Author Archives: Jeff

Feb 28

You say you want a revolution

Posted on Friday, February 28, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

On my Mediacom bill: Programming expenses, including sports and local broadcast stations like ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC are our fastest growing wholesale cost and have increased again for 2020. Because of this, the following monthly rates have been adjusted … Continue reading →

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Feb 27

Boxed Out (or, Going Topless)

Posted on Thursday, February 27, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Reminder: Dig up all those Casey’s pizza box tops you can find, because this weekend they’re going away forever. (Story: KCCI.) Here’s my collection, which also shows a clip of the multiple changes in boxes over the past five years … Continue reading →

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Feb 26

Wall Lake losing its school

Posted on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

June 24, 2017: The Wall Lake school complex embodies the structure repeated in so many towns in Iowa in the 20th century: A pre-Depression symmetrical brick structure (seen above), a gymnasium (1952), and an addition built in the 1960s. This … Continue reading →

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Feb 25

A coordinated effort?

Posted on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Look at what WHO’s Erin Kiernan was wearing Monday. Now look at what KCRG’s Beth Malicki was wearing Monday. Unfortunately, I can’t embed this one. No criticism here at all, just noticing an amazing coincidence. (Yes, I routinely watch two different … Continue reading →

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Feb 24

Today in ‘John Philip Sousa Hates Clarinets’

Posted on Monday, February 24, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Oh, I’ll tell you what “mf” stands for here, that’s for sure. This issue is endemic to all Sousa marches, even “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Whee, sight-transposing! From “The Thunderer,” which the Marine Band says was Sousa’s wife’s favorite (PDF).

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Feb 21

2019-20 enrollment update

Posted on Friday, February 21, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Iowa’s school districts start enrollment in the 2020s the same way as previous decades — with some of the rich getting richer and many of the poor getting poorer. Total Iowa public school certified enrollment, rounded, is palindromic: 490,094. About … Continue reading →

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Feb 20

Ventura losing its school

Posted on Thursday, February 20, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

August 17, 2017: The jersey of six-on-six basketball star Lynne Lorenzen of Ventura High School is in the State Historical Society’s “Iowa History 101 Mobile Museum.” At left is Natasha Kaiser-Brown’s medal from the 1992 Summer Olympics. I saw the … Continue reading →

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Feb 19

The optimism that was

Posted on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

October 16, 2009: Belle Plaine High School (1911), last used as Central Elementary during the school year this photo was taken, was torn down in 2016-17. I was going to use this as an intro to a post, but its … Continue reading →

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Feb 18

Wapello bypass issue escalates to Legislature

Posted on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Remember the prolonged struggle between Wapello and the Iowa DOT, and Mediapolis and the Iowa DOT, where the communities are fighting tooth and nail to get multiple exits on a four-lane US 61 and the DOT is having none of … Continue reading →

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Feb 14

Iowa’s last Kmarts close Sunday

Posted on Friday, February 14, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

August 19, 2019: This is not a Kmart in Iowa; this is the one in International Falls, Minnesota, that was in the nationwide round of Kmart closures announced in September and closed Dec. 16. It will be the last Kmart … Continue reading →

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