Iowa Round-Up

short items from around the state

Apr 02, 2021

Introducing a new feature for our Potluck column: the Iowa Round-Up.

This first one features news about Lake Okoboji real estate, the marriage of a former Iowa Attorney General, and a round-up of links to local news content.

Kirk Stauss, 73, has been a realtor for much of his adult life, so he’s experienced the ups and downs of property sales. He’s never before seen what’s happening today in the Iowa Great Lakes area.

Stauss reports there are just three waterfront homes for sale on West Okoboji Lake, one on East Lake, and one on Big Spirit Lake. In years past, there would be 25 or more for sale at this time of year.

“Usually, the weekend after the ice goes out, I don’t have enough hours in the day,” said Stauss,” It’s like Spring Break for adults. People start looking. Now, I don’t have anything to show them. It’s not that there isn’t interest.”

With about 150 agents in the area, well, do the math.

Stauss sends video updates to about 3,000 recipients. These amateur vignettes feature local happenings, including one this week reporting that the ice is gone and hoists are going in. Here’s a link to Stauss’s videos.

Here’s one he did in MAY of last year when the ice was still present:

So you don’t have a cool $1mm for a summer home with a lake view, but hanker for a weekend getaway? Maybe you’re not wild about a growing carpet of boats taking over on any given weekend?

Check out this listing near Creston, a little over an hour’s drive from Des Moines. For $170,000, you can buy 34 acres of land with a hilltop view of 12 Mile Lake.

Back in the day, if I’d had the money, I would have loved to put a little cabin on this place. We would have had great potlucks out there.

Call Chuck Johnson: Kiloterra sells farmland and hunting properties. He is from Missouri but says “there’s no place on earth like Iowa for white-tail deer hunting.” He talked his wife into moving to central Iowa and started his brokerage in 2018.

Bonnie Campbell and Mark Hamilton are now married. Bonnie, an attorney, now associated with the Public Strategies Group, LPCA, was the first woman elected Iowa Attorney General, serving from 1991-1995. Mark is the owner of the Times-Citizen newspaper in Iowa Falls.

The couple has a home in downtown Des Moines. They married in 2018, so the marriage isn’t exactly news. But I figure some of you will be surprised.

Mark spent a college summer working in the back office for Senator Harold Hughes (served from 1969—1974) under the ‘loose leadership’ of Ed Campbell, Bonnie’s late husband. Bonnie worked in the front office.

After stints with Senator John Culver, Mark took off to Alaska and a walk-on job in the daily newspaper business.

Fast forward 30 years, Mark back in Iowa and Bonnie widowed, they started seeing each other.

“We easily headed to movies and dinners,” said Campbell. “After checking with Ed’s best friend, Bill Knapp, and mutual friend, Park Rinard, the marriage idea received a proper blessing.

“We are so lucky,” adds Campbell.

Central Iowa Digital Local News

First, subscribe to your local newspaper. Subscribe to as many as you can. Do NOT ditch your legacy newspaper. Please.

There are, however, a bunch of other sources of news and information targeting Des Moines and Iowa specifically. It’s amazing, actually.

The Iowa Capitol Dispatch lured three outstanding former Des Moines Register journalists under the leadership of Kathie Obradovich. Here’s the team, breaking news almost daily. It is a nonprofit organization supported by grants and donations.

Laura Belin provides extensive content covering Iowa politics from her position as a staunch Democrat. Subscribe to Bleeding Heartland. Belin is whip-smart and produces stories single-handly that might take three full-time reporters to match. She accepts donations, doesn’t seem to sleep, and knows her stuff.

Iowa Starting Line, founded by Pat Rynard, also focuses on the Iowa Democratic side of the aisle.

Axios picked Des Moines as one of the five local news and information sites. It is staffed by seasoned journalists Jason Clayworth and Linh Ta. About AXIOS. How they make money.

Iowa Starting Line, founded by Pat Rynard

Pat Rynard founded Iowa Starting Line in 2015. He’s a former Democratic party staffer, so he can explain what’s going on in politics from behind the curtain. His robust reporting, which included a staff of five during the lead-up to the Iowa Caucus. This business model includes donations and advertising. They also offer podcasts featuring in-depth interviews of political leaders.

Carroll, Greene, Crawford, and Buena Vista counties.

The newest out-of-the-box endeavor in preserving local news offerings is the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation. The goal is to raise funds to provide supplemental support to independent or family-owned newspapers in Carroll, Greene, Crawford, and Buena Vista counties. Unlike the digital news providers listed above, this is a nonprofit organization created to accept donations from those who want to support and preserve local journalism. As the population declines and personal shopping moves online, these local newspaper leaders are looking for innovative ways to serve their local communities. If you have a spare $100-$100k, this, too, is a good cause.

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Editors Note: Consistent readers of Julie Gammack’s Potluck column might be thinking; she’s all over the place. Deeply personal essays, or political issues and funny stuff from her husband under the heading ‘Sh*t Richard Says.’ Now real estate? Gossip? Yep. That’s right. I am all over the place.

I hope you like the variety. Let me know? Julie

Is there a story within you? Join us for the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat and let us help you find your voice: https://okobojiwritersretreat.com