Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Apr 05

Full RAGBRAI map printed

Since I made the point that the Register had not printed a single continuous RAGBRAI map as it usually does at the beginning of March, it is only fair that I follow up now that a guide to the route … Continue reading

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Mar 30

Q is for Quarry

October 18, 2009: Where am I? The village of Quarry, near Le Grand, returned to the state map in 1999 after a 50-year absence. Quarry made the news last year when an old wooden bridge over the railroad connecting to … Continue reading

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Mar 26

When keyword searches go wrong

Um…

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Mar 25

Pork Princess position pulled

This year, the Iowa Pork Producers Association “combined the Iowa Pork Queen and Premier Pork Youth Ambassador contests into one competition this year and is no longer naming an Iowa Pork Princess.” Tama County’s Christy Calderwood ended her reign as … Continue reading

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Mar 18

Blue Bunny redesign masks decrease in container size

Not even an Iowa icon is immune from the Law of Shrinking Products. The week’s previous post referencing the trend was written around two weeks ago, but a tour of the Hy-Vee frozen section has merited a second entry along … Continue reading

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Mar 15

RAGBRAI map analysis, in dribs and drabs

For the first time in decades at least, the full RAGBRAI route was not printed as a single map in The Des Moines Register. This year, the Iowa Life cover on the first Sunday of March was about… prom styles. … Continue reading

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Mar 02

Chuck Offenburger writes about Diagonal

Former “Iowa Boy” Des Moines Register columnist Chuck Offenburger is still a prolific writer and blogger — he wrote a book about Bernie Saggau and the IHSAA in 2005. Recently, he made the trip down to Diagonal to see basketball games … Continue reading

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Mar 01

The appointment that never happened

December 31, 2015: Dr. Haldy’s dentist office in Traer, on his last official day in business. I was supposed to see my dentist on caucus day. Instead, though, I found out in October that Willard Haldy, Traer’s dentist, planned to … Continue reading

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Feb 25

Wagon Wheel Bridge irreparably damaged

July 7, 2013: The Wagon Wheel Bridge in Boone County was accessible to pedestrians after its closure to traffic. In the foreground is the portion of the bridge that was damaged in early August 2015 and removed. One of Iowa’s … Continue reading

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Feb 17

Z is for Zero

There’s nothing there.

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