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.
The proposal doesn’t require a specific number of electric vehicles be sold every year, instead mandating limits on greenhouse gasses.
These earthy springtime delicacies can fetch $400 or more a pound. But they are free if you’re lucky enough to find them 0n your own.
Thirteen states are in the path of totality for the April 8, 2024, event — the party of a lifetime for eclipse chasers.
Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassan virus disease and ehrlichiosis are among tick-borne diseases causing serious illnesses.
Some — but not all — taxpayers in California, Georgia and Alabama have until Oct. 16 to file their 2022 federal income tax returns.
How one kind act inspired another; a journey to the gong; attitude is everything; flower blooms in putrid glory; a timely Easter message.
Rising prices reflect demand for Easter, whether eggs are dyed and hidden, deviled or used in another dish. How long is it safe to eat them?
In the tech sector, which hired aggressively during the pandemic, Q1 job cuts were a staggering 38,487 percent higher than in Q1 2022.
“It’s the greatest thing ever,” one reader says of “curb mining.” Others concur, but point out a difference between usable items and junk.
![If It’s On The Curb Or Stoop, It's Yours — Mostly: [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/getty/790386/20230405/075536/styles/patch_image/public/gettyimages-184851647___05195138351.jpg)
We compared monthly rent costs on similarly sized 1-bedroom units in some of the trendiest neighborhoods in America’s biggest cities.
In the United States, 735 people made Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires. Collectively, they are worth $4.5 trillion.
Of the 150 or so snake species in North America, 90 percent are harmless. Copperheads, cottonmouths, coral snakes and rattlers are not.
From mid-April through the end of the month, head outside to see Lyrid and Eta Aquariid meteors — and perhaps a fireball or two.
Three independent studies suggest a common childhood virus — adeno-associated virus 2 — may be the culprit behind the hepatitis outbreak.
As curb shopping grows in popularity — whether to stretch budgets or reduce environmental and consumerism footprints — what are the rules?
![‘Curb Mining’ And ‘Stooping’: What Crosses The Line? [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/getty/790386/20230330/091720/styles/patch_image/public/gettyimages-532392988___30210717841.jpg)
You need three bedrooms and a back yard to play in, but how much will that home cost in a housing market still sorting out its challenges?
An expected transition to El Nino points to a normal Atlantic hurricane season, but other factors influence AccuWeather forecast, too.
The lifeguard shortage that kept a third of the nation’s 309,000 public pools closed or open only part-time last year appears back in 2023.
A product half the country must use has long been taxed, an inequity that state governments are fixing in a piecemeal fashion.
A “hole” in the sun already has pushed the ethereal northern lights to the central U.S. and more aurora displays are possible this weekend.
