Author Archives: Jeff

Sep 04

Manilla school has come down

May 22, 2014: The entrance to the 1915 school building at Manilla. Here is a photo gallery from that day, including pictures from the inside. In 2014, I wrote for the Des Moines Register that the IKM-Manning school board had … Continue reading

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Sep 03

Derecho claims the King Tower Cafe

The King Tower Cafe on the east side of Tama is closed for good, the Tama-Toledo News-Chronicle reported last month. 🙁 “Unfortunately after the epidemic we were hit very hard financially after having to be closed for those weeks that we … Continue reading

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Sep 02

Nevada city council favors west interchange

The ongoing issue of making US 30 a full freeway between Ames and Nevada took another step last month. The Nevada City Council voted in favor of an interchange at Airport Road/W 18th Street/610th Avenue on the west side of … Continue reading

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Sep 01

Him Jarbaugh

In working on my map of visited counties, I ran into a color problem. With a new color selected every two years (more or less), the palette of strong contrasts is running out. I’ve been through the box of eight, … Continue reading

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Aug 31

Ankeny diverging diamond delayed

A full opening of the rebuilt interchange of I-35 and 1st Street in Ankeny has been delayed, KCCI reports. It was supposed to be this week. The news story in the second link has a guide through the interchange, which … Continue reading

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Aug 28

Football(?)(*)(?)

There is to be football in Traer tonight. After Iowa became the first state to complete high school seasons in any sport (despite both the North Tama softball and baseball teams unable to say the same), Iowa will be one … Continue reading

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Aug 27

Big T Maid-Rite has closed

Another item lost in the shuffle: The Big T Maid-Rite in Toledo, at the corner of (Business) US 30 and US 63 since that intersection opened in the mid-1950s, is gone for good. The restaurant went from being forced closed … Continue reading

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Aug 26

Southwest Arterial open; US 52 beside itself

The Southwest Arterial in Dubuque opened August 17. Stories: KCRG, KWWL, KDTH. (Sorry for the delay, but I’d been commuting an hour each way for more than a week and, well, *gestures omnidirectionally*.) As of Sunday, all US 52 signage … Continue reading

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Aug 24

Iowa’s 1920 highway system: Small connectors

Some of this batch of routes seem superfluous, but there was usually some sort of rationale for their existence. IA 53: Nora Springs to Charles City via Rockford instead of Rudd, out of a request from the Floyd County supervisors. … Continue reading

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Aug 21

‘Votes count now’

From the September 23, 1920, Tama Herald, unsigned but presumably from editor/publisher Charles J. Wonser: Votes count now. For many years we men have been told what would happen if women were given equal suffrage with men. Now they have … Continue reading

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