Urbandale|News|
Karen Acres School Has Bittersweet Celebration
Students at Karen Acres Elementary had an end-of-year assembly on Tuesday.

<b>Local Editor, Urbandale Patch<br>Email: </b>anne.kay@patch.com<b><br>Phone: </b>515.306.5504<b><br>Facebook.com/Urbandale.Patch<br>Twitter.com/@UrbandalePatch<br>Bio: </b>Becoming the editor for Urbandale.Patch.com is going back to the future for me. I started my career in community journalism and now get to see it into an online, digital world. I grew up in Nebraska, graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A year later, I got married and moved to Iowa. I worked for the Des Moines Register as a writer and editor for 28 years. In the past five years, I left the Register, tried my hand at magazine journalism by editing a health magazine at Meredith Company, became a widow, watched my last child graduate from high school, and started my own company. Along the way, I also rode my bicycle across Iowa, hiked in and out of the Grand Canyon and to the top of a Caribbean volcano. <b><br>My Beliefs: </b>At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because we humans have beliefs. Patch editors are encouraged to reveal their beliefs in hopes that having it on the record will cause us to be even more mindful about being fair and balanced. If you see evidence to the contrary, please let me know.<b><br>My Politics: </b>My political beliefs are liberal to moderate. I'm a registered Democrat, but I'm not politically active. That said, I support civil liberties, the separation of church and state, and the right of free expression. I believe government should help its citizens and I believe in personal responsibility.<b><br>My Religion: </b>In my faith journey I have been atheist, agnostic, a seeker, and now a Christian. I attend Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines and my faith is important to me.
<strong>Urbandale Connections: </strong>I'm a member of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce.
Students at Karen Acres Elementary had an end-of-year assembly on Tuesday.

Urbandale Police made several arrests in the past week.
Looking for a job? Patch brings you job listings for the week of May 20.
The number of volunteers reaching out to their neighbors is growing as the presidential campaign gets into full swing and President Obama visits the state later today.
An Urbandale woman was charged with harassment and giving false information last week.
The board took the unusual action of expelling a student on May 9, after a series of disciplinary incidents, said school Superintendent Doug Stilwell.
Theresa Mulhern, who closed child-care centers in Urbandale and West Des Moines last year, now has a child-care business at her home and advocated for a West Des Moines ordinance to allow such businesses to care for up to 16 children.
Two active Karen Acres parents say they believe Principal Patty Schlotterbeck is being pushed out of her job and want to ask the school board why.
Young and old cyclists showed up in Walker Johnston Park Saturday morning for the first annual Mayor's Ride through Urbandale.
The Jensen Elementary second-grader is accused of assaulting four adults who were trying to break up a fight on the playground, according to Urbandale police.
Fun things to do with your family in Urbandale May 18-20.
Nine Urbandale citizens who participated in the fire academy finished up by learning to put out fires Thursday.
Find the best garage sales and yard sales in Urbandale this weekend.
Urbandale police reports show that the 15-year-old boy who is accused of assaulting a police officer in a Johnston theater has had four previous encounters with police in the past year.
Urbandale City Manager A.J. Johnson and his wife were the victims of criminal mischief, said police.
Thieves took the opportunity of unlocked vehicles to steal in Urbandale.
Here are five good deals for underpriced starter homes in Urbandale.
Editor's Notebook: What is Patch, really? And a guide to the "good stuff" this month.
Travel and Transport Vacations in Urbandale is ending its month-long drive to collect gently used luggage for Iowa Children and Families of Iowa.
Urbandale City Council voted Tuesday to take bids on a new shelter house in Walker Johnston Park, which now will cost the city $1 million.