Author Archives: Jeff

Aug 07

Brie? Gouda? Wensleydale?

Posted on Tuesday, August 7, 2012, at 8:44 PM by Jeff

The Des Moines Register looks around a really big Hy-Vee: The combined food store, restaurant, coffee shop, sushi bar, health store, take-out food department, cooking education station and cheese shop is housed in more than 95,000 square feet. It’s the … Continue reading →

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Aug 07

How television ate college football

Posted on Tuesday, August 7, 2012, at 12:13 PM by Jeff

Andy Staples has an excellent long piece at SI.com. A key passage about the most recent events: Later, when it came time to add a 14th school, SEC leaders took Missouri. Clemson or Florida State might have made more geographic sense, … Continue reading →

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Aug 06

Everything except Business 20

Posted on Monday, August 6, 2012, at 9:28 AM by Jeff

July 25, 2012: The westernmost part of Business 20 through Fort Dodge now goes west a short bit on what was D26 before turning due south to immediately meet new 20. D36 is the designation for old 20 through Moorland … Continue reading →

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Aug 05

No construction on IA 330

Posted on Sunday, August 5, 2012, at 12:07 PM by Jeff

Planned work to build shoulders on the road south of Albion has been scrapped. (Marshalltown Times-Republican) Something was going to have to give, since the houses in the former village of Marietta are so close to the road. The road … Continue reading →

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Aug 03

Where I haven’t been in Iowa

Posted on Friday, August 3, 2012, at 9:31 PM by Jeff

After my latest excursion to the northwest (more on that eventually), I have been to or through all by 15 of Iowa’s 500 largest cities. The top of the “unvisited” list is Blue Grass (#211), by virtue of not really … Continue reading →

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Aug 01

The most the New York Times has written about Iowa State

Posted on Wednesday, August 1, 2012, at 12:34 PM by Jeff

I’m not completely sure the statement in the headline is true, but the vast majority of this article about what Penn State faces with scholarship reduction deals with just HOW BAD Cyclone football was in the Jim Walden era thanks … Continue reading →

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Jul 29

License Plate Countdown — ZTE

Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2012, at 5:02 PM by Jeff

Fewer than 120,000 plates to go. Expect a big jump soon since U and V are skipped.

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Jul 27

No bikes allowed

Posted on Friday, July 27, 2012, at 12:10 PM by Jeff

The segment of US 65 between IA 2 and Lineville on the 2012 Iowa Map for Bicyclists (PDF) doesn’t appear on the map at all. The map is color-coded with traffic counts — purple is the lowest, fewer than 700 vehicles … Continue reading →

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Jul 26

RAGBRAI XL: Where hasn’t it been?

Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012, at 12:15 PM by Jeff

County roads crisscross the state just waiting for bicycle riders at the end of every July, but in some places, there just isn’t easy access in without heavy vehicle traffic. Based on 2010 population and 40 years’ worth of maps … Continue reading →

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Jul 25

Seen in St. Anthony

Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012, at 9:49 PM by Jeff

“Please save our church. Buy beer and wine.” — St. Anthony Christian Church, Marshall County, which set up an all-Iowa-microbrew garden for RAGBRAI.

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