Axios Des Moines

September 09, 2021
Hey, Thursday! High of 79.
🥤 Do you say flippy cup or flip cup? (And can you tell we're ready for Saturday?)
🚨 Election watch: Democratic state Sen. Pam Jochum is considering a run for governor, she told the Register.
Today's Smart Brevity™ count is 831 words — a 3.5-minute read.
1 big thing: Trump's rally and Planned Parenthood's fundraiser
Former President Donald Trump speaking at a Marshalltown rally in January, 2016. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Former President Trump and Planned Parenthood have one thing in common: They’ll both be on Iowa State Fairgrounds on Oct. 9.
What's happening: Trump is holding a rally at 7pm, just an hour after a fall book sale to benefit the group that the former president's administration took aim at while in office.
- While there's a gap between the two events, there's expected to be overlap as Trump supporters make their way to the fairgrounds early.
Why it matters: Trump's rallies are a tinderbox that have been linked to violence, including the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
- We're not aware of any safety warnings for either event. But cities that hosted Trump rallies prior to the 2016 election saw an average of 2.3 more assaults reported on the day of the event compared to a typical day, according to a 2018 study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Trump has been criticized for making statements that support aggression against his detractors, including an offer to pay legal fees of a man accused of punching a protester in 2016.
Details: Planned Parenthood, which secured their event at the 445-acre fairgrounds first, will be holding their book sale on its southwest side, at the 4-H building.
- The specific location of the Trump rally hasn't been announced. Eric Branstad, a senior advisor for Trump's Save America PAC, told Axios Wednesday that he believes the event will be on the fairgrounds' far north side.
What they're saying: Save America officials were not aware of the reproductive health care nonprofit's event prior to scheduling the rally, and they don't believe it'll be a problem, Branstad said.
- Organizers for both events are working with Iowa State Fair police for security, while Trump's rally will also have Secret Service, fair spokesperson Mindy Williamson told Jason yesterday.
2. 🥃 Check out DSM's new speakeasy
Image courtesy of Brian Rorris/Alleged Lee's
Quinton's Bar & Deli is reopening its East Village location next week and its owners have a bonus surprise: They're also launching a new speakeasy.
What's happening: Alleged Lee's will open Oct. 1 next to Quinton's, following a ten-month renovation that divided the bar.
The tasty intrigue: The focus of the speakeasy — decorated with art from Iowa's Prohibition years — will be whiskey and bourbon.
- Plus, an ornate, hand-carved bar salvaged from a ballroom in Pittsburg will help give the space that nostalgic feel.
What else: Alleged Lee's will share bathrooms with Quinton's, but the two bars will have their own entrances.
- They'll also both have garage door windows that open to the outside.
⏰ Quinton's, 506 E. Grand Ave. Open daily, 11am-2am. (Kitchen closes at 10pm.)
- Alleged Lee's, 510 E. Grand Ave. Open 4pm-2am Monday-Thursday; 2pm-2am Friday-Sunday.
3. Milk? Check. Treadmill? Check.
Carlya Watkins, a cashier at Hy-Vee in New Hope, Minnesota. Photo: Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images
You'll soon be able to order a treadmill while grocery shopping.
- A select number of Hy-Vee stores will feature fitness equipment showrooms that customers can try before they buy.
Driving the news: The grocery chain is planning to open its first fitness showroom in Iowa, at the new Grimes store opening Sept. 14.
Details: Hy-Vee will offer treadmills, elliptical machines, exercise bikes and other equipment through a partnership with Wisconsin-based Johnson Fitness & Wellness.
- Customers can use a kiosk and QR codes in the showroom to order directly from the exercise equipment company.
- Hy-Vee hasn't yet disclosed how many other showrooms are planned — or where they'll be located.
💭 Thought bubble: This isn't Hy-Vee's first non-grocery venture, and certainly not its last.
- Maybe they'll give Walmart a run for its money?
4. Hospitalizations continue to tick up

Iowa's COVID-19 hospitalization numbers increased this week to 578, per Tuesday's data release, compared to 524 the week before, the Register reports.
- Daily hospitalization rates (110, as of Sept. 6) are similar to our numbers in January, before vaccinations became widely available.
Our number of new COVID-19 cases also ticked up this week, but only marginally compared to last week — 8,404 versus 8,308 the week before.
- That averages to 1,201 new daily cases.
5. 💩 Ask Axios: Eau de Des Moines edition
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Welcome to another edition of Ask Axios, where reader Tyler Weig, of East Village, wrote us:
- "Any word on the smells that continue to emit over downtown Des Moines periodically? It's been happening for years and I can't believe the city allows it to continue."
Context: For those of you who are new around these parts, you may have wondered about that odd, corpse-like smell that blankets downtown, particularly the east side, at times.
Our answer: Here are some options of what it could be:
- The Darling International processing plant
- Pine Ridge Farms
- Wafting manure from outside Des Moines
- Nebraska fans
All jokes aside, residents have been complaining about the smell for more than a decade.
While a total of 106 odor complaints have been filed with the city this year, none of them have triggered an investigation. That occurs if there are ten calls within six hours.
- Public records show complaints include: "meat cooking," "sewage" and "putrid rotting."
- So rest assured, even as Des Moines grows, that sweet, sweet smell will likely linger.
👃 Shoutout: What name would you give DSM's "unique" smell?
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- For the record, we say flippy cup. (And we're great at it, too.)
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