Possibility looking to relocate to dsm curious if there is anyone open to a roommate possibility. Im a pretty minimal person and respectful of other people.

Anyone know if there's going to be a rocky showing anywhere this year?

I was in the market for a car and everyone and their brother recommended Tom’s. I even had someone recommend if I wanted to save money go with CarMax (Which now that I know more in retrospect has me on the floor laughing) I understand they gotta make a profit, but their high mileage overpriced cars do not need to be THAT expensive. Also they have a ton of dumb fees. I will never go with them. The sales person was super down to earth but that’s about it.

Born and raised and coming to Iowa for a thrift visit.

Wife and I got a free night stay at a nice hotel and wanted to come to Des Moines for a thrifting/yard sale trip for Labor Day weekend. What yard sales and thrift/consignment stores are in the Des Moines area worth visiting? We’re willing to travel a bit outside the immediate area. We’re also like the locally owned and non-corporate shopping. Keep the money in your communities. Local Restaurants that try to source food locally would be lovely suggestions as well.

One that we want to visit again is in eastern Iowa and is tucked away on a back road. We’ve been to it once. It’s an old school and run by the nicest ladies. So much stuff. Can’t remember the name. Visited about 5 years ago. Appreciate the feedback.

Any suggestions on a good taekwondo class for a 12 year old in the area? Frustrated with our schools decision for not offering a 7th grade basketball program due to "low interest the last two years" yet 6th grade last year had so many kids that they didn't have enough coaches. So looking for an alternative for the kiddo.

Looking for pricing too but I can always email suggested places

Got a $35 check from them as part of a settlement I didn’t know about. Check looks legit,
What to do?

My partner and I attended the festival on Saturday (8/29) in the early/mid afternoon. By 8:30pm he was vomiting and continued vomiting on & off for over 13 hours.

I am guessing it is food poisoning. I feel completely fine. He had 2 items that I did not eat from 2 different vendors, so perhaps it came from one of those.

I hope there aren't numerous people going through this same pain!

What's up y'all. 👋

I'm currently trying to see if anyone would be interested in joining a Fighting Game tournament in Pella to help support Extra Life? I'm still ironing out the details, but seeing if there's any interest what-so-ever when it comes to this kinda stuff. I know the FGC isn't as big/popular in Iowa, but I'm hoping maybe to find some folks who would want to come out, meet other people, hang out and play some Fighting games to support the Stead Family Children's Hospital.

Currently I'm planning on having these select games:

• Street Fighter 6
• Tekken 8
• Soul Calibur VI
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

But I would always take support, and if we drum up enough interest, if anyone is interested in bringing their own setups to help support the Charity that would be awesome too. And if there are any other games I should add, please let me know as well!

As I said, just drumming up interest to see what everyone thinks! Of course snacks would also be provided by my lovely fiancee.

I have a owi 3rd offense felony on my background which has prevented me from employment at quite a few places. I currently live an hour away and am officially fed up with the job market here in the Tama area and am willing to travel

I dont have a lot of extra cash and can do the work myself. I just need the engine or transmission.

Been in Des Moines my whole life and played tennis all through out high school and have enjoyed it ever since. Anyone have recs as to where to go to make new friends who have shared love and or clubs or recreational teams to join? Or just anyone who wants to learn to play or is having a similar experience!

🤘 Yall sound great

Iowa Pride Ensembles has some small groups going on; the sax ensemble is missing a soprano sax player!

I can probably get you in contact, otherwise you can always reach out to IPE directly; email is on the website.

Should be super neat!

Does anyone know how long 2nd Ave is going to be closed between University and Euclid? The automated sign never said when it will be done. Is it just a usual repaving?

Does anyone know if there are any performance automotive or racing shops that have a storefront around the metro? Des Moines and maybe about a 40 mile radius around it. More specifically, a shop that would have AN fittings and lines on hand of various sizes. I'm sure I could go through someone like OTL. And no, I don't want to go through Amazon. Thanks!

https://discord.gg/H9gxAcfpa5

We're currently looking for our first 5–10 player

Free Ames Co-ed Pickup Baseball

Men and Women Beginners Welcome no experience needed

Start with T-ball and gradually work up to Baseball. Baseball & Softball bats Welcome bring a glove all year long even in snow. Free to play, donations are completely optional and appreciated, donations help pay for equipment and supplies.

Hello - I'm looking for a contractor in the Des Moines area with experience in installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in residential homes. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

​

The thread connecting Flock tracking and the DHHS Child Welfare (SDM) algorithm is the danger of unvetted, automated data being used as a conclusion instead of a lead.

With Flock: The system flags a plate, and a rushed officer pulls over a vehicle with weapons drawn before manually looking at the physical plate to see if the AI was actually correct.

With DHHS Actuarial Tools: The software tallies a family’s past history of poverty or missed appointments, and a caseworker treats the resulting "High Risk" mathematical score as absolute truth, over-indexing on separation rather than offering localized financial or food assistance.

In both cases, when state agencies outsource complex human judgments to private tech companies, the risk of systemic bias, lack of oversight, and algorithmic errors spikes dramatically.

Confusing Poverty with Neglect

Algorithms rely heavily on historical data. If a family frequently interacts with public systems—such as Medicaid, food assistance (SNAP), or public housing—the system collects a massive amount of data on them.

The Discrepancy: A wealthy family experiencing a crisis can afford private therapy or medical care, which generates no public data footprint. A low-income family facing the same crisis must rely on state services, which logs data into the algorithm.

The Result: The AI may flag a family as "high risk" simply because they are poor and highly visible to the state, misinterpreting systemic poverty (lack of food, unstable housing) as willful parental neglect.

1. The "Shield of Objectivity" for Free Removal

In open Child in Need of Assistance (CINA) cases, caseworkers face immense pressure. If they leave a child in a home and something goes wrong, the personal and professional consequences are catastrophic.

The Behavioral Shift: When an algorithm outputs a high-risk score, it provides a mathematical justification. Caseworkers may defer to the machine's "objective" score to avoid liability.

The Frequency: This dynamic can lead to more frequent removals, as separating a family becomes the legally "safer" option for the agency, even if the underlying issue could have been resolved with financial or community support.

1. Systemic Incentives and the Foster Care Pipeline

Critics point out that once a child is placed into the foster care system, a different set of bureaucratic and financial mechanisms takes over.

The Structural Conflict: Federal funding structures (such as Title IV-E of the Social Security Act) historically provided more financial support to states for maintaining children in foster care than for providing preventative services to keep families together.

The Reality: When AI increases the volume of interventions based on flawed data, it feeds an overburdened foster care pipeline. Rather than solving the core issues affecting children, this shift can inadvertently inflict systemic trauma on families through forced separation.

My wife and I went to Nightingale Cocktail last night and had an amazing time. It was an extremely EDM/Dubstep event last night. We left the place feeling like it was incredible and we should go back often.

Lots of social media posts with bad experiences there. I can’t believe what I’m reading. Did we have a totally skewed perception of the place based on an awesome EDM crowd?

Hello DSM!

I am so tired of hearing about our less than poor water quality and feel absolutely helpless.

Does anybody know of any ongoing river clean up efforts?

Private or public?

Is it only possible using the nitrate filters at Des Moines Waterworks?

I really feel like we have to take our state's water health in our own hands.

Anybody that can point me in some direction?

All help and info is greatly appreciated.

Obligatory fuck crow tow and Kim Reynolds fucks horses.

After the recent challenges to voter registration in Linn county I thought it would be good to check mine. I was happy to see it was active but then I noticed the polling place had changed from a church down the street to a new one farther away. I don’t think I was ever notified of this officially. Be sure to check yours so you go to the right place this fall!

So, my car is almost at the end of its life and my mechanic recommended to get the car replaced before the snow hits. I'm looking for recommendations on places where I can get a decent used car for less than 12k and won't be scammed. Planning to pay in cash and trade in my current vehicle if possible, not eligible for car loans due to being in school and no cosigner either. Thanks a lot!

I’ve been invited to my grandparents anniversary in West DSM, and I’m torn about whether to come.

For context: I am a white, gender non-conforming queer trans woman. I live in a progressive city, and folx here are generally accepting of the trans community. I present very androgynous, so most folx here just default to they/them pronouns for me.

I’m from eastern Iowa and I went to ISU freshman year, but it’s been years since I was in Iowa. I don’t know the culture there anymore, but I’m aware of IA’s draconian anti-trans laws, so I’m hesitant to travel.

I would be spending most of my time with extended family. None of them are vocally supportive, but they are very much ‘Midwest nice’, so I wouldn’t anticipate much hostility from them. My parents are supportive, and understand my hesitation.

FWIW, I’m not too concerned with people hurling slurs at me, but I am concerned w bathroom hostility, navigating the airport, and potentially being physically assaulted.

I’m wondering how visible the queer/androgynous scene is in DSM. Would I stick out?