Iowa PBS’s “Market to Market” show did a 6½-minute feature on “Tama Jim” Wilson last week. Wilson, originally from Scotland, came to the Traer area before the Civil War and eventually became Secretary of Agriculture under three presidents.
I’m going to embed the video, but based on previous experience it’ll still require going to YouTube.
Following a reader’s letter, I dug in on the history of the Clearfield school for the 1982-92 school years. It got so complicated I had to make a spreadsheet. The Clearfield district, on the Taylor/Ringgold county line, dissolved in 2014.
The above image comes from an Iowa DOT sign letting contract that is to be let May 16. The contract covers sign trusses and BGS replacement at four key interchanges: Both ends of I-880 and IA 29 at old IA 192, plus IA 191 at I-880.
Many of the BGSs are getting a complete replacement. This will eliminate the overlaid I-880 shields over the I-680 shields, and also remove the hole for IA 192 on SB I-29 at Exit 57.
Some smaller signs, though, including the relevant ones at IA 191, are getting a greenout overlay. The designation of “Omaha” will replace “North Omaha”. That name has been used since the signs were originally put up, or in the case of the exit near Shelby, after an extension of I-680 replaced I-80N. This project does not include the signs at the Logan/Beebeetown exit or on westbound I-880 at I-29, so “North Omaha” isn’t completely gone yet.
(I still disagree with the redesignation of part of I-680. Bleah.)
June 19, 2021: The underside of the Iowa approach to the old I-74 bridges.
Deconstruction continues on the I-74 Mississippi River bridge following the decision last year not to bring it down with explosives.
WQAD has a story about the dismantling process, which is expected to last another year. Underneath that story is a video about the demolition of the old Rock Island County Courthouse at the foot of the Centennial Bridge.
KWQC has a collection of photos from the Iowa DOT of the current status of the bridge. The roadbed has been removed entirely, leaving only the metal beams and superstructure.
When the Fort Madison school district voted to end its sports sharing programs early this month, it got the governor’s attention.
The public school had been sharing multiple programs with students from Holy Trinity, and wrestling to Central Lee. In a statement issued by the school at the time and reprinted by the Fort Madison Daily Democrat:
In January, Governor Reynolds signed a bill making state education funding that had been designated for public schools available for students attending private schools. That dramatic shift, engineered by state lawmakers, has caused many schools in Iow[a] to reconsider their sharing agreements as private schools now have more resources to fund their own athletic programs.
The following week, the governor responded. From the Pen City Current:
The law also provides $1,205 “backfill” per student to the public schools for every student in the district that is enrolled in a private school. That funding would begin in the next school year, according to state officials, and would amount to $355,000 per year in additional funding for the Fort Madison district.
Reynolds said if the district is going to punish the kids, then maybe the state should look at allowing the $355,000 to follow the students as well, to help offset the costs of the athletic programs.
The day after that (late Thursday, April 20), Fort Madison and Holy Trinity were re-engaged in talks for sports sharing. Fort Madison’s school board president told the Daily Democrat the governor’s comments were a non-factor.
Earlier this week, Fort Madison in a special meeting approved a sharing deal with Holy Trinity where the latter would pay a $20,000 annual fee to the former, said the Current.
March 19, 2022: Unincorporated towns on the Iowa map include Voorhies, in the southwest corner of Black Hawk County.
About a year and a half ago, I ran a blog post about Tyler Sullivan, who is doing the every-town thing on the extremely difficult level. Not only is he including unincorporated places, he’s writing a poem about each one as he goes through.
KCCI has a four-minute profile on Sullivan after he started his set for 2023. In the interview, he gives a number about 200 more than he told the Estherville News in summer 2021. He told KCCI he has “a little more than 1200” places to visit overall. My rough count is 941 incorporated and 239 unincorporated on the state map, which would be 1180. This number is flexible and hard to pin down, illustrated by the inclusion of Adaza northwest of Churdan, which is not on the state map, and then you have Census-Designated Places that aren’t on the map and some gated resort areas that are.
I would be terrified of doing all that while holding a phone in my hand.
March 13, 2002: The only photo this site has of IA 41’s south end before decommissioning, taken by Neil Bratney.
IA 41, a spur to Malvern, was an original 1920-series highway that was killed off in the Second Great Decommissioning of 2003. However, one little reminder remains in town.
The Classic Cafe has the “End 41” from the route posted on a wall inside. You can see it in the background at the 1:28 mark in this story from WOWT about the cafe suffering severe hail damage in a thunderstorm. Southwest Iowa and southeast Nebraska were hit hard by hail on the night of April 19, and KETV says phones at one Omaha glass shop are ringing off the hook.
The Classic Cafe righted one wrong on the signage: It properly displays “End 41”, rather than “41 End” as was posted in the last years of the highway’s life.
Pomeroy-Palmer merged with Pocahontas Area a decade ago. The building in Pomeroy has been vacant nearly as long, except that the gymnasium has remained in use for practices*. But Pocahontas Area doesn’t want the facility anymore, KCCI reports, and the city of Pomeroy has been given 90 days to determine whether the building will become city property or be torn down.
Pomeroy currently has a small community center near downtown on the north side of town.
*Headline in tab said “School building used for practice gym faces uncertain future”.
Now for the worst kind of construction update, the kind that affects me: Bridge deck overlay projects in a couple spots on US 30 in Cedar Rapids west of I-380 will reduce freeway traffic to one lane in both directions. The work is expected to last about three months.
The DOT press release about it seems much more … chattier? … than the usual nuts-and-bolts stuff. The on-ramp from 6th Street SW to westbound 30 will be closed, and the linked detour map is of the type that customarily appears in the project lettings. The detour uses 60th Street SW and Edgewood Road.
July 29, 2021: RAGBRAI riders enter Center Point. RAGBRAI was not held in 2020, so 2023 marks the 50th ride. (The plague ended a lot of continuous/consecutive records.)
My analysis (with passing corrections) of the RAGBRAI L map is based on what I saw on the full route reveal page as of April 5. See also this somewhat analytical post on how RAGBRAI L can still count 50 communities along the ride.
