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.
Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Mercury should be easy to spot in the pre-dawn parade of planets, but two other dim planets are more elusive.
The study demonstrates for the first time that regional diagnostic differences are not explained by variations in dementia risk levels.
Another Pennsylvania groundhog gains fame as a live prize in claw machine; celery that wasn’t celery and candy that wasn’t candy.
![Did ‘Doomsday Fish’ Predict Recent Earthquake? [Weird News & Oddities]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/790386/20240822/020244/styles/patch_image/public/oarfish___22135047355.jpg)
Do your neighbors party and play loud music all night, let their dogs bark, or have zero cares to give about the upkeep of their property?
![Annoying Neighbors: What Ticks You Off? [Block Talk Survey]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20240821/023936/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-1299304078___21143814902.jpg)
Using coupons, shopping sales and buying in bulk are proven strategies, but so is thinking about how you pay for groceries.
After Harris and Walz dished on the hotdish, we wondered what food tradition in your state might confuse people who live somewhere else.
![Minnesota Has The ‘Hotdish’; What’s Your State Famous For? [Survey]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20240819/061113/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-1274546074___19180856889.jpg)
Readers said getting the kids out of the car without delay is the code, but another pointed out “there are challenges you cannot see.”
![Entitled, Rude Parents Ruin School Drop-Off For Everyone [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20240816/042737/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-2401451187___16162247668.jpg)
DeWALT mowers can start and shut off on their own; winds may blow off BJ’s Wholesale gazebo roofs; Trader Joe’s candles may spark fires.
Food costs remain stubbornly high, but several fast-food and restaurant chains buck a national trend of passing costs on to customers.
With back-to-school season here, comes the dreaded classroom lice infestations. Here's what to do about it:
Monday’s full moon is a true blue moon. It is also the first of four consecutive supermoons — full moons that appear bigger and brighter.
A La Niña climate pattern is exppected to bring wet, cold weather to most of the country throughout winter, The Farmers’ Almanac forecasts.
Wastewater tests reflect a 13-week surge in positive COVID tests reported to the CDC to more than 17 percent, up from 0.3 percent in May.
About 100 children died in bus-related accidents in the 2022-23 school year. Many drivers simply ignore stop arm laws, safety officials say.
Also, visit Buena Vista, “America’s Front Porch,” and Albany, home of a rotating Ray Charles sculpture and important civil rights legacies.
Dragonfly swarms terrify, delight beachgoers; stay in Polly Pocket’s compact house; auction price as eye-popping as Princess Leia’s bikini.
![1-Ton Asphalt Roller Joyride; RFK Jr.’s Bear [Weird News & Oddities]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20240809/120415/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-1442625251___08235704979.jpg)
The school drop-off and pick-up lane is torture because of some parents. Does it have to be this painful? What constitutes proper etiquette?
![Does The School Drop-Off Lane Have To Be Torture? [Block Talk Survey]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20240808/060223/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-199125329___08180052598.jpg)
Ginger wins the prize among readers who answered Patch’s informal survey. She ordered cereal but got a hammer and hacksaw blade instead.
Parents are looking for coupons, deals and sales to save on what’s expected to be a $38.8m billion back-to-school shopping spree this year.
Up to 100 shooting stars an hour may be seen as the fireball-rich Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak. Is a meteor storm predicted?
