Sep 14

C57 interchange ribbon cutting Thursday

Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

There will be a ribbon cutting for the US 218/County Road C57 interchange Thursday at 2:30, the Iowa DOT says in a press release. The exit itself will not open until October. After it is opened, the surface-road intersections will be closed and US 218 will be a full freeway from the north side of Cedar Falls to the east side of Janesville.

Posted in Construction, Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on C57 interchange ribbon cutting Thursday
Sep 13

Old Algona school saved, remodeled

Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Algona’s 1930 school building will open later this year as an apartment complex, and Iowa Public Radio has a story and photo gallery about it. The gym and auditorium will be preserved and open to the public. This is pretty cool; I’m thrilled to see a building of this era preserved.

The building, which was used as a middle school at the end of its life, was cleared of students and school property in January 2011. It was sold to the developer for $1 in summer 2012, so this has been in the works for four years.

The same success, however, is not in the cards for Burlington’s 1910 high school building.

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on Old Algona school saved, remodeled
Sep 12

KWKB loses CW affiliation

Posted on Monday, September 12, 2016, at 10:20 AM by Jeff

Today, programming for the CW network in eastern Iowa moves from KWKB Channel 20.1 to KWWL Channel 7.2. KWKB will still be on the air, but taking over the “This TV” affiliation instead (or so Wikipedia says). At the same time, KWWL is nearing the end of a complete building renovation project.

It’s probably the biggest change in Iowa TV stations since the CW stations (KWKB and KCWI*) came on the air as WB stations. This is the first time in Iowa that a previously existing network has moved from a channel to a subchannel — KHQA and KTVO in far southeast Iowa picked up ABC/CBS secondary affiliations in 2007 and 2010 respectively, but those were additions to “in-between” coverage areas.

The TV landscape in Iowa has remained remarkably stable in the last 30 years, at least on the viewer’s end — stations have changed owners, and subchannels have been added in the digital era, but affiliations and call letters haven’t changed. The NFL-induced 1994 TV station realignment didn’t touch the state. The CW move here isn’t nearly the shakeup going on in Peoria right now.

Now I just have to remember which station I need to record “Supergirl” on. (Give us more female-driven shows! they said. Then “Agent Carter” was cancelled and “Supergirl” was pushed off CBS.)

*KCWI is still on Channel 23 despite now being partnered with WOI and not having its own local programming anymore.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on KWKB loses CW affiliation
Sep 09

Jantz Jantz Revolution, five years later

Posted on Friday, September 9, 2016, at 10:03 AM by Jeff

Remember this?

This week the Iowa Hawkeyes gave a 10-year extension and $4.5 million a year to a coach who, at the time of this writing, has a losing record against Iowa State.

Also five years ago, North Tama had never lost to Gladbrook-Reinbeck, and now the Redhawks are on a three-year slide against the top-ranked (at least in one poll) Class A Rebels.

…yeah, I have nothing.

UPDATE: Two plays, two TDs for GR and the pain kept coming.

UPDATE 2: Red teams 3, non-red teams 84

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on Jantz Jantz Revolution, five years later
Sep 08

Speed limit at US 18/218 reduced

Posted on Thursday, September 8, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The speed limit on the Avenue of the Saints in Floyd around the US 18/218 split will be reduced from 65 to 55 mph tomorrow, the Iowa DOT says. The speed zone will be a mile and a half long. The move is in response to renewed concerns about the intersection after a motorcyclist died there in July.

Five years and eight days ago, the DOT made the same move at the US 65/IA 330/IA 117 intersection in Jasper County for the same reasons. The change was not enough to stop the state from pressing ahead on building an interchange there, which should be done in the next few years. An interchange in Floyd could be fast-tracked but getting a grade separation by the end of the decade is a tall order.

KCHA Radio has an interview with State Rep. Todd Pritchard about the intersection.

Posted in Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Speed limit at US 18/218 reduced
Sep 07

Urbandale 100th Street interchange approved

Posted on Wednesday, September 7, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Last week, the Federal Highway Administration cleared the last procedural step for construction of an interchange at I-35/80 and 100th Street in Urbandale, The Des Moines Register reports. It’s the second interchange in the area to be built after initial construction of I-35/80 in the late 1950s — an exit at 86th Street opened in 1994.

When the exit opens in 2018, it will provide some relief from the IA 141 interchange. That exit is going to get a flyover ramp (with closure of the inner loops) and two ramps will be added at Meredith Drive. However, there will still be stoplights on 141 between 35/80 and the IA 44 exit.

Posted in Construction | Comments Off on Urbandale 100th Street interchange approved
Sep 06

Seippel Road closure next step in Southwest Arterial

Posted on Tuesday, September 6, 2016, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

This morning, the intersection of Seippel Road and US 20 on the southwest corner of Dubuque closed permanently for construction of an interchange. Here’s the DOT announcement and a map from Dubuque that shows the area and the detour.

The street will be realigned to cross over 20 and become the western point of the Southwest Arterial, a project decades in the making. This is where future US 52 will split off from 20 and go southeast around Dubuque to US 61/151. The interchange won’t be open until 2020.

Posted in Construction | Comments Off on Seippel Road closure next step in Southwest Arterial
Sep 05

A thought about indigestion from an alleged cupcake

Posted on Monday, September 5, 2016, at 10:12 AM by Jeff

IF
September 3, 2016: With about 20 seconds remaining, after Joel Lanning had committed Iowa State’s third consecutive turnover, the video boards at Jack Trice Stadium cut to the coaches walking onto the field. About ten seconds after the clock reached zero, the ribbon boards dropped stats, too. Do not think this action wasn’t noticed.

AND THAT’S WHY YOU DON’T ICE THE KICKER FROM THE 2-YARD LINE.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on A thought about indigestion from an alleged cupcake
Sep 03

GLADBROOK-REINBECK DISSOLUTION REJECTED

Posted on Saturday, September 3, 2016, at 10:16 AM by Jeff

The Gladbrook-Reinbeck school board has unanimously rejected a proposal for dissolving the school district because it questions the validity of the signatures on the petition that started the process. The Northern Sun-Print has a story (in Great Wall of Text form, originally from the Marshalltown Times-Republican); KCRR radio has a story, too.

A more detailed account of the Aug. 23 school board meeting is in the minutes online. Also of interest in the meeting: The 7-12 language teacher, who had been there for one year, quit and moved out of the state two weeks before school started (that’s an ethics violation), and one of the school board members voting to reject the dissolution petition resigned because he is also moving out of the state.

The board’s action means that the 48-page report submitted by the dissolution committee at the meeting (Google Drive PDF) and the hours of meetings are all for nothing.

Any further action would require restarting the entire process — petition, committee creation, meetings, letters to schools, all of it would have to happen in the same way all over again. With GMG taking the position that it would not reopen the school in Gladbrook, I wonder how much appetite there is to do that. We could find out based on if there’s a petition for an election to fill that vacant board seat.

What hasn’t gone away are the feelings on the parts of those who remain upset about the closure of the school in Gladbrook and those upset about being dragged through the months of the dissolution process.

Posted in Schools, Tama County | Comments Off on GLADBROOK-REINBECK DISSOLUTION REJECTED
Sep 02

Sing along to Onslow fight songs

Posted on Friday, September 2, 2016, at 10:03 AM by Jeff

This page about Onslow school history has the words to the official — and unofficial — songs for a district that was subsumed into the newly created Midland district in 1960. The school building is no longer open.

If you know anything about school fight songs, it will be rapidly obvious what the tunes are. (Highlight for the answers: Illinois and Notre Dame.)

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on Sing along to Onslow fight songs