Author Archives: Jeff

Apr 13

HMS bond issue passes

In a close to a mini-saga I’ve covered before, voters in the HMS school district finally approved an elementary school attached to the existing high school in Hartley and new classrooms/gym in Sanborn (story/schematics: KIWA). This was the FOURTH vote … Continue reading

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Apr 12

Two-year project maintains IA 122 one-ways

I’m not quite sure why this isn’t listed on the DOT’s public information page, but this construction season is the first part of a two-year project to rebuild IA 122 in downtown Mason City. The KIMT story has views of … Continue reading

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Apr 11

Webster City to absorb Northeast Hamilton

May 28, 2012: Northeast Hamilton completed a major construction project at the beginning of the decade, and then began sending high school students to Webster City in 2015. Now what happens to the Trojan? The Northeast Hamilton school district formed in … Continue reading

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Apr 10

Tama County next to kiss its ash goodbye

A two-fer on the emerald ash borer front: Sites near each other in Le Grand served as the confirmation of the bug in Marshall and Tama counties. Strictly speaking, Traer and Dysart are not within the treatment radius from this … Continue reading

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Apr 09

Arnolds Park school to close … eventually

The Okoboji school district approved a bond issue for a new middle school Tuesday (story: Spencer Daily Reporter). The district covers the Iowa Great Lakes area south of 175th Street, with Arnolds Park, Milford, Okoboji (yes, there’s a town of … Continue reading

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Apr 08

All April in a week

When Mother Nature gets off the sauce, or as tired of winter as we are, but not without 3 to 4 inches of snow first. Exactly five years ago, it was the other way around.

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Apr 05

Last ride on the first escalator

April 1, 2018: Through the window on the first floor of Sears at Waterloo’s Crossroads Mall. The new Sears Roebuck Department Store, twice as big as the old and sparkling with the innovations of a “more modern and fashionable” head … Continue reading

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Apr 04

50th anniversary of MLK’s assassination

December 29, 2001: A wreath marks the spot where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in Memphis. The building of the Lorraine Motel was incorporated into the National Civil Rights Museum. Our trip to the 2001 Independence Bowl, like so … Continue reading

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Apr 03

D is for Dumont

July 7, 2015: The closed Hampton-Dumont Intermediate School in Dumont. The lighter-colored concrete portion with the school name is where the connection to the original school building was; that part was demolished in the 2005-06 school year. The passage of … Continue reading

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Apr 02

Could the state drop IA 922?

May 18, 2017: From the interchange at the south end of IA 922/Business 151. These shields have been replaced with the new wide style and small arrows. The Business 151 page has a bunch of new photos BTW. The Iowa … Continue reading

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