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.
Responsible for 21 percent of new COVID-19 cases, JN.1 is closely related to a mutation that raised concern among scientists this summer.
A handful of national retail chains will be open on Christmas, some will be closed on New Year’s Day, and many have reduced holiday hours.
Holiday leftovers must be used quickly before they spoil in the refrigerator. These recipes turn them into something different and amazing.
When you want the cocktails at your Christmas or New Year’s party to be memorable, these recipes offer new twists on some old favorites.
Google will pay $630 million to consumers, allow more competition in its Play app store, according to an antitrust settlement with states.
Three planets will be visible without the aid of binoculars or a telescope — Saturn, Jupiter and Venus — at the same time the moon is full.
Thursday may be the shortest day of the year, but the celestial holiday has been celebrated through the ages as the “birth of the sun.”
With a greenhouse, a bowling alley, and a basketball court with a digital scoreboard and retractable walls, there’s more to do than waltz.
Super Bowl tickets are one thing, the chance Chicago Bears gave girls another; solace for Navy SEAL’s family; a granddaughter’s inspiration.
An FDA official told Politico the applesauce contamination may have been “an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain.”
April 8’s Great American Eclipse highlights 2024 celestial events. Frequent aurora sightings are likely as the sun reaches “solar maximum.”
Air travel can be frustrating and a hassle, especially with full planes expected with record air travel between Christmas and New Year’s.
![Flying During The Holidays? What Are You Dreading Most? [Flightmares]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/ap/790386/20231214/123009/styles/patch_image/public/ap22353723468826___14122730113.jpg)
The neighbors are using the nearby on-street parking spaces and your holiday guests have nowhere to park. How do you talk to them about it?
![Your Neighbors Hog The Street Parking: What Do You Do? [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20231214/105059/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-46584454___14104419935.jpg)
Plucky kids test if Santa is real and ask for unusual gifts, including a “bushel of dead squirrels,” “skeleton guts” or “bladder control.”
Pharmacy closures were driven by opioid lawsuit settlement and less demand for COVID services; Target blamed organized retail crime.
Location matters with these three tiny homes — one on a historic ranch and two with fantastic access to water in prime vacation areas.
Dark, moonless skies make for near-perfect viewing conditions for the Geminids. At the peak, the meteors fly at a rate of about 120 an hour.
Most people plan road trips, but the nation’s airports are gearing up for the busiest holiday travel period in history, according to AAA.
Bar sale is bitterseet; lights go up with a little help from friends; a Christmas party of self-checkout “employees,“ life-saving “plunger.”
“Who are we to say what our neighbors can and cannot display?” said a Patch reader who claims to be Santa. “Their house, their tastes.”
![Neighborhood Holiday Lights And The Art Of Keeping Quiet [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20231207/120210/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-1876871347___07120114740.jpg)