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.
People have shown in the past they’re willing to do almost anything to acquire a Stanley, which officially drops Mother’s Day cups Thursday.
The cosmic eruption, which only happens every 80 years or so, could happen at any time in the Corona Borealis, or the Northern Crown.
With an early start to spring nationwide, the hunt is on for morels, which are among the most desired wild mushrooms in the world.
Treatment systems are expensive to install, and the first-ever national drinking water limit on PFAS could end up costing customers more.
President Joe Biden unveiled a new federal student loan cancellation proposal targeting borrowers for whom student debt is a major obstacle.
![Should Federal Student Loan Debt Be Forgiven? [Patch Survey]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/ap/790386/20240409/035352/styles/patch_image/public/ap24081507390710___09155211097.jpg)
Google searches for terms like “retina” and “photokeratitis” spike after millions of Americans stare at the sun in Monday’s total eclipse.
The fungus Massosphor cicadina, laced with the same chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms, causes “bizarre” behavior.
A Pennsylvania resident thought a helicopter was about to crash, and fully expected to look out her window and see it in a mangled heap.
A Florida man thinks space junk fell on his house; that may explain mysterious California lights, too. And junk email folder reveals $227K.
![Human Ashes, Bone Chips Smeared On Disney Ride [Weird News & Oddities]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/790386/20240405/023357/styles/patch_image/public/disneyland-minnie-mouse-anaheim-california-patch-renee-schiavone___05142314445.jpg)
The neighbor’s kids and your kids are pals, but they’re always hanging out at your house. Their parents never reciprocate. What do you do?
![Setting Boundaries If Neighbor Kids Won’t Go Home [Block Talk Survey]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20240404/062646/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-779142160___04182244363.jpg)
A La Niña climate pattern increases the chances or an intense Atlantic hurricane season, researchers at Colorado State University said.
Early weather forecasts for Monday’s total solar eclipse are mixed, but forecasting something as specific as cloud cover is difficult.
Falling space debris, whether from the space station or something else, crashed through two floors and narrowly missed a Florida man’s son.
A patient in Texas infected with bird flu is the first person in the U.S. to contract the illness from cattle, according to ag officials.
Should a 75-year-old with a bad back have to scrape a bundt cake off his driveway in what one reader called society’s “not it” game?
![Just Pick Up Strewn Trash; But, Yes, People Are Slobs [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20240328/062505/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-1207638289___28182413062.jpg)
A cargo ship rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the span to collapse and presumably killing six construction workers.
Two broods of periodical cicadas — evolutionary superstars in the bug world — will emerge from the ground, potentially in the trillions.
With higher fees to check baggage, airlines should offer lower ticket prices, meals on planes and more legroom, one reader told us.
![‘A Ticket For My Luggage,’ Are You Kidding Me? [Flightmares]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20240327/042220/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-1037773768___27162007416.jpg)
In general, Patch survey respondents pushed hard on the gas pedal, but about 2 in 10 said their next car is likely to be an EV or hybrid.
April skywatching highlights include the total solar eclipse, a comet, the pink moon, and the Lyrid and Eta Aquariid meteor showers.
