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.
For some, pumpkin spice means hearth and home. For others, it’s “a blight on humanity and an assault on good taste” and marketing gone amok.
Munich’s big Oktoberfest celebration starts this weekend, but they’re already underway in the United States and will continue for weeks.
The High Holy Days start with Rosh Hashanah, which begins Friday and ends Sunday. Yom Kippur is observed Sept. 24-25.
The poverty measure based on the cost of essential items like food and housing shot up to 12.4 percent, the Census Bureau reported.
Last year, baby boomers represented 39 percent of homebuyers, often picking up roots to live closer to family and friends, a report shows.
Take a road trip to Sandwich and soak up its small-town charm — and, if you time it right, an old-fashioned county fair.
A prolonged heat spell could cause leaves to be dull in about a dozen states, but chances for vibrant fall foliage are good in others.
To see the comet, look toward the northeastern horizon about 90 minutes before dawn. If you have a decent pair of binoculars, grab them.
In a new analysis, the Census Bureau dives into why the “candidate pool” is deep in some “marriage markets” but shallow in others.
The bottom line on neighborhood smoking etiquette, one reader said: “Personal freedoms end when they negatively impact others’ well-being.”
![Secondhand Weed Smoke: Chill Out, But Be Courteous, Too [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20230908/011106/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-525897103___08125642871.jpg)
Moderna says its COVID-19 booster, which will be considered for approval by the FDA on Friday, is effective against a concerning new strain.
Rhode Island has several roadside oddities and attractions, including an animal topiary garden and the Narragansett Indian Monument.
SAVE offers some of the most lenient terms ever, and interest won’t continue to accrue as long as borrowers make regular payments.
A former barn, a church and a schoolhouse are transformed into unique homes equipped for modern living but preserving original details.
The recalls affect a Banquet frozen chicken strips meal distributed nationwide and Hillshire sausage product distributed in seven states.
From homelessness to pizza chain owner; at 108, Vera Punk looks forward; Pigpig is back; Lotus the cat settles in with Sarah Jessica Parker.
Will current prices hold through the weekend? Typically, gas costs go down with demand as summer winds down. That didn’t happen this year.
Where do personal freedoms end and neighborhood etiquette begin when it comes to secondhand smoke, whether from legal weed or tobacco?
![Secondhand Smoke Wars: When Skunky Smoke Wafts Your Way [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/shutterstock/790386/20230831/061647/styles/patch_image/public/shutterstock-2267532883___31181502687.jpg)
Most but not all of North America will be snowy and cold this winter, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s 2024 winter forecast.
Pumpkin spice in food is so ordinary. The flavor is in toothpaste and the scent is in bum wipes. Pumpkin spice is even an engagement ring.
