Local Editor, Cedar Falls
Patch Email: alison.gowans@patch.com
Facebook.com/CedarFallsPatch
Twitter.com/CedarFallsPatch
Phone: 319-850-3474
I'm a born and raised resident of this town.
After graduating from Cedar Falls High School, I studied journalism and international studies at the University of Iowa and spent some time as a reporting intern at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. After a brief stint in Minneapolis, I took off for the Peace Corps.
Two years as a community health education volunteer in Swaziland, a tiny country in Southern Africa, broadened my horizons and my perspective. But I missed home - the green summers, vibrant fall leaves and the promise of spring after a long winter. (Not so much the winter itself.)
I missed the people of this place, family and friends and neighbors. It was time to come home, and what better way to reintegrate into my community than through Patch? So here I am, wondering what the next few years will bring.
Beliefs
At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable.
Politics
The current acerbic political climate disheartens me. At this point I'm less concerned with parties and labels than with intent and ideas. If someone can convince me they have the country's best interests at heart and of the merit of their policies, they'll probably have my vote. I'm a registered Independent.
Religion
I believe in God. I'm still working out the details of what that belief entails and probably will be for the rest of my life.
Movie reviews and movie times for theaters in Cedar Falls, including "The Conjuring" and "The Heat," and "Lone Ranger." Let Patch help you decide what you're going to see this weekend.
The group, the 3-to-5-year-old class at the University of Northern Iowa's Child Development Center, set up their wares in front of Maucker Union Thursday morning.
Last year, his friends organized a Glow Stick 5K Run fundraiser for injured sailor Taylor Morris. This year, Morris and his girlfriend Danielle Kelly want to use the event to pay that support forward to someone else in the community.
The following information was provided by the Marion Police. It does not indicate a conviction.
The University of Northern Iowa and the Iowa High School Athletic Association have agreed to a five-year extension of the contract for the state football playoff semifinals and finals in the UNI-Dome.
A person in distress doesn't look like the movies, the U.S. Coast Guard reports. There have been four apparent drowning deaths in Black Hawk County this July.
Authorities said the man had been tubing with friends in the Cedar River Sunday when the tube flipped over after being caught in a river current.
The following information was provided by the Marion Police. It does not indicate a conviction.
The following information was provided by the Marion police. It does not indicate a conviction.
Did you guess where this week's mystery photo was taken?
This week's featured home: 4275 Rec Drive in Marion.
Mosquitoes are more attracted to people with certain blood types among other factors, the Smithsonian reports.
Stargazers will be able to see Saturn's rings very clearly for the first time since 2006.
The following information was provided by the Cedar Falls Police. It does not indicate a conviction.
