Ross Wilburn of Ames vows to make the party reach out to working class and rural Iowans Author: Daniel Finney (WOI) Updated: 6:22 PM CST January 23, 2021
DES MOINES, Iowa Iowa Democratic Party members selected State Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, as their state party chairman in a virtual meeting of Saturday afternoon, making him the first Black person to lead the Iowa Democratic Party.
Wilburn, 56, represents central story county in the Iowa House. He works for Iowa State University as associate director for community economic development and diversity officer in the school’s extension service. Wilburn said he plans to resign from ISU and take a salary from the Iowa Democratic Party.
Southeastern Community College honors Martin Luther King Jr. s legacy with Contemplation
The Hawk Eye
WEST BURLINGTON The soulful sounds of jazz emanated from Southeastern Community College s Little Theater as a quartet gathered briefly to put on a live performance in observance of the legacy left behind by Martin Luther King Jr.
The piece, Contemplation, was written by McCoy Tyner in 1967, four years after four young girls were killed in the racially motivated bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The church had served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders and had a predominantly Black congregation.
Carroll-born and Manning-raised Mary Swander, a former poet laureate of Iowa and a prolific playwright and author with international reach, has launched an increasingly popular podcast spotlighting a wide spectrum of rural life, from the farming she knows deeply to cultural and social life, much of it involving eastern Iowaâs Amish.
Mary Swander, a Manning native and the former poet laureate of Iowa, is making a foray into the podcasting world.
âAgArts From Horse and Buggy Landâ â available for free at podcast platforms like iTunes and Spotify â has featured pieces on drive-in rural church services, livestock auctions and an online implement dealership.