Author Archives: Jeff

Oct 04

Moorhead school rescued from abandonment

There are plenty of sad stories about abandoned Iowa schools, so when there’s a success, we should give credit where it’s due. East Monona hasn’t been a school district since 2004, and the building in Moorhead soon had problems, but … Continue reading

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Oct 02

ISU football sets TV sports record

But not the kind we wanted… (emphasis added) The Baylor/Iowa State college football game drew a 0.9 overnight rating on FOX Saturday night, down 25% from Arizona/Washington last year (1.2), down 68% from Texas/Oklahoma State in 2012 (2.8), and tied as … Continue reading

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Oct 01

Eastbound

Effective today, I am working at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Blogging may be intermittent/sporadic as I get settled in and make sure my Internet works. This is a timed post.

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Sep 30

Second US 65 Bondurant stoplight activated

The four-lane US 65 diagonal through Bondurant gets a little more suburban with the addition of a signal at 32nd Street starting tomorrow. This is between Grant Street (former IA 945) and I-80. There will be another signal added to US 65 … Continue reading

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Sep 29

Beltway interstate designation talk rises again

December 18, 2006: Two numbers, two opposing directions, and the occasional bout of confusion about what road you’re on. US 65 and IA 5 share the Des Moines beltway between US 69 and Carlisle. I have pointed out before that … Continue reading

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Sep 26

License Plate Letters — CRX

I have seen some CQ’s out there, so this cycle does not look like it’s skipping letters. The replacement cycle has slowed down quite noticeably, although every once in a while I have seen an old 1997-series plate still floating … Continue reading

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Sep 26

Some little school demolition notes

This turned into an all-school week without me quite realizing it! Anyway, here are a couple little items of note: Although I don’t typically track big-city buildings, Iowa City is tearing down a school built in 1917-18. Also on the … Continue reading

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Sep 25

Benton Community considers closing Van Horne Elementary

The Benton Community school district is not necessarily small for Iowa, in either size or population, but it has endured enrollment declines like any other mostly-rural district. After absorbing Norway in 1991, the district covers about the southern half of … Continue reading

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Sep 24

Dire straits for Farragut, Hamburg

Last week had more bad news for the Farragut and Hamburg school districts in far southwest Iowa. KMA and the Omaha World-Herald both have stories. Both say the state has given the districts a 30-day deadline to explain how they … Continue reading

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Sep 23

First meeting on Remsen-Union, MMC sharing

Here’s a follow-up to an earlier blog post, with more follow-ups to come. KTIV covered the first meeting about potential sharing between Remsen-Union and Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn. Marcus would get the high school and Remsen fifth through eighth grades. Remsen-Union’s teams are … Continue reading

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