Nov. 19 Daily Umbrella: Michael Gartner on Bill Knapp; Hinterland announces expanded 2026 lineup; did you hear about the turkey

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Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025

Good morning to you!

Michael Gartner has been my boss, my business partner, my mentor and my friend. Through the years, he has written much in the pages of CITYVIEW, and, on occasion, he still does. I welcome all of it. He offered the following piece to me for CITYVIEW on the death of his friend, Bill Knapp. I asked him if I could run it first in the Daily Umbrella, and he agreed. It’s a wonderful tribute and another look at a man who gave so much to so many. - Shane

Remembering Bill Knapp

By Michael Gartner

One afternoon 50 years or so ago, when I was president of The Des Moines Register and Tribune, Bill Knapp called me.

“What are you doing?” he asked, and before I could answer, he said: “I’m on my way to pick you up. We need to raise $250,000 this afternoon to save Tiny Tots. I’ll explain in the car.”

He explained in the car. Tiny Tots was a nonprofit day-care center on the near-northside run by a wonderful but not very business-savvy woman named Evelyn Davis. It had some rundown space in a former school, and it was deeply in debt, which he had just discovered.

We made the rounds downtown. Knapp explained to a Principal executive that many of these kids came from single-mom families. “If Tiny Tots shuts down,” he said, “the moms stay home to take care of the kids. If the moms stay home, you lose a lot of good workers.” He argued to Dwight Swanson, I think, who then ran the utility, that he had to — just had to — forgive the $100,000 or more Tiny Tots owed in past utility bills, explaining the bad publicity if Tiny Tots had to shut down because the utility had cut off the heat. He explained to me that since we were raising the money, the Register and his company had to be big givers, too.

By the end of the day, debts were forgiven, the money was raised. Tiny Tots was saved.
That’s one Bill Knapp: Impulsive and persuasive problem solver, don’t stop till you’ve done the job. Don’t take “no” for an answer. Take care of the needy. Help kids.

* * *

About 20 years ago, he and I were having lunch at the Cub Club. He had had knee surgery, and something had gone wrong — an infection or something — and he had been in the hospital for a long time, in great pain.

“You know how sick I was?” he said. “I was so sick I wasn’t even thinking about real estate.” For Knapp, that was sick.

From scratch, he had built the largest real-estate company in Iowa. As he built it, he was focused on little else. He expected his agents to work as hard as he did — an impossibility — and to embrace his work ethic. He didn’t waste valuable time playing golf, and he didn’t want them to, either. (He later relented, and, in fact, took up the game.)

As he ventured into land development, he brought that same focus. And as he got interested in reviving downtown, he became just as passionate. (But he didn’t always get his way. The elder John Ruan — like Knapp, a bantamweight small-town boy who built his own empire, didn’t always see eye to eye with Knapp. The two could argue and curse each other in the back room for an hour, then agree on something and walk out, almost hand-in-hand, as if they’d just had a friendly beer. Both were great for Des Moines.)

That’s the second Bill Knapp: Ruthless is too strong a word, but clearly dedicated and ultra-competitive and strong-willed in business. He kept track of who crossed him, but he kept that list to himself. “I never let someone know I’m mad at him,” he said one day over lunch. “I just wait and eventually get even.”

* * *

He was a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. He was very close to Governor (and then Senator) Harold Hughes and to Governor Chet Culver. He was staunchly behind Fred Hubbell and was close to Tom and Ruth Harkin. He admired Tom Vilsack. It is hard to find a Democrat with a chance who didn’t have a big check or two from Knapp.

He was very close to John Mauro, the Polk County Democratic supervisor who, in effect, ran the county for a few terms. They were an odd couple with a genuine friendship — not just a politically convenient one. Knapp, with his luxurious homes, his Rolls-Royce and limousines, his costly clothes and millions of dollars, Mauro with his workingman’s viewpoints and his county salary and his avoidance of publicity and shunning of social events and the city’s power structure. But they had the same values, and their bond was strong — maybe because neither wanted anything from the other.

But there were exceptions. One time a generation or so ago, Knapp let it be known that he was for Terry Branstad for governor — one of the many times the Republican was elected, but the first time with Knapp’s backing.

About that time, Mauro and Knapp and I were having lunch at the Drake Diner, and Knapp was on the defensive. “Does your wife know about this?” Mauro asked, knowing that Susan Knapp was a big Democrat. How can you do this? You’ve always supported Democrats. Who’s next — Trump? (Or maybe it was another Republican name.) It was good-natured, but it was also merciless.

Knapp, who was developing some land in Madison County across the Raccoon River from West Des Moines, finally blurted out: “Goddammit, I’ve supported every single Democrat for governor every time, and I never got a thing. At least with this guy, I got a bridge.”

That was the third Bill Knapp: Solidly Democrat, extraordinarily generous with campaign contributions, a believer deep in his bones on gay marriage and abortion and civil rights and human rights — but a little practical sometimes when it came to real estate. Or bridges.

* * *

There were other Bill Knapps, of course. The boy who had a hardscrabble life growing up in the Depression in tiny Allerton, Iowa, in Wayne County. (Decades later, when Des Moines adopted the bland motto “A Surprising Place,” Knapp scoffed: “Hell, Allerton is a surprising place.”) The 17-year-old who joined the Navy and promptly was sent to Okinawa, where during the famous battle he ran a landing craft that ferried Marines to the beaches and brought back bodies of the dead. The grieving father whose cherished 48-year-old son died way too soon. The man who took an interest in Drake University, giving it millions, buying land around the university and cleaning it up to make it lively and safe, and leading major fund-raising efforts.

With his renovation of the Drake neighborhood, “he contributed more to the life and sustenance of Drake than any Drake president,” says a professor who taught there for years.

The hard-charging Knapp mellowed as he got older — the death of his son changed him profoundly — and giving away money wisely became almost as important to him as making a real-estate deal shrewdly. Though he never quit looking for those deals. He never seemed surprised at his success — he was a confident man — but he did seem surprised that he had lived so long.

And it was a long life. When Bill Knapp died at home on Saturday, he was 99 years old.

Michael Gartner was born and raised in Des Moines. He is 87 years old. Along the way, he has been a top editor at The Wall Street Journal, editor and president of The Des Moines Register, president of NBC News, majority owner of the Iowa Cubs and minority owner of Big Green Umbrella Media. In 1997 he won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing while at the Ames Tribune, where he was editor and co-owner.

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful Wednesday.

Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com

FROM KCCI: Hinterland announces expanded 2026 lineup, featuring Lorde, Mumford & Sons. A popular Iowa music festival has announced its lineup ahead of next year's event. Hinterland announced its 2026 lineup Tuesday morning, and the four-day event has some big names. Lorde will headline Friday, July 31, while Mumford & Sons take the stage Saturday, Aug. 1. The festival runs from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, Aug. 2. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Des Moines chef charged with sexual abuse and invasion of privacy. A Des Moines chef is facing sexual abuse charges after police say he allegedly assaulted a victim while she was sleeping. According to the Des Moines Police Department, in October the victim reported to police that in August 2023 she was sexually abused by Enosh Kelley, 55, while she was sleeping and incapacitated due to taking pain medications for a head injury. The DMPD also accuse Kelley of taking photos of the abuse. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Urbandale superintendent under investigation by Iowa Board of Educational Examiners. Urbandale Community School District Superintendent Dr. Rosalie Daca is under investigation by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, according to a note on her license. The note, dated Nov. 14, says the board found "probable cause" that Daca violated the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: Mexico rejects Trump’s offer of military strikes against cartels — again. Mexico’s president on Tuesday ruled out allowing U.S. strikes against cartels on Mexican soil, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was willing to do whatever it takes to stop drugs entering the U.S. “It’s not going to happen,” Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: Trump to decide on Epstein files release after Senate agrees to pass the legislation. Both the House and Senate acted decisively Tuesday to pass a bill forcing the Justice Department to release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: Food banks across Iowa say they met state donation goal within days of announcement. All five regional food banks across Iowa have raised enough money to split a $1 million state match announced by Governor Kim Reynolds. The requirement was announced on Nov. 1 to help Iowans who weren’t receiving their federal food assistance because of the partial federal government shutdown. Food banks reached their goals within a day or two of the governor’s announcement. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

We’ve got a slight rain chance on Friday. But most of the rainfall should miss us to the south. Otherwise variable cloud cover with highs in the 50s through at least next Monday.

For help with pre-approvals or refinancing, get in touch with Originating Branch Manager Carrie Hansen at carrie.mortgage.

The 2025 results: CITYVIEW's Best of Des Moines®

Best Local Dermatology Clinic

1. Dermatology P.C.

2. Greater Des Moines Dermatology

3. Ducharme Dermatology

See all of the results

Woebegone Wednesday
Mark Schatzker is the world's best food writer in our mind. He has investigated the nagging question of the post WWII world: What went wrong with the foods we raise? Here are some of his insights:

“Flavor is a chemical language, nature’s mother tongue. Bitterbrush talks to goats through tannins. Cotton leaves talk to wasps through terpenes, sesquiterpenes and alcohol. Fruit entices fruit eaters with its chemical bouquet. Even bacteria have a rudimentary ability to sense chemicals. But if flavor is a language, it’s a peculiar one. The words all mean something different depending if you are a goat or a caterpillar, if you have a parasite and what your body knows.”

According to Schatzker, humans have forgotten that language. We used to eat foods that were raised to exude flavor. Now we raise foods for yield, size, outward appearance and quick turnover — flavor is sacrificed. Our foods — think tomatoes, chicken, pork and strawberries — don't taste nearly as good as they did before WWII. That's deemed OK for many because chemists invented amazing artificial flavors to cover up the blandness of the foods. Pass the Ranch dressing, Colonel Sanders' 13 herbs and spices, the 14 flavors of nugget sauce and the Doritos.

Deals today
• Chelsea's Courtyard (100 MLK, Des Moines) has a Wednesday special 10 wings and two pints for $15.

• Istanbul Grill Cafe & Bakery (3281 100th St., Urbandale) has a Thursday special of $11.99 for a döner wrap with fries as well as $5 off döner plate which comes with Turkish salad and your choice of rice or bulgur.

• Hot beef sandwiches are a Thursday special at Club 2000.

• Maxie's (1311 Grand Ave., West Des Moines) Thursday special for $20.95 is half a fried chicken with potato, side of spaghetti and a salad. Lunch and dinner.

• Stan Dudley/Randy Ward Acoustic Duo play at Chamberlain Pub, Wesley on Grand at 5 p.m. today.

• Curbin' Cuisine (1325 S.W. Oralabor Road, Suite 200, Ankeny) offers $7 gyros today.

• Kids eat free on Wednesday at Short E's BBQ (8805 Chambray Blvd., Johnston).

• Fareway is offering $5 rotisserie chicken on Wednesdays. Other days they cost about $9.

• The Bistro at Iowa Culinary Institute is open for its fall season in Building 7 of Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny. Lunch will be served Wednesdays through Fridays till Dec. 5. $17 for a buffet or three course a la carte with a drink. 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Reservations required.

• Kelly's Little Nipper (1701 E. Grand Ave., Des Moines) offers any burger with a side for $10 on Wednesdays.

• Exile (1514 Walnut St., Des Moines) offers a $12 burger basket with fries and a beer on Wednesdays.

• Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines) offers $8 French toast or pancake breakfasts and $2 tacos, $9 wraps and $10 half pounds of wings on Wednesdays.

• Johnny's Italian Steakhouses have a chicken Madeira special on Wednesdays before 4 p.m., $15 including beverage.

• Club 2000 (422 Indianola Road, Des Moines) offers 10 wings for $10 on Wednesdays.

• Smoking Goat Pub (3015 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines) has a $10 classic burger and beer all day.

• Paula's (524 Elm, Valley Junction) has a Wednesday special beef stew with biscuit $13.50.

• Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St., West Des Moines) has all you can eat fried chicken dinners on Wednesdays $23.99 after 5 p.m.

• Wednesdays bring steak night to Club 2000 (422 Indianola Road, Des Moines). Steaks are cooked to order with salad, potato and bread, $14.99.

• Angry Goldfish (2301 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) offers hot beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy for $11.50 on Wednesday.

• Wine bottles are half price on Wednesdays at Trostel's Greenbriar (5910 Merle Hay Road, Johnston) and The Continental (407 East Fifth St., Des Moines).

• G Mig's (128 Fifth St., Valley Junction) offers a Wednesday special chicken Alfredo with fettucine and broccoli dinner plus salad and garlic bread for $19.25.

• Barntown's (9500 S.E. University Ave., West Des Moines) Wednesday specials are a pound of chicken tenders with fries and two sauces for $11.99, plus $13 core pitchers of beer.

• Wednesday is Biryani Festival at Chowrastha (5910 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines). Buy two and a third is free.

• Tacos Mariana's (1305 University Avenue) and The Station (3124 Ingersoll) have specials on tacos today.

• Village Inns offer free pie with entrees on Wednesdays.

• It's lasagna day at Maxie's Supper Club (1311 Grand Ave., West Des Moines) and breaded pork tenderloin day at Eastside Eddie's (3517 E. 26th St., Des Moines).

• Panka Peruvian (2708 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has live jazz Wednesday.

• Chuck's (3610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines) offers $5 off pizza on Wednesdays.

• Opa! (2800 University Ave., West Des Moines) has steak night with any steak dinner at $14.99 4-9 p.m.

• Kwik Stars' Wednesday special is eight pieces of fried chicken for $10. Their fried chicken is ridiculously good for a convenience store.

• On Wednesdays you can get any burger with fries for $10.99 at Tito's Lounge (3916 N.W. Urbandale Drive, Urbandale).

• Jethro's have $9.95 BPT sandwiches, including a side of choice, on Wednesdays.

• Hy-Vee Market Grilles are offering a cheeseburger and fries Wednesday special for $8.

• Fresh Thyme (2900 University Ave., West Des Moines) begins a week long sale on blackberries or blueberries at $5 for two pints, boneless legs of lamb at $8.99/pound and jumbo navel oranges at $.99/pound.

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

Featured in the current issue of CITYVIEW

DES MOINES FORGOTTEN
Adult movie theaters in Des Moines

By Kristian Day

The first adult movie theater I ever encountered was when I was staying in Hollywood during my days on “The Bachelor,” the reality television series on ABC. I was living with a buddy who lived off Santa Monica Boulevard and Western Avenue, very close to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. It was the kind of neighborhood where you could never find a parking spot. If you did, it was because it was designated for street cleaning the next morning and you wake up to a $100 ticket on your window. I would park nearly a mile away and would walk on Santa Monica Boulevard. I would pass the Tiki Theatre, which is the last operating adult movie theater in Los Angeles. The screening room had red leather seats and, depending on the day, they would play shot video movies from the 1990s or something shot on film from the 1970s or 1980s. The sidewalk smelled like a mix of concrete and urine. Depending on the night, I would walk past a gaggle of prostitutes still on the clock. ...

Featured home for sale

Post listings here for $50. Contact jolene@iowalivingmagazines.com for details.

$459,000

1011 Scott Felton Road
Indianola, IA 50125

Welcome to this spacious 3-bedroom, 3.5-bath walkout ranch featuring 4th and 5th non-conforming bedrooms with over 3,600 sq ft of finished living space! Step inside to find a thoughtful layout designed for comfort and accessibility, including extra-wide doorways and main-floor laundry, with a convenient drop zone that greets you as you enter from the front door. ...

See the listing here.

See more homes for sale

SOLD: Featured commercial real estate transaction

3205 KINGMAN BLVD., DES MOINES
SALE DATE: 2025-06-30
SALE PRICE: $900,000
SELLER: DRAKEMAN LLC
BUYER: OKSE LLC
ACRES: 0.864
SQUARE FEET: 11,368

More transactions

Featured in the current
issue of Indianola Living magazine

A place to call its own
Capital campaign ongoing for Carousel Theatre of Indianola

By Darren Tromblay

Randy Stone remembers it well. 1975. Junior high. “Music Man” — and The Carousel Theatre of Indianola.

All those years and changes ago.
Fortunately for the community, the community theatre has remained one of the constants through that time, as has Stone, who returned to Indianola more than three decades ago and currently sits as the board president.

But through those more than 60 years of existence, the theatre has never had a place to call its own. If Stone and others have their way, that will soon be changing. ...

FROM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: New College Football Playoff Rankings: How did top four change after Alabama loss? The College Football Playoff announced its third set of Top 25 teams on Tuesday night. With only a couple weeks until the official 12-team playoff bracket is set, these selections continue to grow more meaningful for the teams. ... READ MORE

FROM ESPN: Lakers' LeBron James debuts vs. Jazz, begins record 23rd year. Lakers star LeBron James made his season debut in a 140-126 win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, taking the court to begin a league-record 23rd season. ... READ MORE

FROM YAHOO SPORTS: Orioles trade pitcher Grayson Rodriguez to the Angels for power-hitting outfielder Taylor Ward. The Baltimore Orioles acquired outfielder Taylor Ward from the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night for right-hander Grayson Rodriguez in one of the first big moves of baseball's offseason. ... READ MORE

1863: President Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address. On Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln delivers one of the most memorable speeches in American history. In fewer than 275 words, Lincoln brilliantly and movingly reminded a war-weary public why the Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War. ... READ MORE

1985: Reagan and Gorbachev hold their first summit meeting. For the first time in eight years, the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States hold a summit conference. Meeting in Geneva, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev produced no earth-shattering agreements. However, the meeting boded well for the future, as the two men engaged in long, personal talks and seemed to develop a sincere and close relationship. ... READ MORE

2004: NBA players and fans brawl at infamous “Malice at the Palace” game. On Nov. 19, 2004, Metta Sandiford-Artest (then known as Ron Artest) of the Indiana Pacers jumps into the stands to confront a Detroit Pistons fan who throws a drink at him as he rests on the scorers' table. This ignites what becomes known as "Malice at the Palace," one of the more infamous moments in sports history. ... READ MORE

www.history.com

Birthdays and notables

These celebrities were born on this date: Allison Janney, Meg Ryan, Jodie Foster, Adam Driver, Ann Curry, Calvin Klein, Dick Cavett, Barry Jenkins, Ahmad Rashad, Billy Currington, Erika Alexander, Lil' Mo, Robert Beltran, Sandrine Holt, Eileen Collins, Jason Scott Lee

SUBMIT: Send your local birthday greetings and congratulatory notes to: tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com

The answer to the last riddle: What would you get if you crossed a turkey and an octopus? DRUMSTICKS FOR EVERYONE! Anne Lentz-Gagen, Randy Lagerblade. OR, Sudden increase in vegan Thanksgiving meals! - Darlene Turner

Today's riddle: Did you hear about the turkey prom?

Have a guess? Email tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com

To advertise in the Daily Umbrella, Johnston Weekly or the Johnston Living magazine, contact:

Andrea Hodapp
Account Executive
Office: 515-953-4822 ext. 322
Mobile: 515-883-0523
andrea@iowalivingmagazines.com

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