Author Archives: Jeff

Jul 18

Redhawks to state! Again!

Posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2012, at 10:52 AM by Jeff

The North Tama baseball team beat seventh-ranked BGM for its first trip to the state tournament in a decade, and the first since the tournament moved to Des Moines. The Redhawks will be the 8 seed playing Algona Garrigan. Marshalltown … Continue reading →

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Jul 17

Off the grid

Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2012, at 1:44 PM by Jeff

The title of the marker, “How Correctionville Got It’s Name!” is both enthusiastic and mispunctuated. It’s “its” not “it’s”. Correctionville, in Woodbury County, is named for the survey correction line that runs through the town and across the state. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction, Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Off the grid
Jul 16

License Plate Countdown — ZNR

Posted on Monday, July 16, 2012, at 12:21 AM by Jeff

Also, the current range on finding the start of the Null Set (slashed zero) is somewhere between YXZ and YYJ.

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Jul 15

North Tama district baseball champions

Posted on Sunday, July 15, 2012, at 12:45 AM by Jeff

With only two hits! There is one more game (substate) before the state tournament. North Tama has never played in Sec Taylor Stadium.

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Jul 13

Reduced speed north of Spencer cuts accidents

Posted on Friday, July 13, 2012, at 10:52 AM by Jeff

The four-lane portion of US 71 between Spencer and Milford has always been a little out of place. There’s no other significant stretch of four-lane around it until I-90 to the north, more recently IA 60 to the west and, … Continue reading →

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Jul 12

Help! Help! I’m being repressed!

Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2012, at 12:47 PM by Jeff

Stewart Mandel revisits his medieval college football pecking order and…well, duh. Peasants: Arizona, Baylor, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Rutgers, Temple, USF, Wake Forest, Washington State and Vanderbilt. What’s noticeable at the … Continue reading →

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Jul 11

The Return of the Incredible Shrinking Products

Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at 11:45 AM by Jeff

The Mike & Ike box was recently cut from 6 ounces to 5 ounces — a 17% cut! I knew something was different. Whenever the package says “10% more free” or gets redesigned, look out — chances are it’s preparation … Continue reading →

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Jul 11

We’re not good, but we’re still here

Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at 2:00 AM by Jeff

Last week SBNation calculated the “greatest” sports states by historical winning records of the pro and major-college teams that played in those states. Iowa is the, um, least greatest — one-thousandth of a point behind Missouri and two-thousandths behind Illinois. … Continue reading →

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Jul 10

The toughest job in college football

Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2012, at 7:21 PM by Jeff

David Ubben, who as ESPN’s Big 12 blogger doesn’t do Iowa State any favors, isn’t saying anything wrong in his ranking of football coaching jobs. It’s just that when you look at the aggregate like this, the bleakness really shows … Continue reading →

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Jul 10

Transportation bill includes IA 100 money

Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2012, at 12:51 AM by Jeff

The recently passed transportation bill includes money for the IA 100 bypass around Cedar Rapids, which has been held up at various points this century by environmental and budget issues. The Cedar Rapids Gazette says that while the money isn’t … Continue reading →

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