THE LIST: ‘There’s a lot to talk about this week’

There’s lots to talk about this week. I took a call from a reader this week who said he enjoys “The List” each week, so while I won’t probably have room for an actual list this week, I’ll try to get back to that on an irregular basis next week. If you weren’t aware, it’s really hard to come up with a relevant list eaach week that isn’t just something thrown together.

At any rate, here’s my list of things I’m thinking about this week:

Economic Development

This is a wide topic, and for good reason, it’s a concept that gets thrown around a lot at city council meetings, state legislative sessions and much more.

It also involves tourism, and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Tom Smull this week of the White Pole Road Economic Development Corporation about how a new Scenic Byways Digital Passport program might benefit those towns along the White Pole Road. It’s important that we use the technology of our day in luring people here. Once they’re here, I think they’ll agree with many of you and myself who say this isn’t a bad place to be at all, whether you’re visiting or taking root.

Riots at U.S. Capitol

I’ll admit, I’m somewhere in the middle on this. We’ve had a lot of headlines this year that have been hard to digest and last week’s overtaking of the U.S. Capitol is one of them. I don’t agree with everything President Trump has said or done but I think many of us simultaneously question how legit the election was. At the same time, record numbers of voters cast their ballot, which is a good thing. Going forward, it’s important we review all this with our elections. Locally, I have good faith that they were handled extremely well, and we should commend our officials for that.

At the end of the day, violence isn’t the right answer to solving problems. Two-way conversations are. Even if they’re loud two-way conversations, my take is that loud, heated two-way conversations accomplish a lot more than what last week’s proceedings did.

Sports

I questioned the timing of Governor Kim Reynolds opening up sporting events a little as positive COVID-19 cases continue to be high, however our schools do have mask mandates and other seating procedures in place that should lower risk if handled correctly. It’s great our kids get to play in front of crowds again. It’s true that does so much for their development into adult citizens someday. The Iowa High School Athletic Association released Monday that the state wrestling tournament will be a one-day format for each of the three classes. Man, it will be weird to not see each class’ respective powerhouses take the mat side-by-side on finals night, but it seems like an appropriate adjustment to an awesome event that is, if you’re a sports fan, a must to attend at least once.