Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Jan 30

Waukee bans Valentine’s Day

Posted on Thursday, January 30, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Waukee learned their staff was putting way too many resources into helping students decorate their Valentine’s Day trinkets. The school district also realized there was a growing number of families in their community that didn’t celebrate the holiday. I didn’t … Continue reading →

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Jan 23

Utah keeps powering past Iowa, with Nevada on its tail

Posted on Thursday, January 23, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The depopulation of rural Iowa is now a problem for the National Guard. In the adjutant general’s “Condition of the Guard” message to the Iowa Legislature earlier this month, he said: “I can’t continue to have quality infrastructure where I’m pouring … Continue reading →

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Jan 13

A historic note, slightly appended, or upended

Posted on Monday, January 13, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

After the 2018 midterms I wrote: So, barring surprises, in 2020 Iowa will have Republican women in three top positions — Reynolds, Ernst, and Speaker of the House Linda Upmeyer — and Democratic women in two more, Axne and Finkenauer. Well, … Continue reading →

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Jan 08

Hardin County Courthouse closes the front door

Posted on Wednesday, January 8, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

April 4, 2006: This view of the stately Hardin County Courthouse in Eldora now needs a notice at the top of the steps: Please use side door. The Iowa Falls Times-Citizen (two paragraphs, anyway) and KLMJ/KQCR Radio report that starting last … Continue reading →

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Jan 07

A Reinbeck lawyer writes about rural life

Posted on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Or possibly the Reinbeck lawyer, Abby Wessel, wrote for the November 2019 issue of the Iowa Lawyer magazine: Reinbeck is a small but prosperous town situated upon what is arguably the best farmland in the state. Mike offered me a … Continue reading →

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Jan 03

TV station coverage maps updated for the new decade

Posted on Friday, January 3, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Let’s say you are a presidential candidate. (Odds are you might be.) And let’s say you want to run the same ad at least twice every half-hour*. Since you’re mostly likely in that group with a percentage smaller than the … Continue reading →

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Dec 30

The decade in Iowa roads: Four-lane completions with a WTF cherry on top

Posted on Monday, December 30, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

November 4, 2019: From the Lincoln Highway in 2011 to the Jefferson Highway in 2019, Iowa’s scenic and historic byways received a more uniform, more visible signing scheme in the 2010s. Since the Second Great Decommissioning and completion of four-lane … Continue reading →

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Dec 23

Casey’s pushes pizza into the smart phone era

Posted on Monday, December 23, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

October 22, 2013: There’s a Casey’s in Casey, Illinois (seen here). There is not a Casey’s in Casey, Iowa. Casey’s hangs its convenience store hat on two major things: Serving rural Americans and making great pizza. In many places, maybe … Continue reading →

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Dec 05

End of an era for Iowa Public Television

Posted on Thursday, December 5, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

(You can stop watching the above at the 1:50 mark.) Just after marking its 50th anniversary of serving Iowans, the “Iowa Public Television” name is going away. According to the December issue of Advance magazine, when the new year starts … Continue reading →

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Nov 26

The end of a country lane

Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Shenandoah Valley News Today columnist Evelyn Birkby is hanging up her keyboard after more than 3600 columns. My Up a Country Lane column has been published in this newspaper every week without fail since 1949. Now I’ve reached a point in … Continue reading →

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