Des Moines is 8th best mid-size city to launch a business
Des Moines ranks as the 8th-best medium-sized city in the U.S. in which to launch a business, according to rankings released this week by Fortune Small Business magazine. Additionally, Dubuque ranks as the 8th-best small city; Waterloo as the 17th-best small city; and Ames as the 18th-best small city in which to launch a business. “Location matters more than ever before,” states the print article in the November, 2009 issue. (The magazine has not yet updated its website with this article as of this writing, 10/10/09 12:15 p.m.)  “The Great Recession redrew the map of America. Entire town sank in the subprime mortgage crisis; capitals of finance and manu

Radio history passes with Dic Youngs
Dic Youngs, the iconic voice of early rock ‘n roll music in Des Moines and central Iowa, passed away early Thursday morning, October 2, 2009. I don’t think you could’ve grown up in Des Moines without hearing Youngsey’s voice – he worked at KSO and later KIOA radio, long-time rivals in the rock ‘n roll format, and until recently hosted “The Saturday Night Oldies Show” on KIOA as the station itself evolved into playing more mid-70’s era pop. If you listened to Dic you knew that his favorite local restaurant was Chuck’

Homeless ‘tent city’ – what do you think?
A group called Hope Builders has asked the City of Des Moines to consider allowing the development of a designated homeless camp at an as-yet-undetermined location in the city.  According to the Des Moines Register, “The proposed camp would have centralized showers, cooking facilities, and a place for the homeless to connect with outreach programs and services to get people back on their feet…” Apparently it’s an idea that’s been tried in other cities – I’m not sure to what degree of success. Personally, I’ve got ma