How to contact me: beth.dalbey@patch.com
Beth Dalbey, a longtime award-winning community journalist, is Patch’s national editor. She has been with Patch since 2011 when she launched sites in Iowa and provided national Iowa Caucus and swing-state general election coverage. She worked as a regional manager before moving to the national desk in 2017. Throughout her time at Patch, she has reported and written about local topics of national interest and is currently focusing on exclusive Patch content, including Block Talk, an only-on-Patch neighborhood etiquette column for which readers supply advice.
Dalbey and the newspapers she has edited have earned numerous awards for news, feature and government coverage, editorial and column writing, and overall general excellence from the Iowa Newspaper Association, the National Newspaper Association and the Associated Press Media Editors. In 1992 in Iowa, she led the weekly Dallas County News to win the INA's prestigious Newspaper of the Year award, competing against metro newspapers many times its size. She was the youngest recipient ever of the INA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1994. At Patch, she received the Todd Richissin Award for Excellence in Reporting and Writing for the “Menace of Bullies” project.
In Iowa, Dalbey’s byline has also appeared in the Fairfield Daily Ledger, where she was editor for five years; and in the Des Moines Business Record, Cityview, dsm magazine and other publications under the umbrella of Business Publications Corp., where she was the editorial director for several years. Dalbey also freelanced for the Des Moines Register and other print and digital publications
Dalbey grew up in Missouri and majored in journalism at Northwest Missouri State University. Except for a three-year stint as communications editor for a scientific institute doing ape language research, she has spent her entire career in community journalism. At the former Great Ape Trust of Iowa, she wrote about the world-famous resident bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha.
There’s nothing to look up at when the winter solstice arrives, but if you do you may see Ursid meteors from 2024’s last shooting star show.
Half a million power chargers were recalled because they can catch fire, and a weight-loss supplement tested positive for toxic oleander.
![2.6M Stanley Travel Mugs Recalled Due To Burn Risk [Recall Roundup]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/790386/20241219/101059/styles/patch_image/public/gustavo-frazao-product-recall-sign-shutterstock-251746651___19220855877.jpg)
If you could change one thing about your neighborhood or community, what would it be?
![What Do You Wish Were Different In Your Neighborhood? [Survey]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20241219/071640/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-2151024933___19191538161.jpg)
Double-digit increases in the cost of auto insurance over the past two years are complicating efforts to tame inflation.
Nearly a dozen Eastern states have reported drones buzzing overhead, whether alone or in a cluster. Some are as large as an SUV.
After a record 205 children, and perhaps more than 700, died of the flu last season, the low vaccination rate is worrisome to public health
No holiday tradition symbolizes the joy of season quite like caroling, and readers say they’d like to see it come back.
![What Community Holiday Traditions Should Be Brought Back? [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20241213/034649/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-1781598338___13154041868.jpg)
It is no longer voluntary for dairy farmers to submit raw milk samples for testing under a new USDA strategy to stop the spread of bird flu.
Santa gets stuck on the side of a tall building; irate over “lemon,” man crashes car through dealership door hours after buying it.
![Mysterious Drones Over NE And ‘Santa-Antics’ [Weird News & Oddities]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20241212/062010/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-2494583719___12175843386.jpg)
Fall River, Massachusetts, police said they rescued a man who hid from them in a chimney and arrested another person “with less theatrics.”
![‘Santa-Antics’: MA Man Fleeing Police Gets Stuck In Chimney [Video]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/790386/20241212/010311/styles/patch_image/public/fall-river-ma-police-body-cam___12124922951.jpg)
Clemency was granted to people who had been released from prison and sentenced to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From fine dining to fast casual to drive-thrus, multiple restaurants will be open during the holidays for people who don’t want to cook.
A customer “angry and upset” about Subaru he’d just bought vowed to slam it through the dealership door unless he got a refund, police said.
A record 119.3 million Americans are expected to travel to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and other holidays this year, mostly in their cars.
“You know what this moon is called?” a young girl asked her dad, a NASA planetary researcher, pitching a name that makes delightful sense.
Millions of people make resolutions every year, but some research shows only about 1 in 5 keep them. What does it take to be successful?
![What New Year’s Resolution Did You Keep? How Did You Do It? [Survey]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20241211/093716/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-2381882195___11093451084.jpg)
The Geminids, which produce about 120 shooting stars an hour, are so fast and bright that they may outshine the approaching full cold moon.
A curious looking deer with curious habits earns his name, Special. And it’s a super special surprise when Daddy comes marching home.
Massive cucumber recall expands to more states because of salmonella risk; recalled gadgets sold on Amazon can cause burns and start fires.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street” are favorites; whether “Die Hard” is a holiday film remains unsettled.
![The 10 Best Christmas Movies According To Patch Readers [Survey]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20241205/084029/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-1846257331___05203449243.jpg)