Dr. Adam Shriver, Interim Director of Wellness and Nutrition Policy at The Harkin Institute, will present a talk Tuesday, May 13, 6:45 pm, at the Des Moines Izaak Walton League. Adam will explain how the Institute provides opportunities for students and citizens to engage in bettering our public life and community in a nonpartisan environment. 4343 George Flagg Pkwy (intersection of Geo. Flagg & Park), Des Moines 50321. The Harkin Institute was founded on the premise that good public policy is best achieved when policymakers have access to high quality information, political processes are open and well-understood and citizens are informed and active participants. They believe that good public policy requires communication, collaboration and courtesy from everyone involved. This belief underlies The Harkin Institute’s five core values of Inclusion, Education, Respect, Accessibility and Opportunity. The Institute’s action areas include Labor and Employment; People with Disabilities (ADA); Retirement Security; and Wellness and Nutrition. Dr. Adam Shriver holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Iowa State University as well as a Ph.D. from the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program at Washington University in St. Louis, and has held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of British Columbia, and Oxford University. The Harkin Institute has recently held conferences on Industrial Farm Animal Production, the Environment, and Public Health and The Future of Clean Water and is now starting a new project looking at Iowa’s High Cancer rates and the potential connections to agricultural chemicals. Admission to Adam’s talk is FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Doors open at 5:30 with a Pulled Pork Sandwich dinner at 6 available for purchase.

A fun day of fishing for the whole family is coming at CarpFEST 2025! Join the Des Moines Izaak Walton League, Des Moines Parks and Recreation, and the Iowa DNR Saturday, May 31 at Gray’s Lake Park in Des Moines! Try your hand at Carp fishing, and you might win a prize! Admission is FREE! Prizes will be awarded for LONGEST Carp, with Buffalo excluded. Gear, bait and instructions are available. Licenses are required for contestants 16 and over. Carp caught may be kept by the fisherman or donated onsite to the wildlife rehabilitation organization S.O.A.R. (Saving Our Avian Resources). All ages are welcome. Enter the park from Fleur at the North West Entrance to the park. Onsite Registration begins at 8:00 am; Fishing begins at 9:00 am and stops at 11:30 (a horn will sound). Awards will be given out after all the fish have been measured. The Izaak Walton League was founded by anglers over 100 years ago. We are dedicated to healthy waters in the United States. There are too many Carp in Gray’s Lake. Removing some will improve the lake and the fishery.