He talks about communities that create places for artists to display their works. Not just local artists, but from all over the country.

He talks about the high cost of real estate and long commute times in California and bigger cities. We should be marketing our communities and quality of life to alumni who live in these areas. Those who are priced out of the markets for homes, or those who have appreciated equity, could do well here.

And there is the example of Bill Kurtis, the well-known television broadcaster who practically bought up the entire Kansas town of Sedan. He bought 14 downtown buildings and rented them out for $1 for the first year to new businesses and is doing the same thing in other area towns in the region.

If you would like to keep up with Schultz's travels around the country go to http://boomtownusa.blogspot.com/

Do we have a Bill Kurtis out there who would like to do something for Marion County?

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Many people are challenged by the new technology. For example, anyone can now own or use a computer and the software that it takes to create anything you see in this world. The only problem is that many haven't taken the time to really learn how to use it. Just like everything else, there are dues to be paid along the way.

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I drove over to Marion this past Friday night to watch the Mid-Central Activities Association league track meet and was duly impressed by the grit and effort put forth by so many young athletes. Not all have the natural talent that a few possess, but they give everything they have just the same.

Does it seem odd that we pay to watch basketball and football but get to watch track and field for free?

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We had a sweepstakes contest at our sister newspaper, the Hesston Record, during the past three weeks. It was time to notify the grand-prize winner, so managing editor Christine Wyrick and I went to our winner's house to present the prize on Saturday.

I was blown away to learn that the woman of the house was my baby-sitter when I was probably about 4 years old in Mountain Lake, Minn. She had my dad for a teacher and her sister, who was also at the house, worked as a nurse with my mom in Mountain Lake. She knew who I was even before I told her.

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We suspected a large group of folks were interested in the public records that have appeared regularly in the Free Press since its inception.

Because of staff changes, we haven't had them in the past few weeks-and we heard about it. Records reappear this week. At least most of them. Please bear with us as we ramp up to get back to normal.

Yours truly showed up at the courthouse on Monday morning to try to recreate the collection of the records. It's not easy to decipher everything, but the help I got from the nice people at the courthouse was terrific.