Mar 23

Rodney Dangerfield, call your office (again) (again)

Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The Dish Network listing for Thursday’s ISU men’s NCAA tournament game forgot that Caitlin Clark isn’t playing in it. Maybe we can’t blame them, given the complete saturation.

Notice it never happens the other way around.

(h/t my parents)

PS: How ’bout that Audi Crooks!

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Mar 21

Southern Iowa US 63 corridor study online

Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 10:05 AM by Jeff

A “Draft Vision Document” for US 63 from Ottumwa to the Missouri state line is open for comment at the DOT website. It summarizes findings from meetings last year.

Much like the study of US 63 in Tama and Poweshiek counties, this study looks at turning the road into a Super-2 configuration. That includes adding passing/climbing lanes, something that southern Iowa needs on its roads more than northern Iowa does given the hilly nature of the area. US 63 already has some on the segment in question, but the distribution of them is part of the study.

The Amish community in the area is something else that makes this study a little different from others. Heavy buggy traffic affects planning for the shoulders and rumble strips.

The appendix says the study will be complete this winter but there is no timeline for improvements.

Posted in Construction | Comments Off on Southern Iowa US 63 corridor study online
Mar 19

Boomers, Boomers, Boomers

Posted on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In my latest column, I look with dismay at yet another presidential election matchup between candidates born in the 1940s. The only one since 1992 that didn’t include at least one was 2008 (McCain, a Silent, vs. Obama, a young Boomer).

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Mar 14

Hamburg intersection to become 4-way stop

Posted on Thursday, March 14, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff


October 2, 2015: On southbound US 275 at IA 333 in Hamburg, you can see “Traffic from left does not stop” in yellow under the stop sign.

Hamburg’s key highway intersection is getting a change.

The intersection of US 275 and IA 333, which since 2003 has been IA 333’s east end, is being changed from a three-way stop to a four-way stop. The Iowa DOT says the change will take place Friday.

Until this change, northbound 275 traffic coming from the west could turn north and follow 275 or go straight ahead or turn without stopping. The fact that it’s a three-way stop at a four-way intersection could lead to confusion, understandably.

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Mar 12

Iowa schools timeline: Clay and Buena Vista

Posted on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Because I was out of ideas and had to blow one of my “evergreens” wanted to give Substack readers a taste of my school research, my most recent post is a compilation of dates for schools in Buena Vista and Clay counties.

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Mar 07

License Plate Letters — OBE

Posted on Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

There is confirmation via reader e-mail and personal observation that license plates have entered the O’s. This did not happen with the 1997 series, which skipped from N to P.

It did, however, happen with the 1986 series, which began to be issued in January 1985. On Nov. 17, 1984, the Cedar Rapids Gazette had a front-page story with a photo of plates the Linn County Treasurer’s Office had already received. First up was OQA 000. This series was exclusively the second half of the alphabet, and the fact that Linn got O’s indicates that the largest population counties may have gotten them out of order before an alphabetical-by-county issuance.

I don’t think that many Linn County residents are members of the Order of the British Empire, though.

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Mar 05

More about College Township

Posted on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

In early 2021 I wrote about “Western College” in southern Linn County and how that connected to the short-lived Leander Clark College in Toledo.

Now the Gazette’s “Curious Iowa” series has a feature on College Township with more history about the hamlet of Western itself.

(Yes, the article misstates the name of the merged Tama-Toledo paper.

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Mar 01

Hills could lose its school

Posted on Friday, March 1, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The school building in Hills was constructed in 1965, just before the town was attached to the Iowa City school district. Six decades later, that school is in danger of closing.

Iowa City has put Hills Elementary on the chopping block for budget reasons. Stories: KCRG (video), KWWL. KCRG notes that more than 40% of the student body is Hispanic. The Daily Iowan reports that closing the school would save the district $1.6 million. The DI also says that Iowa City’s grade structure is changing from junior highs (grades 7-8) to middle schools (grade 6-8), which frees up space for Hills students at other sites.

The board will make its decision March 26.

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Feb 28

Lansing bridge closed for at least two months

Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The replacement of the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing just got underway in November, but it does not appear it will be in time for a seamless transition.

The current bridge was shut down Sunday after “unexpected movement” and it will be closed for at least two months, the Iowa DOT says. (KWWL has two stories, the first of which misspelled “Chien”.)

The bridge hasn’t been opened continuously since it opened in 1931. It was closed between 1945 and 1957 after damage from ice dams.

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Feb 26

Circumnavigation report Day 4

Posted on Monday, February 26, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Ups and downs to hit unvisited towns, plus the northwest corner tri-state marker, are covered in the continuation of my 2015 circumnavigation of Iowa.

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