Latest news with #SusanStapleton
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
2 adult men shot at a Des Moines Kwik Star early on Saturday morning
An early morning shooting at a Kwik Star in Des Moines left two people injured with gunshot wounds. The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating a shooting that occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m. on May 11 at the Kwik Star at 5145 N.E. 14th St. in Des Moines. Deputies responded to reports of shots fired and discovered an adult male with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to a news release from the Polk County Sheriff's Office. The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Soon after, the Des Moines Police Department notified the sheriff's office that a second adult male had arrived at a local hospital by a private vehicle with a gunshot wound, which was determined to be related to the Kwik Star incident, according to a news release. The extent of the second victim's injuries remains unknown, the sheriff's office said in a news release. Sheriff's office detectives are processing the scene and conducting interviews, according to a news release, but report no ongoing threat to the community. The sheriff's office described the shooting as an "isolated incident." Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@ This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 2 men shot at a Kwik Star in Des Moines on Saturday morning
USA Today
12-02-2025
- USA Today
Inside look at how USA TODAY chose its Restaurants of the Year for 2025
The USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year 2025 list was a great collaboration — and it's one we're thrilled to share with you. Here's how we did it. Hundreds of journalists across the country contributed. This is not your usual best-of list, where food writers fly in for a whirlwind weekend of eating and drinking, often relying on the institutional knowledge of the locals who know the scene best. This list, instead, comes from our own locals. Food writers who know their beats best. They live there. They work there. They eat there. That's what makes our list stand out. These writers nominated restaurants from across the country, and a team of exceptionally talented editors with superb and discriminating taste whittled them down to 44. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Each writer and photographer and editor contributed to the main story — the big list — but also wrote local stories for their own sites and newspapers. From Phoenix to Austin to Detroit to Savannah, these are not your usual suspects. They're restaurants our writers love. The restaurants are places we frequently recommend, places we take friends and family. These places are so lovable, we're often planning our next visit while sitting at the table finishing dinner there. "This list is a love letter to restaurants and the people who delight in them," said project leader Liz Johnson, a senior director at The Record and and a former food writer. "We're letting you in on our favorites, from the down-home barbecue joints and roadside hamburger stands to fine dining stalwarts and the hippest local spots in town." How many have you been to?Check out USA TODAY's 2025 Restaurants of the Year. You'll notice our list doesn't skip flyover country, like many do. Yes, you can get a great meal in Los Angeles or New York, but you also can have excellent dining experiences in Selma, Alabama, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. With more than 200 sites in 42 states, the USA TODAY Network's roots run deep. We tapped into that expertise, asking our writers to share their favorites, the best of the best from the towns and cities they cover. We received more than 150 nominations. Our team of seasoned editors and writers then culled the list to 45, looking for places with consistently great service, unique atmospheres and food that never fails to delight. We also looked for a rich buffet of flavors, and we found it — from a third-generation taqueria in Lubbock, Texas, to an international tasting menu by a James Beard-nominated chef in Columbus, Ohio.'This list of best restaurants across the country creates a roadmap to some of the tastiest places to eat in America,' said Susan Stapleton, who writes about restaurants in the Des Moines, Iowa, metro and across the state. The former James Beard Award nominating committee member in Nevada and Iowa is one of the writers who helped choose and edit our Restaurants of the Year. 'The restaurants chosen reflect the rich tapestry of cuisines, chefs, and restaurateurs found nationwide, from a little Thai restaurant making killer dishes in Indianapolis to a Des Moines couple rocking out New American cuisine that can stand toe-to-toe with any restaurant in New York City or Los Angeles. Our nationwide team of culinary experts reached deep into their knowledge of their local dining scenes to pull out the best for you to sample as you travel across the United States.' Now, we invite you to dig in and enjoy our USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year 2025.
USA Today
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Meet graphic novelist Basi Affia, who has the first Black-owned comic book company in Iowa
Susan Stapleton Des Moines Register Basi Affia can take you to another world, a universe set 300 years in the future, where Earth is known as Alkebulan, the Kupaa Initiative is expanding humanity and Astral Knights battle a villain in outer space. And all of the main characters are Black. Affia created Universe 528, his world of sci-fi graphic novels and web-based motion comics, through his company, Sensi'il Studios, which he calls Iowa's first Black-owned comic book company. In his studio on Keo Way in Des Moines in the same building as Northern Vessel, he escapes into a futuristic universe with graphic novels that follow complex storylines involving space exploration, religious themes, and character development. On Feb. 1, he releases his newest graphic novel, 'Aaru En Duat: Ascension,' with an author appearance at Beaverdale Books on Feb. 3, where he'll sign copies and sell his collection of books. "Did you know that about one-third of anime's fanbase is the Pan-African community?" he wrote on his website. "Yet only 5% of the characters reflect that. As Iowa and Nebraska's first Black comic book publisher, Sensi'il Studios aspires to bring authentic representation to the science fiction and fantasy genres. ...Sensi'il Studios is a space where Pan-African people can see themselves in the future, and see that they have a future, by producing stories with Black lead characters." Getting to this point in his career — with the graphic novels in the Universe 528 collection as well as another graphic novel written in a joint project with NASCAR driver Colin Garrett's 11/11 Veteran Project called "Regicide: Havoc" — is giving Affia, 27, a chance to help other Black graphic novelists get their works published. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Right now, he's working with an author on the East Coast to publish a book. That's in between working with creative groups such as GenieMixedIt in the music industry, acting with the Pyramid Theatre Group, and modeling. He's also married to Carol Wachuka White, who shares studio space with him for her permanent makeup company, MainBrows, and two children, Azriel, 5, and Elijah, 2, who both appear as characters in his books. His 2025 agenda includes plans to pen more chapters of his Universe 528 series and attend Comic Con events, including the show in Des Moines in late May, and the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market, where he sells his novels. He's working feverishly on a webtoon that he is entering in a competition in March. Basi, whose legal name is Aniekanabasi White, was born in Des Moines, attended Lincoln High School and participated in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. After he graduated, he entered the National Guard, serving for three years as a religious affairs specialist. 'I've been blessed to have experiences and relationships with people from a lot of different paths of life,' he said from his studio while putting the finishing touches on his new novel. 'I was just very well-traveled. There was a lot of diversity growing up for me.' Read more:Shopping at thrift stores is trendy. What are the best, worst cities to thrift? Friends stayed at his home, becoming like family. His blended family — two siblings who are six and eight years older than him as well as half-siblings — are like friends. His father, who flips houses, taught him the ins and outs of business. 'The benefit of having an entrepreneurial family is that there's all these lessons and mindsets and things that I picked up on very early on,' he said. 'My dad had us reading books and listening to audiobooks on our trips when I was 9, 10, 11 years old, teaching us assets, liabilities, different types of business.' He said the turning point for his writing career as a graphic novelist came four years ago at a Comic Con event in Omaha, where he met Fabrice Sapolsky, who created the Spider Noir character for Marvel. He asked him to critique his first book, 'Lost With All Hands.' 'Be careful if you ask somebody to do that because it hurts so good,' Affia said. 'It was such good criticism, and it hurt so good.' Affia reworked his novel, changed the lettering, redid panels. He grew. 'All the stuff that I've learned from four years ago to now has really, really paid off,' Affia said. 'I learned how to separate the art from the artist. I learned to not take things personally in the professional realm. And in a way, I do take it personally, but I want to be the best version of me that I can be, and in order to do that, I can't take this personally. I just have to take it for the craft that it is.' Now Affia is ready to release his latest book, with plans to build an entire universe with the characters he created. 'I've had probably, like 1,000 years worth of stuff established for four years now,' he said. 'I've built out the galaxy, I've placed characters in that setting, and the story is just seeing what happens.' Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@
