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.
Justice Samuel Alito's draft majority opinion is subject to change before the Supreme Court rules on an abortion rights case this summer.
Politico, which obtained a draft of the majority opinion, called it "a full-throated, unflinching repudiation" of the 1973 decision.
Pandemic supply-chain issues coupled with a massive baby formula recall couple to send out-of-stock rate skyrocketing.
It’s spring. Our collection of Good News Across America stories this week is full of frivolity, spontaneity and unforgettable moments.
Pam and Jeremy’s plan for a spur-of-the-moment wedding in Las Vegas fell through. The spur-of-the-moment wedding on Southwest was better.
Sometimes spelled “Eta Aquarids,” the long-running meteor shower offers the last chance to see shooting star shows until late July.
Make a paper basket and fill it with spring flowers. Then drop it at the door of someone you care about, and dart away before you're seen.
Teachers are closing out one of the toughest school years many of them can remember. DonorsChoose is one of the best ways to help them.
AccuWeather expects it to be wet and stormy in the Midwest and Northeast, soggy in the Southeast, and dry in the West and Northwest.
Some Patch readers want friendly neighbors. Others want them to keep to themselves. Neighbors with in-ground swimming pools are good, too.
About 6.3 million pets enter shelters every year, but some never make it out. About 920,000 cats and dogs are euthanized every year.
Antisemitic attacks on Jews increased in May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas. Domestic extremist attacks were also up, the ADL said.
The two brightest planets, Jupiter and Venus, join Saturn and Mars for a four-planet parade that will shine through the end of April.
Mother's Day 2022 spending is expected to top $31.7 billion, driven by jewelry purchases and brunch or dinner out somewhere special.
A veteran’s “enduring hope” of optimism; a week of marathons for vets; a beautiful but stinky arrival; eaglets have landed; Easter message.
Mother’s Day reservations are up 39 percent over pre-pandemic 2019, according to OpenTable, which compiled the best brunch spots list.
To feed yourself for a year, you'll need 15 to 20 bean and potato plants, five tomato plants and 15 corn plants, according to one estimate.
What would you do if your neighbors decided not to mow in May to give bees a fighting chance? It could happen as "No Mow May" takes root.
"Invest In Our Planet" events focus on the existential crisis of climate change; here are five practical steps you can take to address it.
The ancient Lyrid meteor shower, known to produce exceptionally bright fireballs with dust trails that last for several seconds, nears peak.
