Author Archives: Jeff

Jul 21

CAL unable to continue football

The tiny Coulter-Alexander-Latimer school district, known as CAL, has played its last football game. The numbers were no longer there to support a varsity team, KLMJ Radio reports. (Thanks to Austin Draude for the report.) The district will be sharing … Continue reading

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Jul 20

Design for IA 141, NW 100th Street interchanges selected

May 7, 2006: This loop ramp from eastbound I-80/northbound I-35 to IA 141/Urbandale Avenue will be removed by the end of the 2010s. KCCI reports that the Iowa DOT last week selected Alternative 2 for the IA 141 interchange at … Continue reading

Posted in Construction | Comments Off on Design for IA 141, NW 100th Street interchanges selected
Jul 18

That time of year already?

On Thursday, Grundy Center beat GMG, 24-17. In GMG’s previous game, the Wolverines beat AGWSR 14-10. In baseball. GC plays Monday today in Traer, but not against North Tama. In an unfortunate twist that mirrored the one that befell the girls’ … Continue reading

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Jul 17

Revisiting “Back to the Future” locations

LA Weekly went to every (or nearly every) shooting location in Back to the Future, and the comparisons of then and now, especially the Universal backlot and Whittier High School, are very interesting. The backlot certainly has changed — kind … Continue reading

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Jul 16

River Road closed near Montrose

The Daily Gate City in Keokuk reported at the beginning of the month that part of River Road near Montrose has collapsed and will be closed until further notice. I assume from context that the road is X28, named Mississippi … Continue reading

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Jul 14

On the Iowa DOT director’s “fewer roads” statement

The director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, Paul Trombino, said recently the state of Iowa is going to have a smaller road system. This potentially explosive statement has been picked up by the Gazette, but before that, the Atlantic’s CityLab was … Continue reading

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Jul 13

A very specific corridor

The DOT has a meeting scheduled for a “corridor preservation plan” at the I-35 interchange with IA 175 at Ellsworth. The map (PDF) shows that there is a very specific corridor to preserve — four of them, actually, one in … Continue reading

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Jul 10

Texas’ ISU license plate mentioned in Supreme Court case

(No, not that one. Or that one, either.) In a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Texas has the right to deny Sons of Confederate Veterans a specialty license plate, Justice Samuel Alito dissented by way of a sports analogy: … Continue reading

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Jul 09

Dows depot still open, just not as welcome center

A month ago I mentioned the new Iowa highway map did not include the Dows welcome center, further confirmed by the removal of signs for it on I-35. Austin Draude of KLMJ Radio in Hampton let me know that while … Continue reading

Posted in Maps | Comments Off on Dows depot still open, just not as welcome center
Jul 08

The last outs for Northeast Hamilton

May 28, 2012: Northeast Hamilton completed a major construction project at the beginning of the decade. The final event for Northeast Hamilton High School in Blairsburg will be a baseball game against North Tama tonight. The regular season ends Friday … Continue reading

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