Author Archives: Jeff

Oct 22

In the balance

Iowa State is currently 5-5 all-time against Baylor, with subsets of 5-4 in Big 12 play and 3-2 at home. Baylor is, at the moment, one of two teams in the conference without a conference win. Both times Baylor has … Continue reading

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Oct 22

Windsor Heights doesn’t include Hickman Road

Despite being in the southwest corner of the intersection of Hickman Road and 63rd Street, this position is actually in Urbandale. Here’s an interesting tidbit I came across last week. If you look at the DOT city map of Windsor … Continue reading

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous, Maps | Comments Off on Windsor Heights doesn’t include Hickman Road
Oct 21

High school football playoff brackets

The Class A bracket (PDF) only has four teams with losing records! North Tama gets one of them, 4-5 Turkey Valley. Other classes are on the main IHSAA football page.

Posted in Sports, Tama County | Comments Off on High school football playoff brackets
Oct 20

Last day for Toledo Pamida

Another Iowa/Midwest business name bites the dust with the conversion of Pamida stores to Shopkos. The Toledo store, one of two retail stores in Tama County, closes today for a week for the conversion to begin. (Toledo Chronicle) Note that the exterior … Continue reading

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Oct 20

Statistics must now be extrapolated

The 2012 NCAA Division I-A Record Book (PDF, p. 64-65) no longer lists all-time win-loss records by percentage and victory total for every team. Only the top 50 are given for those two categories, with every team listed alphabetically after … Continue reading

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Oct 19

Another decade for US 20?

KTIV interviews a highway commissioner who says finishing upgrading US 20 to four lanes in western Iowa could take until 2025. Yikes. (Also of note: KTIV is using the same graphic style as KWWL, including the moving background of the … Continue reading

Posted in Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Another decade for US 20?
Oct 19

Spanning the state

Numbers to know (Cedar Rapids Gazette): The Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory counts 24,799 Iowa spans. Of the total, 5,358 are considered structurally deficient, and another 1,320 functionally obsolete. Iowa has more bridges than California.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Spanning the state
Oct 18

Mt. Vernon-Lisbon bypass back on the list

A decade after thinking about and shelving the plan, a US 30 bypass of Mount Vernon and Lisbon has again advanced to the public-hearing stage. This year’s meeting will be Oct. 30 (PDF). The map is here (PDF). With the opening … Continue reading

Posted in Construction, Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Mt. Vernon-Lisbon bypass back on the list
Oct 16

License Plate Countdown — ERROR STACK OVERFLOW

Pac-Man Level 256; the arcade game runs out of memory Chris Dobel reports seeing a license plate from Linn County beginning with AFR. Just like that, the rollover is here. Some counties may not have exhausted their Z stacks yet, … Continue reading

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Oct 15

Political pronunciation of Missouri

How do you pronounce the name of Iowa’s southern neighbor when you’re in that state? The New York Times is looking at the political implications of pronouncing Missour-ee like a Northerner/urban/younger person or Missou-rah like a Southerner/rural/older person. Another dimension to … Continue reading

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