Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Dec 08

Bloomington Road bridge is a goner

August 24, 2013: The Bloomington Road bridge over Big Creek in Linn County is part of the Lincoln Highway loop route through Marion. Linn County had it taken down at the end of 2015. As previously noted, a classic truss bridge in … Continue reading

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Dec 04

Politico: Iowa still matters

As the Iowa caucuses get nearer, so too does criticism about the state’s role in the presidential process. But Colin Woodard, whose research has divided much of North America into 11 “nations,” writes in Politico that Iowa’s settlement heritage makes … Continue reading

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Oct 27

Where is Harmony City?

“Then would you mind telling me what you’re doing in the middle of a plain in Iowa — and what I’m doing here, for that matter?” Occasionally in books or movies a character will drop a reference to some place … Continue reading

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Oct 22

Register’s ‘Lost Schools’ on IPTV tonight

The Des Moines Register‘s documentary about the changes and decline of rural Iowa’s school districts airs on Iowa Public Television at 7 tonight. Former North Tama principal Nick Pace is among those interviewed. In conjunction with that, Iowa Public Radio interviewed reporter … Continue reading

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Oct 19

More about Iowa’s northern and western borders

Years ago, I wrote about my research into the back-and-forth of the 1830s and 1840s in creating the shape of the state of Iowa. I mentioned that I had never seen any proposal of a northern border of 45° from … Continue reading

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Oct 13

Should we really be encouraging this sort of thing?

The 2015 Burlington tourism guide features a smiling family on the cover. There’s nothing unusual about that. They’re all wearing flip-flops except the youngest, who’s wearing Crocs. That’s a warning sign, but they are at a pool with water slides, … Continue reading

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Oct 09

No, that’s not how you spell it

September 27, 2015: This window covering in downtown Davenport made me do a double-take. Let’s ask some cheerleaders what’s wrong with this. They might have a chant that can help us.

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Sep 30

End of an era

KCRG, the last locally owned TV station in Iowa, becomes part of Gray Communications tomorrow. The increased contentiousness of cable and satellite carriage rights, including one with DirectTV earlier this year, was a factor in the deal. The sale means … Continue reading

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Sep 22

Did Phil Coulson drop someone off in Iowa?

I was rewatching the season finale of “Agents of SHIELD” when something near the end jumped out at me. In the second-to-last scene, SHIELD Director Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Agent Skye (Chloe Bennet) visit Cal Zabo (Kyle MacLachlan) after his … Continue reading

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Sep 08

Last summer at Camp Tahigwa?

Des Moines Register photojournalist Kelsey Kremer, a former Girl Scout and now counselor at Camp Tahigwa, has created a Web video and written commentary about what the camp in far northeast Iowa means to her. I made a blog post … Continue reading

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