If you were out of the office for the holidays, here’s a glimpse at some of the news or headlines you missed. 

– “Why Iowans are rushing to pay next year’s property taxes” explains how the new tax reform bill is causing some concern: “The rush was on to pay this year’s property taxes before the end of 2017, meaning there were longer lines than usual at the Polk County Treasurer’s Office, KCCI-TV reported. It was all thanks to the new federal tax law passed in Congress, which caps property tax deductions at $10,000. So, prepaying could save you cash later.” Read more

– “Lessons from the past year” shares the wisdom from several dozen leaders in the business community: “As 2017 neared its close, the Business Record asked you, our readers, to tell share what lessons you learned in the last 12 months that others in the business community could benefit from hearing. And you provided a wealth of knowledge, experience and ideas that we featured on our pages.” Read more

– Up and down year for Iowa agriculture” reports on the agriculture industry’s main themes from 2017: “The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship reports that 2017 was a year of surprising crop yields in dicey conditions and continued weak livestock prices. The year also brought gains in conservation work to improve water quality.” Read more

– From our friends at the Corridor Business Journal, a story on how chatbots are growing in use: “Forbes magazine called them the top customer service trend of 2017. Gartner, a business research and advisory firm, predicts they’ll handle more than 85 percent of customer interactions by 2020. The chatbot has arrived and is taking the customer service scene by storm.” Read more