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Opinion

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The Elbert Files: Bill Knapp and downtown

“The Making of Bill Knapp,” a new book by Simpson College history professor William Friedricks, includes sketches of 23 people who were key to the 95-year-old real estate developer’s success.

The book begins with quick …

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The Elbert Files: Economic optimism

“We are certainly in uncharted waters,” economist James Paulsen wrote in a recent newsletter that explores topics ranging from inflation to economic policy, employment to productivity, and millennials to downtowns.


Aging baby boomers are being …

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The Elbert Files: Chinese tariff windfall

A new study in the journal Food Policy says U.S. soybean producers received a $5 billion windfall in 2018-19 when the U.S. Department of Agriculture overestimated damage caused by Chinese trade-war tariffs.

“Overall, farmers received …

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On Leadership: Why Breast Cancer Awareness Month matters to business

Brenda Neville, president and CEO of the Iowa Motor Truck Association, launches into high gear during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. “While I am not a survivor of breast cancer, I am a survivor …

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The Elbert Files: Fugitive abortion law

The new Texas abortion law has much in common with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a statute that has been described as “one of the most hated and openly violated federal laws” in U.S. …

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The Elbert Files: Reunion during a pandemic

My recent high school reunion felt different, and it wasn’t because we are now as likely to meet old friends in a cemetery as at a bar. According to our class obituary keeper, half as …

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On Leadership: 10 questions to help leaders thrive during change

Whether I’m in conversation with business leaders running organizations, friends trying to manage hybrid work, or parents dealing with ever-changing school situations, everyone keeps talking about “getting back to normal.” But what is normal now? …

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The Elbert Files: Thanks, John III

John Ruan III, who died earlier this month at the age of 78, was a talented businessman who managed, along with his wife, Janis, to dramatically improve the quality of life in Des Moines.

They …

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On Leadership: The success of Iowa’s economy tied to the Latino community

When my New Mexican father came to Iowa in the early 1960s to join the faculty at Iowa State University, the Latino population in our state was sparse and often misunderstood. My father was also …

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The Elbert Files: Iowa’s bad water

When I think about how farm field runoff is polluting Iowa water systems, I picture someone using tissue paper to try to stop an overflowing toilet.

 

That’s because tissue paper can no more hold …