Author Archives: Jeff

Apr 19

Mmm…pi

Posted on Friday, April 19, 2013, at 10:20 AM by Jeff

Des Moines got a record 3.14 inches of rain for April 17 on Wednesday. To add a little perspective on this, its wettest April day ever was April 28, 1974 with 3.8 inches.

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Apr 18

Drought buster

Posted on Thursday, April 18, 2013, at 10:43 AM by Jeff

Nearly all of Tama County is now at normal moisture conditions, according to the Drought Monitor – and that doesn’t include any rain since Tuesday morning. Now the eastern third of the state is normal, and only an area around … Continue reading →

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Apr 17

Manitoba 75 now joins I-29

Posted on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, at 3:39 PM by Jeff

May 10, 2007: This is the only Manitoba Highway 29 shield ever posted…and now it’s gone. When the northernmost part of I-29 opened in North Dakota, it took away traffic from one of the busiest port of entry stations in … Continue reading →

Posted in Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Manitoba 75 now joins I-29
Apr 15

IA 86 closed to rebuild state line curves

Posted on Monday, April 15, 2013, at 9:52 AM by Jeff

The section of IA 86 north of IA 9 wasn’t built as a state highway. It wasn’t taken over until 1981. Since then, the tight curves that mark a shift in section lines at the state line have remained. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction | Comments Off on IA 86 closed to rebuild state line curves
Apr 14

Football coach rankings

Posted on Sunday, April 14, 2013, at 3:00 PM by Jeff

In all but approximately a dozen places in the country, four losses year in and year out is likely to result in a building named after you, because it means 9 or 10 wins every season. But in an entry regarding … Continue reading →

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Apr 14

101 years later, April 14 is a Sunday again

Posted on Sunday, April 14, 2013, at 11:40 AM by Jeff

(The moment occurred 12 hours after this post. Well, nine hours, adjusting for time zones.)

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Apr 13

Southwest Arterial: The last white whale of Iowa roads?

Posted on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at 3:05 PM by Jeff

US 52’s future may be in a short-lived piece of its past. (1965 state map) It took half a century, but the most significant portions of Iowa’s 1968 freeway/expressway plan have been realized or put perceptibly on track. There are … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction, Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Southwest Arterial: The last white whale of Iowa roads?
Apr 12

Getting wetter

Posted on Friday, April 12, 2013, at 2:44 PM by Jeff

Much of Tama County has now been upgraded to “abnormally dry” while farther east, the drought is “over” inasmuch as there are “normal conditions.” This week’s rain will shrink the red and orange areas even more.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous, Tama County | Comments Off on Getting wetter
Apr 12

142 Addisons, 103 Bentleys(?!), 67 Jaxons, 60 Nevaehs, 33 Makennas

Posted on Friday, April 12, 2013, at 1:18 AM by Jeff

…and only five Melissas and five Jeffreys were born in Iowa in 2011. A bunch of other names in the Class of 2000 were also in single digits.

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Apr 10

State of Iowa 2-3 in ESPN’s Ultimate Bracket

Posted on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, at 10:03 AM by Jeff

ESPN picked the 63 best NCAA games organized by seed matchup/round-of-X and each Iowa team is represented. ISU’s win over Miami of Ohio in 1986 is the surprise guest here, an 81-79 overtime win on Jeff Hornacek’s last-second shot. UNI’s … Continue reading →

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