Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Jan 05

A missed tourism opportunity

Council: Can’t build pig in Marengo city square (Cedar Rapids Gazette, January 4, 1966) MARENGO — Marengo isn’t going to have a pig in the city square park. In unanimous action, the city council Monday night favored construction of the … Continue reading

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Dec 28

‘Nothing of much interest occurred to day’

via Library of Congress It is true that President James K. Polk’s diary on December 28, 1846, ended with “Nothing of much interest occurred to day”. However, through the Library of Congress, we know that wasn’t the entire entry. Polk, … Continue reading

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Dec 27

Visit939Iowa+

I have both noted and ragged on the two guys from Nebraska who visited every incorporated place in Iowa this year and turned their travels into a book, “Visit 939 Iowa”. I am pleased and obligated to report that my … Continue reading

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Nov 08

Eating your way down the Lincoln Highway

WHO’s Roger Riley drove Iowa’s eastern half of the Lincoln Highway for a feature story. This means he got PAID to eat prime rib at the Lighthouse Inn near Cedar Rapids, an omelet at the Lincoln Cafe in Belle Plaine, … Continue reading

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Oct 20

Taking a run through every town

For all the hubbub about the two Nebraska guys going to every BUT NOT EVERY town in Iowa, there’s another cross-state trekker out there, and he’s doing it the hard way. For the last six years, Tyler Sullivan of North … Continue reading

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Sep 22

It’s 941, not 939

I should have said something earlier. I should have said it when I made a post about it. The two Nebraska students who visited “all 939” towns in Iowa this summer — and got another article in the Register — … Continue reading

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Sep 15

Cafe 218 is gone; Dollar General coming to Dysart?

The old Cafe 218 in Vinton opened shortly after the US 218 bypass of Vinton did. For about a decade, it was vacant. As of the week before Labor Day, it’s gone. Stories: Vinton News, Vinton Today. The land is … Continue reading

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Aug 12

Iowa State Fair 2021: Metal detectors, NO TRAM

I once said a year without the Iowa State Fair would be unfathomable. Well, we’ve seen and heard a lot of unfathomable things lately. Now the Iowa State Fair is BACK, but with a couple of changes that show things … Continue reading

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Aug 11

When is Channel 14 not Channel 14?

KMEG, Sioux City’s CBS affiliate, is by a good margin the youngest of the “Big Three” network stations serving Iowa. It is more than a decade younger than any except WQAD, which preceded it by four years. Its youth is … Continue reading

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Aug 10

Derecho day

August 18, 2020: Derecho-damaged trees in Keystone. Sign says “Thanks firemen, Dave M and all volunteers. We appreciate you!!” See this blog post for more pictures. “You have 20 minutes!” I said to the front desk as I left the fitness … Continue reading

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