Author Archives: Jeff

Dec 02

North Liberty comes around on ‘Highway 965’

Posted on Wednesday, December 2, 2015, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

September 28, 2014: “Highway 965” appeared on detour signs on I-380 because that’s the street’s official name, for now at least. Iowa Highway 965 was born in 1985, running between the south side of Cedar Rapids and Coralville when US 218 … Continue reading →

Posted in Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on North Liberty comes around on ‘Highway 965’
Dec 01

Race to replace Kraig Paulsen just got interesting

Posted on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Kraig Paulsen resigned as speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives earlier this year and he will not run for re-election in his suburban Cedar Rapids seat. An election to replace a former speaker is interesting in its own right, … Continue reading →

Posted in Maps | Comments Off on Race to replace Kraig Paulsen just got interesting
Nov 30

Iowa’s first diverging diamond interchange opens Tuesday

Posted on Monday, November 30, 2015, at 10:17 AM by Jeff

The I-80 interchange at Alice’s Road Grand Prairie Parkway between Waukee and West Des Moines is scheduled to open Dec. 1, the Des Moines Register reports. The interchange is a diverging diamond, where traffic temporarily runs on the left side … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction, Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Iowa’s first diverging diamond interchange opens Tuesday
Nov 26

Obsoletely fabulous

Posted on Thursday, November 26, 2015, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

My iMac turned six years old this month. I still use it as my main machine. It runs Mac OS 10.6.8, the last release that allows use of PowerPC applications. It’s also the last version before form began running roughshod … Continue reading →

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Nov 25

Hamburg would like Farragut’s land

Posted on Wednesday, November 25, 2015, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

School districts in Fremont and western Page counties, from a state map of school levy rates. The town of Riverton is where Hamburg, Farragut, and Sidney meet. In light of last week’s decision by the state to nuke the Farragut … Continue reading →

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on Hamburg would like Farragut’s land
Nov 24

How Iowa State has lost football games in the 21st century

Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2015, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

[This was slightly less painful when I started writing it Oct. 19. Slightly. Paul Rhoads was the perfect man for ISU football everywhere except the W-L ledger. -Ed.] In light of Nebraska’s pair of hilarious losses to BYU and Illinois, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on How Iowa State has lost football games in the 21st century
Nov 23

MMCRU: A quadrant unfilled

Posted on Monday, November 23, 2015, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The combined Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn/Remsen-Union High School will be called… MMCRU. I thought there could have been a concession to Remsen-Union to give it the first part of the name, but overall in Iowa there’s only a handful of two-name/two-part districts where … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Schools | Comments Off on MMCRU: A quadrant unfilled
Nov 22

The toughest job in college football is now open

Posted on Sunday, November 22, 2015, at 12:48 PM by Jeff

Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads has been fired after Saturday’s absolute debacle at Kansas State, where the Cyclones snatched defeat from the jaws of what would have been the first second victory in the Little Apple since Bill Snyder started … Continue reading →

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Nov 21

Farragut is third forced dissolution in state history

Posted on Saturday, November 21, 2015, at 10:42 AM by Jeff

The Iowa Board of Education has ordered an end to the Farragut school district after multiple years of deficit spending and facilities not in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. This is the third overall state-mandated dissolution in Iowa’s … Continue reading →

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Nov 19

Division in a time for unity

Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2015, at 10:01 AM by Jeff

It has been my opinion that while nothing can easily soothe the feelings of a community that has lost its high school, winning a state championship in a major sport goes a long way toward healing rifts. But I’ve never … Continue reading →

Posted in Schools, Tama County | Comments Off on Division in a time for unity