Mar 22

Need another reason to root for Iowa State?

Posted on Friday, March 22, 2013, at 1:24 PM by Jeff

If Notre Dame wins tonight, they would be the low seed against Ohio State, and would have to wear these.

A vote for Cy is a vote against neon Zubaz. Tip-off for the FIRST ROUND game is 8:45 PM. (Emphasis intentionally added.)

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on Need another reason to root for Iowa State?
Mar 21

CBS forgot about Hampton, too

Posted on Thursday, March 21, 2013, at 1:40 AM by Jeff

The “bracket challenge” on the site of the TV network in charge of the tournament says this:

Iowa State is making back-to-back NCAA appearances for the first time since the mid-1990’s, back when coach Fred Hoiberg was a star Cyclones player. ISU will be trying to better its Round of 32 exit a year ago, and Utah transfer and swingman Will Clyburn (15.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg) will help to fuel that effort along with guard Korie Lucious (9.9 ppg, 5.7 apg), who played in two Final Fours with Michigan State.

Iowa State played in the 2000 and 2001 tournaments. It’s just that “played” is a strong word for the latter.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on CBS forgot about Hampton, too
Mar 20

US 61 in Louisa County

Posted on Wednesday, March 20, 2013, at 11:05 AM by Jeff


October 13, 2006: This intersection could have a whole new look by the end of the decade. A proposed interchange will be off to the right (west).

We’re only talking about four miles, but it’s another step in the last remaining non-four-lane stretch of US 61. However, even this little segment will take four years to complete.

The current design includes interchanges at the road by Lo-Ma High School (good for safety) and IA 92/old IA 252 (good for turning patterns). The four-lane weaves around the existing two-lane. This map shows it best (PDF). More maps are on the DOT’s site. The Quad-City Times gets some resident feedback.

Posted in Construction | Comments Off on US 61 in Louisa County
Mar 19

ISU women on road for NCAA Tournament

Posted on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at 11:01 AM by Jeff

Good news: 5 seed. Bad news: It will be a true road game in Spokane against 12-seed Gonzaga.

The last time this happened, it didn’t go well for the Iowa women, who became an upset victim.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on ISU women on road for NCAA Tournament
Mar 18

ISU-Notre Dame in NCAA Tournament

Posted on Monday, March 18, 2013, at 9:59 AM by Jeff

It’s not a football game, but it’s still ultra-rare: For the second time ever, Iowa State and Notre Dame will play each other in basketball. The only other meeting was in 1979, which #5 ND won in South Bend 87-77.

It took a really, really long time during the selection show for ISU to be announced, in the bottom half of the last quadrant.

Should Iowa State win in Dayton, it would be the fourth time in five appearances that the Cyclones would play a highly ranked team in its home state, in this case Ohio State.

The Iowa State-Notre Dame game will be one of the last of the first round with an 8:45 tipoff Friday. The CBS A-team — Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, and Tracy Wolfson — will be calling it.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on ISU-Notre Dame in NCAA Tournament
Mar 16

The easternmost school building in Iowa

Posted on Saturday, March 16, 2013, at 12:09 PM by Jeff

East Central Middle School in Sabula is going to close. I expected this to happen as a byproduct of the East Central-Preston merger. The article says there must be meetings beforehand, but that’s more or less a formality in this situation.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Sabula Elementary, June 14, 2011

For a little while, at least, the easternmost and the westernmost school buildings in Iowa will be vacant. Unlike Westfield, which has been abandoned, the Sabula building will likely be razed. The title of “easternmost school” will move to one in Clinton.

Posted in Schools | Comments Off on The easternmost school building in Iowa
Mar 14

Two more consolation game stories

Posted on Thursday, March 14, 2013, at 7:31 PM by Jeff

As promised a week ago. (The Hawk Eye is behind a paywall.)

Times-Republican: North Tama finds peace in 4th place
Times-Republican: Experience may have been North Tama’s ultimate undoing (I agree with this sentiment.)

Posted in Sports, Tama County | Comments Off on Two more consolation game stories
Mar 14

Tama County upgraded to “moderate drought”

Posted on Thursday, March 14, 2013, at 6:30 PM by Jeff

In addition to the conditions lessening in much of the state, a good part of eastern Iowa is now just “abnormally dry.” More, plus map, at the Register’s website.

If you look at the numbers, there’s a tiny tiny ray of greater hope: .09% of the state, a little tiny piece at the Louisa/Des Moines county line at the Mississippi River, officially is not in a drought. That’s the first time any of the state has been in that condition in months.

Posted in Tama County | Comments Off on Tama County upgraded to “moderate drought”
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.

phperiod

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 an IP address. It is not a decimal number. It is a series of digits for a specific purpose with a format that was agreed upon decades ago.

(End copy editor/design rant.)

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Periods. Do. Not. Go. In. Phone. Numbers.
Mar 12

Somehow, this makes it worse

Posted on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, at 10:28 AM by Jeff

The NCAA/CBS “75 Years of March Madness: Top 10 upsets” list contains four of the six times a 15 seed beat a 2 seed. Hampton over Iowa State didn’t make the list. Neither did Coppin State over South Carolina. (The show points out that it had been 4019 days since a 15-2 upset, but doesn’t mention the victim.)

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on Somehow, this makes it worse