Author Archives: Jeff

Feb 05

Hawarden business corner gets new tenant, again

Posted on Friday, February 5, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

September 30, 2015: The building discussed below. The building that once housed a Kum & Go at the southeast corner of IA 10 and IA 12 in Hawarden is going away for a new property. Sometime after my 2015 visit, … Continue reading →

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Feb 03

Analysis of 2021 RAGBRAI map

Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

July 22, 2015: A sculpture made of bicycle parts greets RAGBRAI riders as they go through Parkersburg. UPDATE 5/4/21: Revised with information following revised daily route maps. In October, the RAGBRAI website put out unlabeled daily maps, based on the plan … Continue reading →

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Feb 01

What’s next for Wall Lake school?

Posted on Monday, February 1, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

June 24, 2017: The oldest part of Wall Lake school. I found out about the closure of Wall Lake Elementary School in late February of last year. It turned out to be one of the last things I blogged about on … Continue reading →

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Jan 29

Corning-Villisca merger on hold

Posted on Friday, January 29, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Corning and Villisca, which started whole-grade sharing in 2013 as Southwest Valley, last year started to make gestures toward full consolidation. But like pretty much everything else, the plague got in the way. KMA reports that the merger is on … Continue reading →

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Jan 27

Grassley makes Traer early stop on 99-county tour

Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

It hasn’t been a full year since Sen. Chuck Grassley last visited Tama County, but in four months he checked it off both his 2020 and 2021 lists. The senator visited Clearline Industries on Traer’s south side on Jan. 13 … Continue reading →

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Jan 26

115th anniversary of ‘Leander Clark College’

Posted on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In southern Linn County, just north of Shueyville, is a map dot called Western. The town came into existence in 1856 and was named because it had the westernmost college of the United Brethren Church. A Western College Road still … Continue reading →

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Jan 25

Rodney Dangerfield, call your office

Posted on Monday, January 25, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

I know ESPN’s been having trouble, but… (The announcing crew at the Baylor game said “Iowa Cyclones” at least once.)

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Jan 20

IA 88: The road that torqued off a Legislature

Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In 1920, IA 88 was a harmless little highway, between the tiny town of Altoona and the tinier town of Bondurant, slightly lengthened a year later. In 1935, it was nothing less than the first piece of a giant conspiracy, … Continue reading →

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Jan 18

Four verts, basketball style

Posted on Monday, January 18, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In case you missed the biggest sports story of the weekend. @GoDucksMC I am sure you have seen this play, but I never had. Late in the game as Iowa State was about to beat Baylor: pic.twitter.com/b6EGheqIxH — Carl Woideck … Continue reading →

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Jan 15

Little Brown Church being renovated

Posted on Friday, January 15, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

July 31, 2005: Closeup of LBC’s nameplate. The Waterloo Courier has a story, and some pretty courtesy photos, about the Little Brown Church getting its first major renovations in decades. The story mentions that a letter was left for the … Continue reading →

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