QUEEN OF PARKS & REC VOLUNTEERS April is a busy month for Des Moines Parks and Recreation staff: Open park restrooms and water bubblers for the new year; hire seasonal staff for cemeteries, parks, and pools; and prepare athletic fields for baseball, softball, and soccer games. And it’s all hands on deck to organize more than 1,000 volunteers for the mid-April Trash Bash to clean up at 100 locations around the metro, including 55 in Des Moines. Since 2008, volunteers have pick

SKYWALK SECURITY UPDATE A downtown resident recently asked me about skywalk security, giving me an opportunity to check in with Senior Police Officer Steve Walters, the City’s eyes in the 4.1-mile network since June 2021. The skywalk is a safer and more enjoyable experience today than it was five years ago, Walters asserted. “I have downtown workers tell me this several times over the last year or so,” he told me. “This is not because of one person. It’s because of everyone w