DesMoinesIst

Trouble for Jordan Creek's owners

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:13:06 -0600

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.

A welcome sign

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:14:12 -0600

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 Register goes on a big diet

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:02:36 -0600

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.

Back to school...post-college style

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:17:03 -0600

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

Blowin' in the wind

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:01:00 -0600

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.

Flooding damaged some architectural treasures

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:10:20 -0600

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.

Standby for severe weather

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:51:51 -0600

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.

We got your Ted Nugent, right heeere

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:54:36 -0600

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.

Amateur flood photos show just how high the water rose

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:50:37 -0600

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.

Des Moines gets hit hard; Cedar Rapids and Iowa City get it even worse

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:52:02 -0600

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.

Minnesota envy

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:21:08 -0600

The success of the I-235 reconstruction project has attracted some attention in Minneapolis, with one of the Twin Cities' TV stations offering a 5-minute video report lauding the improvements on the MacVicar Freeway. The reconstruction cost a whole lot of money -- about $430 million in all -- but it's also pretty apparent that the old road simply wasn't going to be safe to drive for much longer. The quick Des Moines commute -- under 20 minutes, on average -- saves the average commuter two hours a week in traffic versus what they'd spend on the roads in Chicago. That difference accumulates to 100 hours a year that a Des Moines resident can spend on recreation that a Chicagoan can't. Quality of life is a big factor in choosing where to live.

A closer look at the Regency Homes flop

Mon, 05 May 2008 22:30:57 -0600

The Des Moines Business Record has a well-researched review of the collapse of Regency Homes. The whole affair is unfortunate, since it leaves people unemployed, contractors unpaid, and prospective homeowners in dire straits. The story rather strongly suggests that Regency simply overextended itself, and once Wells Fargo changed some of its lending terms, the overreach caused the company to topple. Bad loans hit Wells Fargo hard in October and again in January following the previous quarters' reports. The bank is still trying to contain the bad news, though it had started cutting back on higher-risk loans more than a year ago.

Regency Homes closes up shop

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:57:52 -0600

The company, which has built a bunch of developments throughout the Des Moines area and in other parts of the state, has abruptly closed up shop after running out of financing. Regency's business and construction practices inspire some very strong opinions, but there's no escaping the fact that the company has been significant to the homebuilding industry in Iowa. It's a very big event for Iowa Realty, which sells most of Regency's new homes. On a related note, lots of Iowa homeowners are now looking for earthquake insurance. The quality of homebuilding has an obvious effect on the risk to life and limb posed by earthquakes.

Tornadoes? Yep, we got 'em.

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:01:21 -0600

Mahaska County got a tornado hit yesterday, moving us officially into tornado season. Looks like Severe Weather Awareness Week might need to come earlier next year. A little farther to the east, a guy sitting near Keota caught a pretty clear photo of another tornado yesterday.

Severe Weather Awareness Week

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:16:10 -0600

It's Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa, with a special topic for each day: Flooding on Monday, severe thunderstorms today, tornadoes (with the statewide tornado drill) tomorrow, NOAA Weather Radio on Thursday, and preparedness on Friday.

There's a reason this event happens in early April: It's just slightly into tornado season in Iowa. It probably would be smarter to schedule the "awareness week" for just a little earlier in the year, like the end of March, because several of the state's worst tornado outbreaks have actually occurred in early April. But by pushing it earlier in the year, it might be overwhelmed by people's natural inclination to still be preoccupied with the end of winter weather...which, given last week's freak snowstorm, might be a challenge to overcome. But if we're going to practice a tornado drill, then it might be best to have that practice prior to any time we'd normally expect to get a twister.