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.
American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, United and others make face coverings optional, and Alaska Airlines keeps its ban on unruly passengers.
A Florida federal judge said the CDC exceeded its legal authority and failed to follow proper rule-making process with travel mask mandate.
“A true community hero” and three others who had to be sleuthed out; mom can forget her mortgage; history recalled; Gladstone’s fresh start.
From unkempt lawns to “junked car graveyards” to the “actual dirty,” Patch readers talk about what’s annoying them in the neighborhood.
AccuWeather predicts active weather systems will spin up more twisters this year than last — and outside the traditional "Tornado Alley."
A Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation counter lays it out starkly: A monthly household budget of $4,980 swelled to $8,130 under inflation.
To prevent salmonella illnesses, it’s best for kids to enjoy the Easter egg hunt, but not the dyed hard-boiled eggs themselves.
Some good news as the April 18 deadline to file 2021 federal income taxes approaches: Refunds are, on average, $333 higher, the IRS says.
Rabbits are the third-most surrendered animal at shelters, the bird flu is threatening backyard chickens, and salmonella is ever-present.
Thirteen states from Texas to Maine are in the path of totality in what’s being called the Great North American Eclipse on April 8, 2024.
Search for a WWII hero; Americans help Ukrainians here at home and abroad; and that one time rudeness turned out to be a good luck charm.
In recent months, 29 people have died in 58 “mass-overdose events” in seven U.S. cities, the nation's top drug enforcement official said.
Dangerous driving and roads built for fast-moving cars instead of slower-moving pedestrian traffic drive deadly trend, safety expert says.
Nearly 23 million chickens and other domestic poultry have died in an outbreak of avian influenza spread by wild birds.
A Capitol Police Twitter thread on “aggressive fox encounters” kept people entertained. In the fox's defense, was it just trying to fit in?
Raw oysters from a specific bay in British Columbia are behind the latest norovirus outbreak, but cases were already increasing.
The 2022 Allergy Capitals ranking of the 100-most populated metropolitan areas is based on seasonal pollen scores.
Summer will be hot across the nation, but some states will experience more brutal heat than others, according to the long-range prediction.
Thursday, April 7, is National Burrito Day, and many of your favorite Mexican restaurants are offering specials on tortilla wraps and bowls.
High-five for “High Five”; teen’s charity worth threefold in Ukraine; farmer trading cards; family reunion; the fox ran away with the dish.
