Welcome to the Friday mailbag, where you will find some of the comments, questions and ideas sent recently by subscribers of this newsletter. They are all edited for space and clarity.

“Why should the non-college students pay off the debt for the college students (Student loans, May 10, 2022)? For example, many high school grads choose to go into the trades. Why should they be forced to pay the debt of others that chose to go to college? I used to get a little envious of many of my friends who were always traveling to Europe and buying expensive things. Flash forward a few years, and their kids are getting financial aid. Huh?” - Brendan

Great point. – Shane

“Regarding student debt and forgiveness, public universities should not be charging the insanely high tuition that they do (Student loans, May 10, 2022). ‘The accumulated wisdom of human beings is not private property to be sold to the highest bidder.’ - John Dewey. There was a time when this was understood by most people, and tax dollars spent on higher education were considered a wise investment for a better community in which to live.” - Bob

An even greater point. – Shane

“Thanks for sharing your views on the student loan forgiveness scheme, Shane (Student loans, May 10, 2022). Those in favor of loan forgiveness have tried to sell the idea for years that there is a ‘student loan crisis,’ but the facts suggest differently. For example, more than two-thirds of the $1.7 trillion in outstanding federal student loan debt is owed by individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher. According to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data, the unemployment rate for those aged 25-34 with at least a bachelor’s degree is 2.2 percent as of April of this year. As a taxpayer, I hope any move by the President to forgive large swaths of student loans is challenged in court. It may be the only way to avoid hundreds of billions of dollars being spent to the benefit of mostly white, affluent college graduates.” - Tim

This may be the greatest point. – Shane

Shane, please read this article that I linked when you have time. I think it might shed some light on a huge part of student loan debt that you are not considering (Student loans, May 10, 2022). I think you’re looking at student loan debt from your white privileged lenses. Bottom line is, sure as a taxpayer I don’t really want to pay for some rich kids’ Ivy League education. But this isn’t about that. I know you’re not this out of touch. Obviously I don’t know you, but as a reader I guess I started to feel like I had a small idea of where you are coming from. I needed to reach out.” - Andreah

I am glad you did reach out, Andreah, and I appreciate — and welcome — your perspective. Most all of us tend to look at the world’s problems from our own personal experiences, myself included. – Shane

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

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

Your Clear Mortgage forecast from Jason Parkin

It’ll be a cooler day today with a high in the Des Moines area around 71 degrees. We’ll see rain chances during the morning and early afternoon hours on an even cooler Saturday, where highs won’t get out of the fifties. Things begin to warm up again on Sunday. Rain chances return late Monday into Tuesday.

For help with preapprovals or refinancing, get in touch with Jason at parkin.mortgage

CITYVIEW announced its 2022 Best Of Des Moines readers' choices Feb.1. You can find all the results from the poll in the February issue of CITYVIEW magazine!

Best Local School District
1. Waukee Community School District
2. Des Moines Public Schools
3. Ankeny Community School District

Dealing with allergies
Residents share their coping strategies.

Calli Tuggle and her family of six deal with a number of allergies. Her husband, Nathan, has environmental allergies, specifically to animals like cats and dogs.

Their 10-year-old, Lucas, has both food and environmental allergies, including to most trees, grasses and cats.

They discovered his food allergies when he was 11 months old and ate pudding, resulting in a breakout of hives.

“Further allergy testing identified 23 initial allergies,” Tuggle says. “That number has changed as he’s outgrown dairy, eggs and almonds. He’s still significantly allergic to peanuts, although he is not anaphylactic.”

Lucas is also asthmatic and reacts to environmental triggers like cigarette smoke and artificial fragrances in perfumes and lotions.

[...]

From the May issue of Norwalk Living magazine.

May 21 is both National Strawberries and Cream Day and National Food Servers Day. May 24 is National Asparagus Day.

John Ross, the restaurateur who opened Sage in Windsor Heights, is recovering from a gunshot wound after being shot in the leg outside his Chicago restaurant The Bristol, one of Chicagoland's top ten according to Chicago Tribune. Ross is married to Tryphena Wong Ross, a recent graduate of Des Moines University.

Happy Birthday to these celebrities: Cher, Matt Czuchry, Enes Freedom, Busta Rhymes, Tony Goldwyn, Jack Gleeson, Tony Stewart, Rachel Platten

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