Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Apr 05

Analysis of 2019 RAGBRAI route

Perhaps the strangest thing about this year’s RAGBRAI route map release, now that the day-by-day trickle is an established thing, is that the Register‘s website didn’t really say anything about it. On that Sunday morning, there was nothing except the … Continue reading

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Apr 02

The Not Daily Times Herald

As of this week, Iowa has one fewer daily newspaper. The paper that from World War II until now was known as the Daily Times Herald is becoming the Carroll Times-Herald, with publication on Tuesdays and Fridays. The announcement also … Continue reading

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Mar 30

An unfortunate closing in the nick of time

In 1978, as enrollment in the South Page school district was falling*, the district closed its attendance centers in both Braddyville and Coin. It was a far cry from the optimism of just over a decade earlier, when voters approved … Continue reading

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Mar 25

Shopko is toast

The deep bleeding that was already coming out earlier this year is complete, as the Shopko retail chain filed for bankruptcy and liquidation last week. The remaining dozen stores in Iowa that had escaped the earlier closures — based on this … Continue reading

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Mar 21

Marking the Marathon to Marathon

July 23, 2009: Welcome sign for Marathon at the south end of former IA 390. Nearly a decade later, the paint on the church sign had noticeably faded. It’s 16 years to the day since I set foot in Marathon in the … Continue reading

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Mar 08

Four, count ’em four, visits to Dows

September 11, 2014: Eight years after starting its partnership with CAL, Dows started sending students to Clarion-Goldfield, one of the few times a school switched sharing arrangements before eventual consolidation. (TLDR: I added a bunch of photos to the IA 72 … Continue reading

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Mar 01

Daily Iowegian becomes slightly less daily

Mondays are cancelled in Centerville. The oldest business in Appanoose County, the Daily Iowegian newspaper, will no longer print a Monday edition after next week’s. In a column/letter to readers, the editor and publisher write: The choice was necessary in … Continue reading

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Feb 28

IA 406 and Burlington’s ‘Seedling Mile’

When you look at IA 406 before its death in the Second Great Decommissioning, it’s hard to make an argument for its existence. It was never a spur to West Burlington — in fact, it’s a bypass of the oldest part … Continue reading

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Feb 20

A very pinpointed tax

September 17, 2007: The then-Super 8 in Rock Valley has been the town’s only motel, but has since lost its franchise tag. Of the out-of-the-way places I’ve stayed in Iowa, this is one of them. Rock Valley is one of … Continue reading

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Feb 11

Retail apocalypse comes to Tama County

The news of Shopko closures that happened earlier this year has gotten worse. Ten Iowa cities already found out their store was closing. But Feb. 6, that list was expanded to the point that 24 of Iowa’s 36 Shopko/Shopko Hometown stores … Continue reading

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