May 27

License Plate Letters — PPP (and new education plate)

It’s triple time again! We’re up to, and already past, two-thirds of the way through the P’s. I’m still seeing D’s and E’s out there that either got accidental reprieves or will be replaced next year.

Elsewhere in license-plate-land, a redesigned education specialty plate is coming out this summer. Radio Iowa says it was done by an Ames High School student. It has a “teacher” goldfinch and two “student” goldfinches. It’s much cooler than the old one.

That makes me wonder: What, if anything, is the schedule for replacing REAP plates that since their inception have included the state bird of Iowa?

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May 23

Lansing bridge closed until further notice

The IA 9/WI 82 bridge at Lansing has been closed again. The bridge was closed starting May 17 after one of the existing bridge’s piers moved. This isn’t the first time this has happened during construction of the bridge’s replacement right next to it.

An Iowa DOT press release says the bridge will be closed at least through the Memorial Day weekend. It also says there is no timeline for making any repairs to the existing bridge nor when it might reopen.

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May 20

Boyson Road bridge flip today (maybe)

The reconstruction of the Boyson Road exit on I-380 takes another step today. Part of the new bridge for the diverging diamond interchange has been built. Today and tomorrow — maybe — traffic will be switched to this bridge so the old one can be taken down. That will require closing Boyson Road over the interstate.

I say “maybe” because the original press release says “weather permitting” and it’s supposed to rain all day. It’s a 100% chance of rain wheeeee. (And I have to drive somewhere. Sigh.)

The southbound I-380 on/off ramps at Boyson have been closed since April 8.

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May 13

Circumnavigation report Day 6

The entire corner of southwest Iowa was explored in one day in 2015, with enough time to catch a football game.

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May 08

Circumnavigation detour: State lines

In my circumnavigation report I split off a story dedicated to oddities in Iowa’s state borders. Did I put “Day 5 1/2” on here? If not, despite being 11 months old, it’s new to you!

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May 06

Multiple IA 14 detours in Grundy County

It’s going to be hard to get from US 20 to US 30 in Grundy and Marshall counties this spring — and more is on the way.

As of Monday, the highway has a major closure between IA 175 and IA 96 to replace a bridge over Wolf Creek. There is also a minor closure north of Grundy Center.

During the 2025 construction season, this is how southbound IA 14 runs in the area: IA 14, D35, T37, IA 175, T29, IA 96, IA 14. Coming from the east on IA 175 to the west end of the IA 14 multiplex, eastbound 175 will be also signed as both “North 14” and “Detour South 14.” Through Grundy Center, westbound 175 will also be signed as “South 14” and “Detour North 14.”

Later this year (the contract was let in April), IA 330 will be closed north of US 30 to replace culverts north of the Iowa River bridge.* When that starts, the road through Albion will be closed and traffic detoured on US 30 and IA 14.

That means that instead of simply using IA 14 and IA 330 between US 20 and 30, a driver will have to go through Marshalltown and then follow two other detours.

Also, this post counts as both notification and my official complaint that the Iowa DOT’s website has been updated to the style used by other state websites, even though it might not necessarily make sense. Worse, a landing page dedicated to public meeting and construction PDFs has been decommissioned.

*It’s kind of odd to try to look something up and have multiple links on the first Google page BE STUFF I WROTE. This is not the first time this has happened!

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May 02

Who wants chili and cinnamon rolls?

Iowa schoolkids, and former schoolkids, want chili and cinnamon rolls. I even looked up old lunch menus for a story about this Marion Historical Society fundraiser.

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Apr 30

An unusual problem in the news business

There are times when newspapers aren’t delivered because of a blizzard, but at least we know where they are?

I admit loving that the description on Seymour Herald’s Facebook page is “A weekly OFFICIAL WAYNE COUNTY NEWSPAPER, with hometown local area news. Owned and operated by Karen.”

Karen, I’m sorry that you’re going through that.

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Apr 28

Really delayed spring cleaning

OK, so some of the info from this month-old post is outdated, but the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative additions list is important, and it’s another picture from Pi Day in Springville. (Me? A procrastinating mess? Never.)

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Apr 21

Swan to disincorporate

September 30, 2014: Swan, in far northwest Marion County, was bypassed by the state highway system when what today is IA 5 was realigned in 1928. The IA 316 bridge over the Des Moines River at Runnells was decades in the future.

The Iowa town of Swan, facing both a lawsuit and residents’ disinterest in serving in office, will disincorporate. KCCI was first to report the development. The state’s City Development Board will presumably take up the issue at its May or June meeting, but no agenda has been posted yet.

Swan has a website for City Council records, where (at the time of this blog post, at least) you can read the special meeting minutes from March 25.

Description from all regarding difficulty in finding enough people engaged in the community to continue the needed roles to keep the city going: Mayor, 3 council, clerk, water commissioner, IT, water testing. All also added personal comments on the desire to be done after this year as well as knowledge that those individuals in each of the mentioned roles will not continue after this year.

After Swan is gone, Iowa will have 939 incorporated places.

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