Author Archives: Jeff

Apr 26

Iowa border history, with a focus on the Iowa Great Lakes

Posted on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Arnold Garson of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative wrote a Substack post last week about how the Iowa Great Lakes almost didn’t figure in to the state of Iowa. His writeup touches on the paired-states issue before the Civil War (slave … Continue reading →

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Apr 24

Ellen Young, 1944-2024

Posted on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Ellen Young, former editor of the Traer Star-Clipper and longtime booster of the town of Traer, died April 11. Her obituary was printed last week in the North Tama Telegraph, which replaced the TSC in 2020. Here is an excerpt: … Continue reading →

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Apr 22

From Vicksburg to Savannah

Posted on Monday, April 22, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Here’s my recap of a presentation/story earlier this month of Company C, 10th Iowa Infantry, also known as the “Tama County Rifles.” Their battle record and travels were both stellar.

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Apr 18

Is ‘no’ acceptable input?

Posted on Thursday, April 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

“The Iowa Department of Transportation is requesting your input on a for a proposed roundabout at the intersection of Iowa 3 and Iowa 143 near Marcus in Cherokee county,” says the press release, incorrectly not capitalizing “County” at the end. … Continue reading →

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Apr 16

Circumnavigation report Day 5

Posted on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 1:00 PM by Jeff

The lovely Loess Hills are the next part of my 2015 circumnavigation of Iowa.

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Apr 12

CR gets money to replace 8th Avenue Bridge

Posted on Friday, April 12, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Three years ago, when I wrote about Cedar Rapids wanting to replace the Eighth Avenue bridge, I cited a 2019 Gazette story that mentioned an estimated cost of around $30 million for the bridge and $50 million overall. Last week, … Continue reading →

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Apr 10

Southwest Mixmaster meeting this week

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

While much of the recent attention on interstate construction in Des Moines has been related to the northeast mixmaster, the southwest mixmaster isn’t being neglected. A meeting on April 11 in Des Moines will take another step forward in turning … Continue reading →

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Apr 08

An early RAGBRAI LI correction

Posted on Monday, April 8, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The RAGBRAI map and pass-through town list was not unveiled until April (a first) and on a weekday (another first). It ran in the Des Moines Register both online and in print on April 4 (and was off the website’s front … Continue reading →

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Apr 05

North Tama, South Tama to share superintendents

Posted on Friday, April 5, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Due to their wide disparity in enrollment, the North Tama and South Tama school districts don’t interact much. That’s going to change a bit. The North Tama Telegraph reports that the two districts will be sharing a superintendent. South Tama’s … Continue reading →

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Apr 03

A TV show about road tripping in Iowa!

Posted on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

At the Iowa State Fair last year, Iowa Public Television Iowa PBS teased a “Road Trip Iowa” series coming in 2024. Well, it’s here! Sadly, I was not asked to be a consultant. The press release has one very important … Continue reading →

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