Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

OK, eating pie is better than reading about pie, but I can only do so much. Here’s a look at one of the pie contests at the Iowa State Fair.

Here’s my Substack story from when RAGBRAI passed through Aplington and Parkersburg. It’s only been a month since it happened, and if you haven’t read it, it’s new to you!

What if you could get the car associated with your childhood memories back? And it was in approximate driving condition? Well, when I went to Conrad’s Black Dirt Days in June, I found someone who did just that.

Two related, but discrete, items from the past week show us the significance of the loss of the Greatest Generation. First, from Pew Research: Reflecting on the United States’ actions, 35% of Americans today say using the atomic bomb on … Continue reading →

The Great Eastern Iowa Tractorcade switched sponsors from WMT to KXEL this year, partially because one of the main coordinators switched jobs. The 26th edition of this ride was in June, and for 2025 they started in Mount Pleasant and … Continue reading →

As of the 4 PM newscast on Wednesday, KCRG has wholly (or 95%?) adopted the graphics package used by all the other Gray Media TV stations. Two words: CALLED IT. It’s also dropped having a ticker at the bottom in … Continue reading →

While doing Lincoln Highway research for Nebraska, I discovered that Elm Creek, a town along US 30, replaced its 100-year old school in 2022-23… …and had an amazingly well-preserved time capsule*… …and then I looked into what “NTV” was — … Continue reading →

My Substack column for May 3 questions the utility of the Alliant Energy LightLine bridge south of downtown Cedar Rapids once its original goal, using part of the abandoned Rock Island Railroad bridge, turned out to be infeasible.