DesMoinesIst

General Growth Properties, the company that owns the Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, has reported a loss for the last quarter and is now having trouble refinancing almost a billion dollars in debt that comes due at the start of December. Jordan Creek itself still has a long and healthy roster of tenants, but it can't be good news to the local operation to hear that the corporate organization is having such a rocky time. The CFO departed last month, and they also brought in a new CEO just a couple of weeks ago. Now, the company could be seeking bankruptcy protection. General Growth actually got its start in Cedar Rapids.

It's nice (as a consumer) to see lower gas prices -- like today's $2.59 a gallon price at Kum & Go -- but it's not exactly good news for the ethanol industry. That, in turn, is going to put pressure on farmers, and that's not necessarily good for the state overall. We definitely need to make sure that we're reinvesting some of the profits of the biofuels boom in long-term growth for the state.

The Des Moines Register is laying off a dozen staff members and reducing its Washington bureau. The long-time farm editor is going, too. The Register was once a prominent newspaper, owned by the Cowles family and operated profitably for generations under their private control. When the paper was sold to Gannett in 1985, it had more Pulitzer Prizes in its name than any newspaper but the New York Times.

Unfortunately, it would seem that Gannett doesn't really know how to operate in a competitive environment. Newspapers long had a tendency towards natural monopoly on local advertising, since the first press run is the only one that costs (that is, all the hard work is in gathering the news...not in printing additional copies of the same paper). But the Internet is clobbering any newspaper that doesn't bring something extra to the table. The news itself is no longer unique; it's how that news is delivered that will determine whether a newspaper, website, or other medium will succeed.

And getting rid of a whole bunch of senior writers hardly seems like the right answer.

Everyone's talking about back-to-school time for the kids, but there are some opportunities in the Des Moines area for those who have already made their way through high school and college. Here are some quick reference links:

• Des Moines Public Schools Community Education will be issuing its course list on August 26th, with classes beginning in late September.
• West Des Moines Community Education hasn't indicated when it's putting its fall course schedule out yet, but that will probably happen shortly.
• Ankeny Community Education has already listed its courses, though the website is tricky to navigate.
• DMACC has fall courses in a number of locations, most starting next Monday
• Drake, obviously, has a lot of courses available, as does Grand View

The powerful storm system that moved through town on Sunday night was an example of a derecho event -- basically, it's a storm that has most of the power of a tornado, but in a wide, straight line rather than one spiraling mess. The amount of power in the system that moved through the other day is evident from a time-lapse view of the regional radar summary. The system builds in Nebraska late in the evening, then comes roaring into Iowa overnight, gaining speed as it goes. The storms made it to Ohio by early afternoon -- covering about a thousand miles in 12 hours. While we had some power outages in the Des Moines area, the Quad Cities had it a lot worse and Sioux City has had a real mess to clean up.

An interesting article appearing in the latest edition of Architectural Record documents the damage done to several buildings in eastern Iowa that were designed by prominent architects. They include a Cedar Rapids bank designed by Louis Sullivan and a house by Frank Lloyd Wright that sits in Charles City. A campaign to salvage the Wright-designed home is already underway.

Polk County Emergency Management sent out a notice to the news media today, with the following warning:

The Polk County Emergency Management Agency is asking for increased vigilance as an approaching cold front could impact the area this afternoon and evening.  This is of special concern because of several large outdoor social events scheduled across the Metro Area this afternoon and evening.

They're talking, of course, about the Des Moines Arts Festival, Clive After Five, Urbandale Friday Fest, Fridays at the Fountain, and the Iowa Cubs (playing Albuquerque at 5:05). Because, as we've all heard, there's "nothing to do" around here.

Update: Clive After Five has been cancelled for tonight.

Ted Nugent will be playing at the Val Air Ballroom on July 21st. Yes, that Ted Nugent. Perhaps he'll be offering some lessons on preparing wild game for dinner. It's nice to see the Val Air, which went through a number of close calls with extinction -- not the least of which included the Floods of 1993 -- appear to rise from the ashes to become a pretty regular site for decent concerts. Nugent will be following the D-O-double-G, who plays the Val Air on July 3rd.

For an up-close view of the floodwaters as they hit Des Moines a week ago, check out these excellent amateur shots of the city, right in the thick of it.

Obviously, the flooding and evacuations in Des Moines have been bad news, but judging from the photos, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City appear to have gotten it much worse. Iowa City is in far worse shape than in 1993, which at the time was thought to be the worst of all possible scenarios. Eastern Iowa has been losing power plants (in Iowa City and in Vinton), and even though the floodwaters are falling around Iowa's second city, drinking-water supplies are at risk. Des Moines, by comparison, has had some levee breaches and localized flooding, but the overall effects seem to be more limited than in I-380 corridor.

Those wishing to help from out of town ought to consult the Des Moines-area Red Cross and United Way.