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The Grimes Brief

About the Brief

The Grimes Brief: one Monday email about Grimes, and the guide site behind it.

The short version
Why Grimes

Why a weekly email just for Grimes?

Because the town is changing faster than most people can keep up with. The city's 2025 Special Census counted 17,809 residents, up 15.7% from 15,392 in 2020, and housing grew even faster: 7,578 homes, up from 5,708, a 32.7% jump. New subdivisions, new businesses and new families arrive every season, and the news about them is scattered across council agendas, Facebook groups and two county websites. The Brief pulls it into one place each Monday.

Grimes is also an unusual town to cover. It straddles Polk and Dallas counties, so the courthouse, the assessor and even the ballot can depend on which side of the line you live on, and most kids here go to Dallas Center-Grimes, a district shared with Dallas Center. We sort out which pieces of each apply to a Grimes household.

Each Monday

What is in a typical Monday issue?

Who opened, who closed · new restaurants, shops and services in townBusiness
Home sales and new construction · recent sales on both sides of the county lineHousing
Food · what is new, what locals keep going back toDining
The week ahead · events, parks, trails, weekend plansLife
DCG, city hall and elections · the Mustangs, the council, the practical stuffCivic
The site

What is on the Grimes Brief website?

More than 60 Grimes guides, written to answer the questions people here actually type into a search bar: where to eat tonight, what to do with the kids this weekend, when trash goes out, what a DCG school lunch costs, how property taxes work when your home is in Dallas County. Each guide lists its sources and the month it was last checked, and a few are tools that just pick something for you, like the dinner picker and the activity finder.

Who runs it

Is The Grimes Brief independent?

Yes. It comes from an independent local publisher, not a newspaper chain, a TV station or an out-of-state media company. Nobody outside decides what we cover. We keep our names off it on purpose, so the focus stays on Grimes. The same small team puts out sibling Briefs for a few other central Iowa towns, but this one is written for Grimes readers only.

Readers pay nothing because local businesses sponsor it. Every sponsored spot is labeled as sponsored, and a sponsorship never buys a recommendation or changes what we write.

Where our facts come from

City of Grimes pages and council documents, Polk and Dallas county records, Dallas Center-Grimes district pages, and what we see around town ourselves. Anything we cannot confirm is left out or flagged as unconfirmed. Spot a mistake? Tell us and we will correct it.

Contact

How do I send a tip or correction to The Grimes Brief?

Write to hello@grimesbrief.com. Tips, fixes and sponsor questions all land in the same place, and we answer from Grimes.

A new Grimes shop or restaurant we missed?Tip
A wrong date, name or numberCorrection
Putting your Grimes business in front of readers · ask for ratesSponsor
Get the Brief, every Monday

One short local email every Monday morning: new openings, home sales, and what is happening in Grimes this week. Unsubscribe anytime.

In your inbox every Monday, 7 AM
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More from The Grimes Brief All Grimes guides · What to eat tonight · Things to do · Schools · Moving to Grimes
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The Grimes Brief is an independent local publication for Grimes, Iowa. Free to read, supported by clearly labeled local sponsors. Questions, tips, or corrections: hello@grimesbrief.com. Population figures from the City of Grimes Special Census 2025 page (17,809 residents and 7,578 housing units, up from 15,392 and 5,708 in 2020), grimesiowa.gov, viewed October 2026. Updated October 2026.
The Grimes Brief, free every Monday.What is new, what to do, home sales. One email.