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Justice and closure

11/6/2024

In June of this year, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced the launch of her office’s new cold case unit to investigate more than 400 unsolved murders in Iowa. I wanted to publish a list of the 400-plus cases, and I asked Jim Duncan if he would be interested in writing this. He eagerly accepted. What he learned is that the list totals much more than 400, and he became entrenched in the details of each case he researched. The most interesting, he found, were those from decades ago that show the change in our societal norms and how serious crime was dealt with in days gone by. Let’s hope these new efforts may solve some of the recent murder cases and bring justice to those who perpetrated the acts and closure to those left dealing with the aftermath.

A uniform society

I worked at a gas station in high school where we were able to wear most anything. When the station was sold to a large corporation, the new owners implemented uniforms, which were not met with smiles by the staff. Eventually, though, we all followed suit, recognizing that we had a choice to wear the uniform or find another job.

My first “career job” out of college was at The Des Moines Register. We did not have an official dress code, but one was certainly implied. I asked my boss what I should wear, and he gave me great advice: “Look around here at the successful people and dress like them.” So, I did, donning a suit and tie every day.

Today, dress codes have relaxed immensely, even in service industries. Most of us still have visions of people who would wear uniforms like nurses, firefighters and postal workers, but the choice of workwear for those folks has changed, too. Meanwhile, some companies continue to adhere to uniforms but in more relaxed ways, as well, and we feature a few of those stories in our Business Journal this month.

Giving thanks

November brings us Veterans Day, a reminder to be thankful for the sacrifices so many veterans made to ensure that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. In this issue of CITYVIEW, you will see our first effort at a pictorial salute to area veterans. We hope this will continue to grow and be an annual section to honor those who served our country.