Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

 (from the Des Moines inset) I like clean maps, so this is something that is nice to see. There’s a little spot of Polk County between Johnston and Urbandale that both cities somehow overlooked during their torrid growth. It’s inconvenient … Continue reading →

In Democratic candidate Jack Hatch’s new campaign ad, he is reading a “newspaper” that says “Branstad seeking 24YRS as Gov” with a big picture of Branstad underneath. (The headline does not mention those would be non-consecutive “YRS”.) The prop is … Continue reading →

The Iowa Supreme Court has put Waterloo in an interesting pickle. The Waterloo Courier (long article) and KWWL (short) both have stories. (Yes, that is former Rep. Dave Nagle as the plaintiffs’ lawyer.) The court ruled that the city was wrong … Continue reading →

Raw data and spreadsheets available on ISU’s website. Doom and gloom for about everyone outside of the Des Moines metro area from the Register and Quad-City Times. Ankeny passed 50,000 and West Des Moines is within 1000 people of kicking … Continue reading →

It’s not quite worth inclusion in the List of Iowa References, but Kyle Munson writes that author George R.R. Martin spent time in Iowa: “I think a lot of the stuff in ‘A Game of Thrones,’ ” the author told Vanity … Continue reading →

Omaha World Herald: “Nebraska Nice” is Nebraska’s new tourism brand Turns out Siepker had the same reaction I did: “This means war.” Related: “The Good Life” will stay on Nebraska highway signs

If you’re familiar with Hubbell Avenue heading out of Des Moines, the old, non-chain motels there are a reminder of pre-interstate times, when it was a primary way in and out of town. Three motels were clustered at the intersection … Continue reading →

On this website I have a list of all the times I know about Iowa mentions or settings in various forms of entertainment, but it looks like I’ve been one-upped. Way upped. The Des Moines Register reprints a much, much … Continue reading →

This 1875 map shows the recently abandoned railroad through Albion in the recently dissolved Iowa Township in Marshall County. On the south side of Albion, a little more than a decade after an at-grade railroad crossing replaced a very old … Continue reading →