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.
More than a half dozen verified fundraisers on GoFundMe have raised more than $750,000 to help those affected by the mass shooting.
“Now bring us some figgy pudding; bring it right here.” After pumpkin spice Spam, the new iteration of canned meat may have been inevitable.
Before leftovers go bad, try these makeovers for cranberry sauce, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, green bean casserole and pie.
Mass shootings have risen sharply since 2014 — with 240, compared to 633 last year — and 2022 could be the deadliest year yet.
Frustrated with the demanding schedules and deep job cuts, railway workers say contracts don't resolve workers’ key quality-of-life issues.
Stores open on Thanksgiving were criticized both by workers who had to pull themselves away from family, and by consumers at large.
Artist finds a muse in cookies; dog named Van Gogh has more in common with the namesake artist than a missing ear; “Black Panther” inspires.
Fiona, born six weeks early at a fragile 29 pounds, is mating now. It’s normal, say Cincinnati Zoo officials, who worry she’s too young.
![Fiona, The Most Beloved Hippo In The World, Has A Beau [Video]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/ap/790386/20221118/111049/styles/patch_image/public/ap20023797189169-1___18110158393.jpg)
Channel your inner Clark Griswold. Tell us what you like about your neighbors’ holiday decorations, and what you wish they wouldn’t do.
![Do You Love Or Loathe Your Neighbor’s Holiday Display? [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/790386/20221118/103840/styles/patch_image/public/patch-ed-arlington-holiday-lights-ma-fisher-1-1___18103450982.jpg)
After the GOP won House control in the midterms, Democrats move quickly to enshrine same-sex and interracial marriage rights in federal law.
The bottom line for Americans is they should not delay mailing holiday cards and packages, even though the deadline is still weeks away.
Farm Bureau survey shows a 20 percent hike in the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner — but that was before national retailers cut turkey prices.
Under public scrutiny, hospitals have reduced falls, infections and incidents where instruments were left in a patient’s body, report says.
2022 is expected to be the third-busiest Thanksgiving travel weekend in history with 54.6 million travelers — 49 million on the roads.
For the first time in 13 years, U.S. News & World Report considered weekend staffing and rates of infections requiring hospitalization.
Think “shrinkflation” on portion sizes. Change the menu. And stop preparing sides no one eats and you'll end up throwing away a week later.
A mission to help police better serve people on the autism spectrum; Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award; lifting up kids with cancer.
Some people think tipping is out of control in the pandemic era, but others continue to tip, sometimes adding as much as the original bill.
![Tipping People ‘Just For Doing Their Job’ Strikes A Nerve [Block Talk]](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/getty/790386/20221111/010253/styles/patch_image/public/gettyimages-938547524___11125757323.jpg)
The Biden administration paused applications for the student loan forgiveness program after a federal court judge in Texas struck it down.
Originally Armistice Day, Veterans Day is a chance to talk to kids about war. “Read the room” before thanking a vet and more things to know.
