The Elbert Files

The first time I met Des Moines Register columnist and RAGBRAI founder Donald Kaul was Monday, June 14, 1971.

I was between journalism jobs, working on a construction crew, burying telephone cable near Williamsburg, Iowa, …

For more than a century, a massive, six-story building at 1800 Grand Ave. has marked the west end of downtown.

The building straddles the southwest corner of Grand Avenue’s iconic intersection with Fleur Drive and …

I noticed around sixth or seventh grade that I was having trouble seeing the blackboard.

Instead of telling anyone, I squinted until I discovered that pulling the skin around my eye socket would warp my …

In the early hours of June 28, 1924, a major storm passed through Des Moines. Most news reports called it a tornado. If it was, it was the only tornado in recorded history to ever …

Economist Jim Paulsen is no fan of high interest rates.

The titles of two recent Paulsen Perspectives newsletters say it all.

“10-Year Treasury Yield is Too High,” proclaims his June 5 newsletter. “The Federal Reserve …

The name Caitlin Clark has appeared so often in the Wall Street Journal this year that regular subscribers might be tempted to think of her as a new crypto currency or artificial intelligence product. Like …

In case you haven’t noticed, Iowa’s economy is struggling. We’re not in a recession, but things have been trending down for some time.

Farm commodity prices are sagging, and our minimum wage is among the …

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical “Hamilton” ends with these lines: “Who lives; who dies? Who tells your story?”

Most history is told from the viewpoint of winners.

I’ve become increasingly aware of this adage in recent …

My friend K.C. was admiring artist Richard Serra’s “Five Plate Pentagon” in the southeast corner of the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

As I approached, he mumbled something about the Legislature needing to grow …