Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Mar 22

Women’s work in the Iowa Highway Commission (1)

Posted on Monday, March 22, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

This clip of a blueprint for a project on IA 24 in New Hampton in 1964 is emblematic of the style used in Iowa Highway Commission documents from the mid-1920s to 1970s. Pre-1925 documents have more embellishment of some labels. … Continue reading →

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Mar 17

When the calendar stopped

Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

On Sunday, March 8, 2020, in the final game of the regular season, the Iowa State women spoiled Baylor’s perfect conference record in front of 10,000 people at Hilton Coliseum. It would be the last collegiate sporting event in Iowa for … Continue reading →

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Mar 12

Catchup on stateline pages

Posted on Friday, March 12, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

July 24, 2019: I-80 meets I-29 right as it comes into Iowa. Technically, this gantry is on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River. Ahead is the current highway welcome sign. Some members of the Iowa Legislature see a need … Continue reading →

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Feb 26

Mid-Iowa Council’s first female Eagle Scouts

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2021, at 10:01 AM by Jeff

Girls in Ankeny and Ottumwa are the first two in central Iowa to become Eagle Scouts after changes to Scouting opened the doors to them. Stories: Des Moines Register, KYOU (with video). They are among the first 1,000 girls nationwide … Continue reading →

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Feb 22

Today is March 359, 2020

Posted on Monday, February 22, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Large Group All-State Speech honors were given out to Iowa high school students last week. (See, for example, here and here and here and here.) Each locally-focused story, though, contains one sad detail: There will be no All-State performance day. Again. … Continue reading →

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Feb 12

Tama Jim’s send-off banquet

Posted on Friday, February 12, 2021, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

When Tom Vilsack is confirmed as secretary of agriculture (again), he will join nine other men who have served in the same Cabinet post more than eight years — and the first to do it nonconsecutively. To meet Tama Jim Wilson’s … Continue reading →

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Feb 10

Evelyn Birkby, 1919-2021

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

In 2019 I took note of a longtime columnist in southwestern Iowa who was hanging it up after seven decades, at the age of 100. Evelyn Birkby died Sunday. The UI has a collection of old photos and columns. UI Press’ … Continue reading →

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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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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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