Thanks to those who responded last week, and we hope to hear from even more of you this week (see below). In last week’s update, we issued a demanding challenge: simplify our lives, government, economy and impact on the planet. It was encouraging that so many of you concurred.

We were happy, too, that Steffen Schmidt shared our update with his audience at InsiderIowa.com. Thanks, Steffen! And thanks, too, to the folks at Blog for Iowa, who regularly post our updates.

Monday, George Goehl of National Peoples Action joins us in advance of his visit next week for Iowa CCI’s annual convention.

Tuesday, unless he’s helping direct a sandbag brigade, Des Moines Public Works director Bill Stowe talks about floods and the need for better land-use planning.

Wednesday, we’ll talk about the importance of small businesses to Iowa’s economy.

Thursday, we’ll talk with Trish Nelson and David Bradley about right-wing shock radio.   And that brings us to why . . .

. . . we want to hear from lots of you this week. The shock jocks are paid crazy amounts of money by their corporate sponsors. We have to buy air time and pay for it through the support of non-profits and small businesses who believe Iowa needs balance on the public airwaves.

We need YOUR help, too.  Please take a minute to donate to The Fallon Forum through one of these options:

    1.    Go to our website and use the Pay Pal feature.
    2.    Send a check to Fallon Forum, PO Box 13421, Des Moines, IA 50310.
    3.    E-mail us and ask about our monthly pledge program.
    4.    If you’re a business owner or organizer, partner with us as an advertiser or sponsor.

And spread the word! We’re thrilled to see our audience continue to grow: it’s now over 5,200 per show, up from 1,600 when we started last September!

Oh, and our on-air give-away this Thursday is a $25 gift certificate to Tally’s Restaurant, Bar & Catering in Beaverdale. With its rooftop outdoor seating, Tally’s is one of our favorite summertime places.

Ed and Lynn Fallon