Newspapers Iowa

James Gannon announced Friday that he plans to leave his job as editor of the Des Moines Register by the end of this year to become a columnist and Washington bureau chief for the the Detroit News. Gannon, 49, played a high-profile role in Iowa politics, organizing and moderating the Iowa presidential candidate debates before the state's political caucuses in 1980, 1984 and this year.

When Chuck Offenburger grew up in the small southwest Iowa town of Shenandoah, the mighty Des Moines Register was more than a daily thump on the front porch. It was like a beacon luring the young writer toward Iowa's big-time, prestige journalism. So when he joined the Register in 1972 and became a columnist five years later, Offenburger had "stars in my eyes" about the Register's state and national reputation.

With the Iowa caucuses only a week away and the presidential candidates grasping for momentum, Illinois Sen. Paul Simon got a boost Sunday when he was endorsed by the Des Moines Register, Iowa's most influential newspaper. On the Republican side, the paper also backed Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, but the surprise endorsement is likely to have more impact on Simon's fortunes, which had been lagging a bit lately.

A Sherman Oaks mother and nine friends from as far away as New York pooled $1,179.99 to run a quarter-page newspaper ad Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, asking the biological parents of a 2-year-old girl to give up their battle for custody of her. The ad, on the state page of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, is in the form of a letter asking Daniel and Cara Schmidt of Blairstown in eastern Iowa to let their daughter come to them on her own terms.

Rep. Doug Bosco (D-Calif) says he might sue a country editor who admits he printed a phony interview between the lawmaker and a Des Moines Register political reporter. Bosco said his offices in Santa Rosa and Washington were swamped with telephone calls from constituents shocked to read last week's story headlined "Bosco to oil protesters: You're stupid and unpatriotic."

When Chuck Offenburger grew up in the small southwest Iowa town of Shenandoah, the mighty Des Moines Register was more than a daily thump on the front porch. It was like a beacon luring the young writer toward Iowa's big-time, prestige journalism. So when he joined the Register in 1972 and became a columnist five years later, Offenburger had "stars in my eyes" about the Register's state and national reputation.

A Sherman Oaks mother and nine friends from as far away as New York pooled $1,179.99 to run a quarter-page newspaper ad Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, asking the biological parents of a 2-year-old girl to give up their battle for custody of her. The ad, on the state page of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, is in the form of a letter asking Daniel and Cara Schmidt of Blairstown in eastern Iowa to let their daughter come to them on her own terms.

The war against illegal drugs and drug dealers in this Mississippi River town has fostered an unusual alliance between the local newspaper and police while triggering debate over the propriety of the partnership. Declaring that "we have had enough of drugs, enough of users and dealers, enough of the whole sordid business," the Clinton Herald asked its readers to become police informants.

Lee Enterprises Inc. is buying Pulitzer Inc. -- publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch founded by famed newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer -- in a $1.46-billion deal that Lee says would give it the nation's fourth-biggest roster of daily newspapers. Davenport, Iowa-based Lee said the acquisition would make the company fourth in numbers of U.S. daily newspapers with 58 dailies in 23 states. Lee has 44 daily newspapers in 19 states.

Alaska is rich in natural resources. But an Anchorage couple think one resource has been overlooked--men. So, to showcase the state's males and to attract more women to Alaska, where males outnumber females, publisher Susie Carter, her husband, Dave, and an all-female staff have begun a quarterly pictorial magazine, Alaska Men. The cover of the first edition this month is adorned by Dr. Peter Hackett, a medical researcher seen smiling under his fur hat.

The war against illegal drugs and drug dealers in this Mississippi River town has fostered an unusual alliance between the local newspaper and police while triggering debate over the propriety of the partnership. Declaring that "we have had enough of drugs, enough of users and dealers, enough of the whole sordid business," the Clinton Herald asked its readers to become police informants.

James Gannon announced Friday that he plans to leave his job as editor of the Des Moines Register by the end of this year to become a columnist and Washington bureau chief for the the Detroit News. Gannon, 49, played a high-profile role in Iowa politics, organizing and moderating the Iowa presidential candidate debates before the state's political caucuses in 1980, 1984 and this year.

Rep. Doug Bosco (D-Calif) says he might sue a country editor who admits he printed a phony interview between the lawmaker and a Des Moines Register political reporter. Bosco said his offices in Santa Rosa and Washington were swamped with telephone calls from constituents shocked to read last week's story headlined "Bosco to oil protesters: You're stupid and unpatriotic."

With the Iowa caucuses only a week away and the presidential candidates grasping for momentum, Illinois Sen. Paul Simon got a boost Sunday when he was endorsed by the Des Moines Register, Iowa's most influential newspaper. On the Republican side, the paper also backed Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, but the surprise endorsement is likely to have more impact on Simon's fortunes, which had been lagging a bit lately.

Under Bill Clinton, Democrats offered schools a new deal: more money for more accountability. Clinton increased federal spending on almost every form of educational initiative. But he also passed legislation requiring schools to demonstrate progress in improving student performance or face steadily escalating consequences. It was the schoolhouse equivalent of Clinton's approach to welfare reform: opportunity linked to responsibility.