the dog or of the humans when a young woman stepped up to the dog and praised him profusely. The Brahmins, noses in the air and obviously irritated, accepted the praise of their dog tightly. (Note: If you don’t know about Boston Brahmins, imagine an uptight John Kerry.)

My favorite cat picture hangs in my office. I look at it and dream of all the short stories and novels I have started but never have time to finish. It is a print of a cat sitting next to a starship’s or space station’s portal with a nebula in the background. The original painting was done by Erin McKee, a Wisconsin artist who attends DemiCon, the annual science fiction convention put on by the Des Moines Science Fiction Society. It was not until today that I made the connection, however. I bought the print fifteen or sixteen years ago when I was living on the east coast and had since put the artist out of my mind even as I admired her work.

Remember that cats, as well as dogs, older than six months need to be licensed. Licenses are due January 1st with additional penalties after March 31st.

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

Nine artists, collectively known as Paintpushers, opened their annual show at the Fitch Gallery (304 15th Street) on October 27.  Kathryn Downing’s display of humor evoked thoughts of The New Yorker’s cartoons and attracted me after a long day of covering political events. I particularly liked the farm buildings seen through the outline shape of a UFO and the canine archeologist brought a smile. Even when Downing’s theme turned to political messages, her simple lines and bright colors cheered my soul. This was the case with her painting of a young woman blowing bubbles shaped like doves. According to the artist’s statement on the Paintpushers’ web site, Downing uses an encaustic paint, made from refined beeswax, danar resin, and pigments.

Jacqueline Roate’s focus is linear. Curves are created with changes in line angles which distortes portraits. This was particularly visible in the face of one painting’s subject. Roate compensates for the lack of curves by using long lines to direct the viewer’s eyes and also by leaning some of the portrait subjects in one direction or another. Her palette, consisting of shades of brown, intensifies the power of the lines.

Several people at the opening were having fun with Julie VandeBerg’s interactive art. A statement at the show told a story of two birds that inspires VandeBerg. The girl bird wanted a better place to live so she left the nest to search for a new home. The boy bird grew lonely and went in search of the girl bird. He could not find her so he returned home, where the girl bird waited. All the other nests had their own problems, which made her home not seem so bad. VandeBerg paints plaster blocks with images of buildings and laundry and creates metal backgrounds with birds perched along a utility line. She also makes faces from four blocks (two eyes, a nose, and a mouth). The interchangeability of parts was emphasized in one piece where four sets of four blocks formed a contained square.

Roy Cacek works in computer designs for his paid jobs and has incorporated the idea of pixels, standing in for mosaic tiles, into his art. I was looking at his work close-up, trying to decide what random ridges of paint meant when I saw a woman looking at the paintings from a distance. I stepped back and asked her what she thought of Cacek’s work and she said it makes much more sense when viewed from several feet away. We both particularly liked the scene of a city at night, with cars’ headlights creating a brilliant blur at street level, a condition that is accentuated by rain.

The other five artists (Amy Wood Thomas, Charlotte Redman, Chris Vance, Kristine Clemons, and Claudia Cole Meek) also have their own strengths and weaknesses. The show runs through November 8 (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday noon to 4:00 p.m.) and offers visitors the opportunity to see a variety of ways in which paintings can be conceived and executed.

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

Adel: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Alleman: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Altoona: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Ames: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Ankeny: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Bondurant: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Boone: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Cambridge: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Clive: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Collins: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Colo: Oct 31, 5:00-8:00pm
Des Moines: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Gilbert: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Huxley: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Indianola: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Jewell: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Johnston: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Kelley: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Madrid: Oct 29, 6:00-8:00pm
Marshalltown: Oct 31, 5:30-7:00pm

Maxwell: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Mitchellville: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
McCallsburg: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Nevada: (residential) Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Norwalk: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Ogden: Oct 29, 5:30-7:30 pm
Pella: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Pleasant Hill: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Polk City: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Randall: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Roland: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Runnells: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Sheldahl: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Slater: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Story City: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Urbandale: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Waukee: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
West Des Moines: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Windsor Heights: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Zearing:Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm

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

What do Des Moines and Dayton have in common?

Give up? The answer is “Beggar’s Night,” a substitute for the more commonplace tradition of Halloween. While the actual celebration dates vary from location to location, cities in central Iowa, central Ohio and along the New Hampshire seacoast stand apart from the rest of the nation when it comes to the holiday. Instead of featuring night-time activity on a day associated with pranksters, they moved it forward on the calendar. And rather than have children parade from home to home begging for candy in the melodious call, “Trick or Treat,” municipalities in these areas ask youngsters to “earn” their treats by sharing riddles, jokes or other “talent.” In the Des Moines area, the rules have been in place so long that by now they’re unspoken.

What Halloween and Beggar’s Night have in common is this: the children wait until evening, then descend upon their neighborhoods costumed as angels, vampires, story-book characters and more. I still remember the year my two nephews revved up the horror-quotient: one nephew as dressed as Death and the other as Taxes.

But costume isn’t the only similarity between the practice of Halloween and Beggar’s Night. With either celebration, the kids receive candy — or pennies, floss or boxed raisins — from friendly neighbors who’ve left the porch light on as a beacon to sugar-seeking youth.

How did it all begin? Well, in central Iowa the origins of Beggar’s Night are well-documented and stemmed from the need to curb vandalism associated with Halloween. Kids these days! There’s no respect any more, right? Except that, according to the oft-published facts by The Des Moines Register, the violence reached its peak in 1938, when “Des Moines police answered a record 550 calls concerning vandalism.”

We hope this level of destruction remains a thing of the past, but it still pays to take precautions, to safeguard children collecting candy. So, before allowing anyone to head out the door, be sure to review expert tips and advice offered by the City of Des Moines. Then, brush up on those jokes and riddles.

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

Issue conscious voters going to caucuses in real numbers to make a difference is how Rev. David Ruhe of Plymouth Congregational Church envisioned AMOS voters during his keynote address at a conference on October 27. A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS) is a non-partisan, interfaith community action organization. Organizers estimated 350 people from Ames, Des Moines, and Omaha attended the issues conference held at Waveland Hall at Plymouth Congregational. Elected officials also attended and some participated in panel-based workshops. State legislatures Sen. Jack Hatch (D-Des Moines) and Rep. Ro Foege (D-Mount Vernon), co-chairs of the interim legislative commission on affordable health care for families and small businesses, participated in a health care panel. Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D-Ames) spoke to attendees in both the immigration and the economic justice workshops. The fourth panel was on the issue of youth and education, where Des Moines School Board Director Connie Boesen was in attendance.

All of the presidential candidates had been invited but only Barack Obama accepted. Before answering questions from a panel on the issues of education, immigration, health care, and economic justice, Obama talked about his own organizing background. He was inspired by tales of the civil rights movement, how African-Americans sat down at lunch counters, “straight-back, clear-eyed” and knowing they were there for a purpose. Seeking a job after college, he sent out a hundred letters and a collective of churches responded. They had money for one paid organizer. Obama said a good leader, a good organizer, listens and looks for “the hopes and dreams and aspirations” of people and tries to release those things. He added that as president he would give fireside chats and use other communication methods to tap into the hopes and dreams of the American people.

A long-time organizer, Ernesto Cortes, Jr., currently southwest regional director of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), told attendees that before they change the world, “we must first do the hard and disciplined job of politics.” Cortes recommended that attendees talk to a stranger for a minute about what they learned at the conference and listen to what the stranger has to say. By sharing stories with each other, Cortes said understanding and action can arise. Thus, power would be given to the people and not to the candidates.

I met Rev. Cheryl Thomas of Calvary Baptist Church in the press room. She said AMOS tackles the issues that affect people in the pews, i.e., the middle class and the working class. She added that AMOS helps to build leaders, noting she has “met such fine leaders through this organization. They’re in every church, in every pew.”

An AMOS participant through the First Christian Church, Bill Carlson volunteered for the arrangements committee for the issues conference. He told me he likes being part of the group because they not only talk about the issues, they also do research. He believes that change in the community can come about by talking with people and he can do that more through AMOS than as an individual.

Margaret Wright, of Making Connections, which provided lunch along with the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Outreach, said, “AMOS is doing a particularly good job of bringing together…interested persons who want to see social justice reform.”

The news release for the issues conference quotes Sally Boeckholt of First Unitarian Church. She said, “What we want people to understand is that once the lights, camera, and action of the caucuses are over in January, AMOS will still be here, in the heart of Iowa, talking to people about the everyday pressures they face and working for the common good.”

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa, a news publication emphasizing discussion of issues and the voices of women.

This is one of those quirky posts that adds to the legends of a city. The topic was requested by someone who reads this blog and also participates in the annual Bathroom Blogfest Oct. 28 - Nov. 2 on the same topic. Specifically, the topic is women’s restrooms.

Knowing where to go if about town and suddenly feeling the necessity of a restroom stop is important. I appreciate being able to make use of facilities if I have an hour walk ahead of me. In the heat of summer this information is especially desirable. When I am driving and feel the need to stop it is usually on or near an Interstate, which makes finding facilities easier than on the back roads.

Elegance is what I feel when I am at the Capitol. The restroom is airy. It has a chaise lounge and a private room for mothers nursing their infants. There is plenty of space between sinks to sit bags and papers, although the soap dispenser on the second sink rarely works. Best of all, the stalls are wide and deep which means I don’t have to lean over the toilet in order to close the door.

The Marriott’s restrooms also convey the essence of high class. The rooms are not large but they have separate areas for fixing hair, hemlines, and make-up. Other hotels that are popular with groups hosting luncheons and events include the Hotel Fort Des Moines and Embassy Suites. The former has similar touches in its restrooms as does the Marriott, but perhaps due to the darker interiors they do not seem as inviting as the Marriott’s. The latter’s restrooms are nice but more functionally-modern than the other two hotels’ facilities and the stalls are noticeably smaller.

For pure functionality, downtown there is the skywalk restroom at 7th and Locust. Wal-Mart in West Des Moines provides an option for bicyclists on the trail that runs beside Walnut Creek and for motorists. There is a nicer restroom in the skywalk but if you don’t know someone who works nearby, you might not find it. No, I am not going to share the location. I find myself enjoying restroom breaks as a respite from the noise of an office or a holiday shopping crowd and this is a generally quiet place.

On the topic of work and restrooms, it is not fun to need to use the indoor plumbing only to discover that someone has been using the room to spray her hair. Hair spray is an immediate asthma trigger for me. That means if I walk into a restroom before the air has been recycled, I must turn around and walk out if I don’t want to spend the rest of the day gasping for breath. Perfume isn’t pleasant to inhale, but at least that is only a short-term irritant in my case.

The least inviting restroom is at the Greyhound station on Keo. Not only are stalls small and the design institutional, the soap is difficult to wash off.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa and recognizes the historical role restrooms have played in political and corporate decision-making.

Technorati Tags: ladiesrooms, Bathroom Blogfest

Looking for some blues? Café Paradiso has a full list of events coming up. Joe and Vicki Price will be there November 16. They’re great folks and blues musicians.

Café Paradiso is located at 607 W. Broadway, Fairfield IA, approximately 115 miles southeast of Des Moines.

Here’s a couple of videos of Joe and Vicki taken at the River Roots Live event in Davenport earlier this year.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=E8-PDfTn-ik

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TEJfw8cmbP0

Alison Trombley provided the picture taken in May at The Silver City Blues Fest in Silver City, NM.

Chris Coleman and Josh Daines, candidates for the at-large city council seat in Des Moines, have different opinions on how tax increment financing (TIF) should be used. Coleman favors a generous use of the program and Daines wants a narrower use. After the candidates talked at a recent Drinking Liberally meeting, several young adults asked what TIF is.

Tax increment financing refers to the increment, or difference, in taxes that a high-end development will bring in compared to vacant or under-used land. That new revenue, not yet on a government’s books, can be used without changing current budget items. The new revenue can be used to reward developers for building and to add or to improve infrastructure (e.g., streets, sewers). It can also be used to build new public-use facilities (e.g., a science center or a playground). The increment only works if the current tax revenues are low. This means green space will be used in upper-income neighborhoods. However, the usual stated intent of TIF is to increase the revenue-generating power of blighted areas. Problems arise when what a city considers a blighted area is considered by residents to be non-subsidized affordable housing. Gentrification and eminent domain often are involved when TIF is used.

Proponents of TIF argue that it is better to use the financing tool and obtain some benefit than to leave land alone. Opponents of TIF argue that it is a give-away to developers and that the general public does not benefit sufficiently to continue using such financing. In reality, TIF may be used for improvements but the increment increase does not help to offset everybody else’s property tax or other local tax payments. This is because the difference between the pre-development tax and the post-development tax is used to pay the costs of development and to build the playgrounds or new streets. It is not used for general budget purposes. TIFs can stay in effect for upwards of 20 years.

There was a TIF area in the neighborhood where I lived in Minneapolis. The entire blighted area included four blocks: a surface parking lot, a construction company, an abandoned window factory, and an abandoned historical warehouse. The first two blocks with development plans were the parking lot and the construction company’s land. The construction company was moved to south of Minneapolis at considerable cost. Then the land was tested for contaminants and townhouses and affordable (80% median income) condominiums were begun. The housing market started sinking so the condominiums were redesigned into smaller units that could be rented as apartments. The two abandoned buildings continue to be abandoned and blighting the neighborhood, despite the fact that they were included in the TIF because they allowed the other blocks to be counted in a blighted area. Sherman Associates wanted the land where the construction company was. This is the same company that is looking at the land south of the railroad tracks in Des Moines, land with working businesses that the city wants used for housing.

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

If you celebrate Halloween as the gateway to the Christmas holidays, the Salvation Army resale shop on Euclid opposite Park Fair Mall has winter holiday decorations set out. On the other hand, if your idea of the holiday season is to hide away until January, this is going to be your last weekend without carols in the air. Your activity selections include the arts, politics, and general outdoor enjoyments.

Nine local artists, collectively known as Paintpushers, will have an opening at the Fitch Gallery on Saturday, October 27, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. (The Fitch is at 304 15th Street.) The show continues Monday through next Saturday.

The Wild Rose Independent Film Festival runs from Thursday, October 25 through Sunday, October 28 at the Fleur Cinema and Cafe (4545 Fleur Drive). Films will be screened on Thursday and Friday evenings and all day on Saturday. On Sunday, a documentary about participants in live action role playing (LARP) will be shown. Other highlights include a Saturday workshop by Lew Hunter on filmmaking, a workshop on documentary filmmaking, and a talk by Steve Schott, a producer of The Final Season, at the Award Ceremony.

If musical theater is your entertainment preference, Camelot is now in a short run at the Civic Center (221 Walnut Street) through October 28. There will be two performances on both Saturday and Sunday with evening shows only on Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday, October 27, a gathering at Nollen Plaza (3rd and Locust) at 4:00 p.m. and a symbolic procession of caskets to the Capitol West Plaza will be held as Des Moines’ groups participate in an International Day of Peace to End the War. A candlelight ceremony at the Capitol at 6:30 will end the event. I apologize to readers for not being able to cover the arrival in Des Moines of the traveling 9/11 exhibit earlier this week. I know many Iowans want to pay respect to the people who died as a result of the attacks at the World Trade Center as well as to the numerous soldiers who have given their lives in Iraq. We also cannot forget the sacrifices given during service in Afghanistan.

The Republican Party’s annual Reagan dinner will be held at Hy-Vee Hall on Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. You can chat with your fellow diners about the AMOS issues conference being held earlier in the day, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m, at Waveland Hall at Plymouth Congregational Church (42nd at Ingersoll).

This is the last Sunday to ride DART buses for free and the last weekend to ride free when you board with your bicycle. Leaves are still colorful and the weekend forecast is for mostly sunny skies and cool temperatures. Beggar’s Night, the Des Moines version of Halloween trick and treating, will be held on Tuesday, October 30 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Have you carved your pumpkins and decoracted your yard?.

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

The fall Citizen Transportation Congress was held on October 23, 2007, at Roosevelt High School. This public meeting occurs in May and in October and is hosted by the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (DMAMPO). I chanced upon the event when I was at Roosevelt to teach a Community Education course.

Checking out the DMAMPO web site I discovered that there had been a public comment period, ending October 5, for input on the central Iowa bicycle-pedestrian transportation plan. There also had been an October 16 public input meeting on the Fiscal Year 2008-2011 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP project listed on the public notice is to widen Route R63 from Route G24 to the southern limits of the Des Moines. The bicycle-pedestrian meeting was for the draft plan and sought to answer questions such as: Do the goals and objectives address your priorities? What issues(s) were not addressed? Do you have concerns, comments, or questions?

According to a pamphlet available at the congress, the DMAMPO has roundtables to work on issues of transit, freight, and bicycle-pedestrian. For example, the Des Moines airport is considered to be an inland port and thus there are issues involved with how to move freight in and out of that port. In addition to the roundtables the MPO has a traffic management advisory committee, a regional planning committee, and the Citizen Transportation Congress. A picture in the pamphlet of an earlier congress reveals the same few people as were at last night’s congress.

The DMAMPO is comprised of 19 communities: Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Dallas County, Des Moines, Grimes, Johnston, Mitchellville, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Polk County, Urbandale, Warren County, Waukee, West Des Moines, and Windsor Heights. As with most other growth and transportation entities in the state, the representatives to the DMAMPO are city council members, county supervisors, mayors, and an occasional non-elected city official. Chris Coleman, the incumbent at-large city councilor in Des Moines currently seeking re-election, and Brian Meyer, the Ward 4 city councilor seeking re-election, are part of the DMAMPO.

Coleman also is part of the Growth Scenario Task Force. The DMAMPO is looking at finalizing a 5-county growth plan and the transportation needs that go along with the growth up to the year 2035. As part of this project, a Stakeholders Working Group is being created. According to a slide presentation at last night’s congress, composition of the working group is currently being decided by committees. It is anticipated that the group will be formed and begin to meet in January 2008. The group will consist of stakeholders representing general issues in addition to the specific areas of agriculture, historic preservation, wildlife and natural resources, housing and economic development, public policy, waste management, and water management.

DART also held its monthly meeting on October 23. According to a Des Moines Register article on October 24 the DART board is considering light rail for either downtown, to Ankeny, or along University Avenue.
Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.