Girl on Fire

This is my bi-weekly column at Creston News Advertiser

  • Girl on Fire: More races in my future

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, May 29, 2014] Saturday I will be up before 5 a.m. to hitch a ride on a bus from Valley West Mall to Saylorville Dam for the Dam to Dam half marathon. This is something I am both looking forward to and dreading. My first half marathon in Olathe, […]

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  • Girl on Fire: How will we be impacted by global warming?

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, May 15, 2014] When I first thought about what to write this week, I immediately thought of a moment two weeks ago when a man asked me a very inappropriate question in public about my body. I was angry, and thought I would write about my experience and how […]

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  • Girl on Fire: My first half marathon finished, second coming up

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, May 1, 2014] Rain and hail felt like pinpricks against my skin as I ran, staring at the sidewalk, through Olathe, Kan. Soon after, the rain slowed to the occasional drop and the sun peaked out through the clouds while I ran along an asphalt trail through trees. I […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Dispatchers deserve recognition, too

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, April 17, 2014] What I love about having a column is being able to describe what so many people do in the community to make it a better place. This includes local fire departments and rescue teams, usually. But, this week is dedicated to a group of people who […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Progress made to equal rights

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, April 3, 2014] Last week, I found a story written by an employee of Al Jazeera America, an international broadcaster headquartered in Qatar, titled “Former President Jimmy Carter’s call to action.” Carter gave a speech about his new book, “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power,” during […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Chivalry isn’t totally dead

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, March 6, 2014] A few weeks ago, I bought a latte from Adams Street Espresso and went to work writing police and fire reports. I wasn’t paying attention, and hit my full cup of coffee. It toppled, coffee dribbled out and then the lid released itself from the cup […]

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  • Girl on Fire: How meth has slowly changed the firefighting game

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, February 20, 2014] Sitting in a classroom full of firefighters from across the state of Iowa, I watched as John Ticer, special agent with Iowa Fire Marshal’s Office, flipped through a PowerPoint slideshow explaining the recipe and how to make methamphetamine. Ticer taught Meth Lab Awareness, a class available […]

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  • Girl on Fire: A trip to sunny Phoenix in the dead of winter

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, February 6, 2014] Over the weekend I took a short vacation in Phoenix, Ariz., a nice break from the snow and bitter Iowa cold. While I was there, I saw Russel Finehout, my boyfriend, and my aunt and uncle, who winter there. My flight from Des Moines to Chicago […]

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  • Girl on Fire: A little down home delicacy

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, January 30, 2014] The smell of grease and seasoned flour wafted through the air at Elks Lodge on West Montgomery Street. Tables were filling up with couples and families out for dinner. I bartended and served meals and Eric Shawler, Dick Hammond and Monica Fastenow were sitting at the […]

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  • Girl on Fire: Quiz creates laughs in the newsroom

    [As seen in Creston News Advertiser, January 16, 2014] I took a quiz my coworker Sarah Brown suggested to me, titled “How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk,” (the URL is http://tiny.cc/dialectquiz) through the New York Times. And, of course, I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the choices the questions offer. For example, […]

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