Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Apr 06

Everything except an Olive Garden

Posted on Saturday, April 6, 2013, at 1:57 PM by Jeff

Altoona is currently in the midst of opening up a subdivision called Tuscan Estates — “a quiet country oasis”. (City regulation PDF) The development is near subdivisions or subsets of the subdivision called Tuscany and Tuscany Villas on, what else, Tuscany … Continue reading →

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Apr 02

What is it with all these special elections?

Posted on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, at 1:14 PM by Jeff

On the first Tuesday after the first Monday (unless noted), Iowa looooves special elections this year. The Secretary of State lists seven allowable scheduled dates, and that doesn’t include votes that must be held within a certain number of days … Continue reading →

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Mar 13

Periods. Do. Not. Go. In. Phone. Numbers.

Posted on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, at 11:39 AM by Jeff

Attention Iowa Legislature: Please stop doing that. The proper style is with dashes, and preferably parentheses for area codes, no matter how many advertisements appear otherwise. Periods aren’t supposed to be used for dates, either, USA Today redesign notwithstanding. It is not … Continue reading →

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Mar 11

2012 RAGBRAI map out

Posted on Monday, March 11, 2013, at 12:46 PM by Jeff

Available as a PDF from the Register’s web site. Historical route notes based on my research: This will be RAGBRAI’s first visit to West Des Moines. The closest it has been was 2004, when the overnight town was Waukee and riders … Continue reading →

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Mar 01

A suggestion to whoever does the state tournament broadcasts

Posted on Friday, March 1, 2013, at 12:18 PM by Jeff

In the Class 4A final Saturday night, don’t abbreviate Cedar Rapids Xavier as “C RAPIDS” like Thursday night. Call it “CR XAVIER” or “XAVIER” if limited to eight characters. I don’t know if this applies to the scoreboards at the … Continue reading →

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Mar 01

Traer is the winner in final storm totals

Posted on Friday, March 1, 2013, at 12:57 AM by Jeff

The National Weather Service’s compilation of results from the snowfall lists Traer at 16 inches, 15.5 near the 63/96 intersection, and 14 near Evansdale and State Center. For a piece of visual confirmation, see this picture from Tricia Detje Zeis.

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Feb 27

15 inches of snow in Traer (Updated to 16)

Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2013, at 12:48 PM by Jeff

Waterloo set a record for the day. (Image from Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Image at link changes with each snowfall.) UPDATE: Another map with better gradients from the National Weather Service. The girls’ state basketball tournament was permanently moved a week … Continue reading →

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Feb 21

NT-GR District Championship postponed

Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2013, at 2:39 PM by Jeff

That’s a change from a few hours ago. A game in Jesup has been postponed, too, so the only game in northeast Iowa tonight will be in Waukon. The District 8 Final will be played Friday in Conrad. I wonder, … Continue reading →

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Feb 21

Mis-Q

Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2013, at 12:00 PM by Jeff

So the Weather Channel insists that the snowfall today should be called “Winter Storm Q.” But it’s not this Q: Or this Q: Or even this Q: It’s named after the Q subway line in New York City. This “naming … Continue reading →

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Feb 19

Iowa DOT Photo of the Week

Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2013, at 12:02 PM by Jeff

For the centennial year of the Iowa Highway Commission/Iowa Department of Transportation, a historical “Photo of the Week” is being posted online. I have added a link in the blogroll. The first photo is the most obvious choice, and probably … Continue reading →

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