A local orbit around news, culture, and community.

🛸 The Alien has landed.

My name is Agueda (pronounced Aah-gith-uh) Pacheco. I’m a local journalist and I’m here to bring you Des Moines news.

Far too often, I’ve found myself wondering what’s actually going on around here. I’ve lived in Des Moines my whole life, yet I’ve constantly struggled to stay informed. The truth is, I don’t think Des Moines has a reliable local news source that consistently delivers meaningful reporting — from city council decisions to culture and community life. Who’s asking questions of our elected officials? Who’s paying attention?

After more than a decade covering Seattle and sharpening my journalism chops, I’m rolling up my sleeves to help fill that gap. Des Moines is, by many measures, a news desert, and it feels fitting to return to where it all started for me.

My career began at Highline College, where I wrote for the student newspaper, The Thunderword. Since then, I’ve worked for The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly (RIP), Crosscut (RIP), and freelanced for a mélange of other publications. I’m an award-winning journalist, currently serve on the local SPJ chapter and yes — you can Google me.

As for the name: The Alien is personal. I’ve always identified with the idea of being an outsider — observing, questioning, trying to make sense of the world from a slight distance. But the name also belongs to Des Moines itself. This town has long carried its own strange mythology, from stories of Men in Black sightings to UFO lore tucked into local history. The name felt right.

This won’t be easy — not because I think there are shadowy forces working against me, but because I want to build something that genuinely lives up to the ideals of journalism. Journalism that questions relentlessly, verifies thoroughly, reviews carefully, double-checks the facts, and pays attention to the details.

I hold myself and my work to high standards. I hope you will too.

Please consider subscribing, buy me a coffee, or share The Alien with other Des Moinees. This thing is a labor of love.

I do work full-time, but when something calls to me, I jump.

Also: send me tips. What’s going on? What deserves scrutiny? What’s being overlooked? My inbox is open: agueda@aguedawrites.com.