Author Archives: Jeff

Feb 20

Iowa newspapers to be archived, digitized

YAY! Under the authority of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, the State Historical Society has signed a 5-year contract to loan the newspapers to the Advantage Companies, a Cedar Rapids business with a division dedicated to the preservation and … Continue reading

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Iowa newspapers to be archived, digitized
Feb 18

Devaluation by omission

For the old salts of the Internet, read this sentence and notice what it doesn’t say. Quick, name five tech websites. Give up? There’s Recode, The Verge,Tech Crunch, Select All and Ars Technica. A glance at Techmeme, the aggregator for Silicon Valley obsessives, shows at least … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Devaluation by omission
Feb 17

Most of Walnut school will be saved

August 2, 2016: A view of the Walnut school complex. Something to end the week on a little higher note. The town of Walnut will turn its now-closed school into a community center, the Omaha World-Herald reports. The core is … Continue reading

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on Most of Walnut school will be saved
Feb 16

Ainsworth school will close

It’s been a brutal time for rural Iowa schools. Over three weeks, three towns have been told their only school will close forever and two more districts acknowledged they can no longer maintain their high schools. The third ax to … Continue reading

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on Ainsworth school will close
Feb 15

Bernard Elementary will close

In what was pretty much a foregone conclusion after the initial news broke in December, Western Dubuque voted on Monday to close Bernard Elementary. Stories: KWWL, KCRG. In the KWWL interview, the district superintendent said it costs twice as much … Continue reading

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on Bernard Elementary will close
Feb 14

Charter Oak-Ute losing high school; new area, acronym champion

(A championship no one particularly wanted to gain. — Ed.) For months I have been waiting to find out what would happen to Charter Oak-Ute. There were rumblings back in October that COU would enter into a one-way whole-grade-sharing agreement … Continue reading

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on Charter Oak-Ute losing high school; new area, acronym champion
Feb 13

Laurens-Marathon losing its high school

July 23, 2009: Laurens-Marathon High School in Laurens. There are newer additions to the left. “The busiest little town in Iowa” is about to get less busy. Laurens-Marathon will not have a high school next year; it has agreed to … Continue reading

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on Laurens-Marathon losing its high school
Feb 10

Lincoln Highway corridor plan released

Prairie Rivers of Iowa, after meetings with people and organizations along the Lincoln Highway, has released a comprehensive Corridor Management Plan for the historic route in Iowa. (Story: Ames Tribune via Iowa State Daily) The nearly-200-MB-PDF comprehensive plan covers about anything … Continue reading

Posted in Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Lincoln Highway corridor plan released
Feb 09

Gladbrook-Reinbeck dissolution vote returns

Yes, we’re apparently doing this all over again. Short recap (all back to old blog posts): The Gladbrook-Reinbeck school board voted to close the Gladbrook center, residents petitioned to dissolve the district, MANY meetings were held, a map was drawn, … Continue reading

Posted in Schools, Tama County | Comments Off on Gladbrook-Reinbeck dissolution vote returns
Feb 08

Traer pork tenderloin recognized

It’s been online for a week, but the Des Moines Register ran a feature on “Best Pork Tenderloins” in Tuesday’s paper. The tenderloin at 1901 Chop Haus in Traer (in the building that once housed Axon’s/Third Base/Joker’s) got second place … Continue reading

Posted in Tama County | Comments Off on Traer pork tenderloin recognized