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A better choice than my mother’s list

9/4/2024

We tend to complain about travel times, potholes in our roads and slow service, but imagine having to ride a horse to your county courthouse to complete your necessary transactions. When Iowa was forming its counties, this travel-by-horse time was a major factor in determining where the boundary lines would be, and rightfully so. The goal was to have an Iowan be able to ride to the county seat and be able to return home in one day by horse. Using that same logic today, but with an automobile instead of a horse, we would be expected to drive 250 miles or more to our county seat. Keep in mind that Iowa is only about 200 miles wide. Think about that next time you are standing in line at the courthouse. And think about it as you read Jim Duncan’s feature story in this issue on Iowa’s 99 counties, complete with many facts and figures about our counties and cities.

The hiring challenge

If you are a small business owner or manager who does the hiring, you likely know the challenge in finding full-time employees who will work 40 hours per week. A new generation of workers have discovered, and now prefer, to work in positions that are part-time, temporary or contract. Employee benefits and camaraderie with fellow employees have fallen by the wayside as workers opt for more flexible time. So what does an employer do? In this month’s business feature by Colson Thayer, we learn why a growing number of workers are opting for these non-traditional jobs and how employers can seek out and benefit by hiring those who do not desire full-time employment.

Fall Arts and Entertainment guide

“There’s nothing to do.” I learned as a youth to not make comments like that or my mother would quickly assign a list of chores I could never possibly finish. We sometimes hear those comments from adults, too. If you do, be sure to share a copy of this month’s CITYVIEW, which is chock full of things to do in the pages of our annual Fall Arts and Entertainment guide. From art to theatre to sports to live music, you can’t help but find something that will pique your interests. And if you still think there is nothing to do, let me know, and I will gladly share the list of still unfinished chores from my mother.