Who had much time for reading when there are baseball and soccer games, weddings, backyard parties and graduations to attend — and yards to mow and garages to clean and parks to visit and so forth? Summertime (not officially for a few more weeks) has arrived, but there are still a few reads that caught my eye and I am passing along to you. Enjoy your day!

— From an Iowa perspective: The Des Moines Register offered a look at the city of Ottumwa and what’s happening with its mall. The story, “Rural Iowa retail woes,” also looks at the statewide issues happening with retail. 

— The Burlington (not in Iowa) Free Press offered this headline that couldn’t be passed up: “Vermont will pay remote workers $10,000 to move here.” It turns out the Green Mountain State wants people to move there and will pay those who can work remotely to become a resident. There’s a bit more to it than that, and you can find the details in the article. With a not-so-exciting birth rate and the need for workers, Iowa officials might want at least to look at this.

— Time magazine has a special report: “The Drone Age.” The article (accompanied by some interesting videos and photography) describes how the once-novel devices are becoming prevalent in daily life, beyond  military use and into business and personal pursuits. The article goes on: “With any technology, there are certain inflection points when it goes from being something perpetually in the near future to being a part of everyday life. For years, drones have been hovering on the cusp — used by militaries and relatively small numbers of hobbyists but not part of the larger culture. The U.S. military ushered in the drone age in 2001, when it began using the unmanned, remotely piloted technology to target al-Qaeda leaders in the wilds of Afghanistan. Drones have since become a key part of the military’s arsenal, and their use in conflict zones around the world has expanded under both the Obama and Trump Administrations. Civilian uses, however, have long been more promise than reality.”