Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Oct 18

Out of the Boondocks

Boondocks, USA (Williams, Iowa), October 19, 2018 — I had never eaten at the Boondocks. Here it was, this famous truck stop, in the middle of Iowa at a once-major junction, a place I passed near many times on family … Continue reading

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Oct 15

Interstate 880 coming to Iowa!?!

July 24, 2019: For a limited time only The fall meeting of the AASHTO Special Committee on Route Numbering, which took place Oct. 5, has a doozy of a bombshell. Immediate reaction: W.T.F. Item No. 5 – State: Iowa Route: I-880 Action: … Continue reading

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Oct 10

Submarine Veterans Highway dedication Monday

The Submarine Veterans Highway, running from the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown to the State Capitol, will be dedicated Monday. The Marshalltown Times-Republican has more. A Marshalltown native died when a submarine sank off the coast of New Hampshire in 1939. … Continue reading

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Oct 09

The core dilemma for rural revitalization

This story from Stateline/Pew Charitable Trusts about disappearing rural grocery stores is mostly about areas with lower population density than Iowa, but there’s some Iowa stuff in here. An important quote comes from Drake University’s Jennifer Zwagerman: “How do you … Continue reading

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Oct 08

Website does everything my booklet did — statewide

Obviously, I need to write something about this. I haven’t had time to. But I did want to put the story up before it got too much older.

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Oct 01

Actual fake news about the World’s Largest Cheeto

Despite the Sept. 28 “Saturday Night Live” sketch to the contrary, the World’s Largest Cheeto is not along I-15, but in Algona, Iowa. (At least, at last report?) Or perhaps “biggest” and “largest” are different categories? Fact-checking a comedy show … Continue reading

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Sep 30

Iowa author has Titanic book coming out

(Oooohhhh….two of my favorite subjects in one.) Author/freelance writer Darcy Maulsby has a book coming out about Iowa’s connections to the Titanic, according to this story by KCHA Radio. (“Known author”? As opposed to “Unknown author?”) Maulsby, who previously wrote … Continue reading

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Sep 03

Watching an Iowa legend ply his craft

August 16, 2019: Bob Dorr (left) performs “Elvis in Paraguay” with three Elvis impersonators who crashed the concert at the MidAmerican Energy Stage at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. My Iowa State Fair day(s) have typically ended with hypnotist Ron Diamond (except … Continue reading

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Aug 16

Things to do in Des Moines when you’re alive

With all the national media in Iowa this week, we were bound to get some dispatches from the frontier-style stories. Roll Call has a 15-minute audio experience of the Iowa State Fair. The reporter spent “a day in the deep-fried … Continue reading

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Aug 15

Fair Squares, 2010-2018

The Rice Krispie Bar on a Stick (that couldn’t be called that) is off the menu at the Iowa State Fair. The fair board discontinued selling the treat this year, the Register reports, because of falling sales. That’s even after … Continue reading

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