.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} All in all, it was a fine year for Central Iowa. But there’s always more to the story than “all in all” can convey, of course.

It was not a good year for the backers of Earthpark, who should have learned in school never to put off important assignments until the last minute.

It was a lousy year for the backers of “Say Yes to Destiny,” who now have learned that the average voter and the elite see the world in very different ways.

It was a good year for the big companies with headquarters or large operations in Greater Des Moines, but not so good for the employees who were laid off. The blue-collar problems in Newton got lots of attention; the white-collar pink slips in Des Moines were kept a bit more quiet.

City Manager Rick Clark and a long list of other Des Moines powers had a good news/bad news year. Keeping Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield downtown was terrific; losing Aviva USA must have felt like a migraine.

The local housing industry did not fall off a cliff, but several people have a good view over the edge. By all reports, residential subcontractors spent much of the year searching for work. A couple of major developers received large foreclosure notices.

Bankruptcies are on the rise, too, and every bankruptcy filing, no matter how small, is the mark of a bad year for somebody.

It’s hard to say whether it was a good or bad year for Blank Park Zoo CEO Terry Rich; the zoo situation is too mysterious to pin down.

It’s also hard to say how John Pappajohn would rate his year, with all he has going on. Locally, the Nomade sculpture in Western Gateway Park was a great way to close out the calendar, but the John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center is starting to look like a long-term problem.

It was a good year for Stephen King, executive director of the Des Moines Arts Festival.

It was a nerve-wracking year for downtown condominium developers.

And now it’s time to start keeping score all over again.