Author Archives: Jeff

Jan 07

United to extend Ames, Boone sharing

Posted on Monday, January 7, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The 55-mph school speed limit between Ames and Boone is going to stick around a while longer. According to last month’s school board agenda for the United school district, which is between the two cities, the board will approve whole-grade … Continue reading →

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Jan 04

Iowa counties among ‘most representative’

Posted on Friday, January 4, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

A study from Echelon Insights sought to find “typical counties” in the United States and two counties from Iowa rank in the top 20. The Midwest plus Pennsylvania ranked pretty high overall. The link has a map to play with. … Continue reading →

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Jan 03

The slightly strange political career of Leo Elthon

Posted on Thursday, January 3, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

There are three men who served as governor of Iowa for fewer than two months. One of them pinballed between state and local government after sitting in the big chair. According to the U of I’s Biographical Dictionary of Iowa: Leo … Continue reading →

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Jan 02

Elevator part of I-74 bridge plans

Posted on Wednesday, January 2, 2019, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

May 7, 2018: An elevator would provide a more direct connection from Bettendorf’s Riverfront Trail (seen at bottom left) to the future I-74 bridge, whose Iowa landing will be just a bit upstream from the current one. The city of … Continue reading →

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Dec 31

2018 goes down but not without a fight

Posted on Monday, December 31, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

It is 400 days until the 2020 Iowa presidential caucuses. Maybe. At least, as of the time of this post. Unless New Hampshire sees California as enough of a threat that we get another lesson in the disasters of early … Continue reading →

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Dec 28

‘The Orville’ returns

Posted on Friday, December 28, 2018, at 1:00 PM by Jeff

I don’t know how large the Venn diagram overlap is for “people who want a fun Star Trek and not grimdark” and “people who enjoy ‘Sound of Music’ references in their ‘Star Trek with the serial numbers filed off’”. It … Continue reading →

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Dec 28

Alamo Bowl preview

Posted on Friday, December 28, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Iowa native John Wayne portrayed Davy Crockett in the 1960 movie “The Alamo.”

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on Alamo Bowl preview
Dec 26

Iowa State’s last visit to San Antonio

Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Hey, any time there’s a chance to dunk on Roy Williams, I’m going to take it. (Sigh…what could have been.)

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Dec 24

A genealogist’s Christmas wish

Posted on Monday, December 24, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS Dear Santa: Don’t bring me new dishes; I don’t need a new kind of game. Genealogists have peculiar wishes; for Christmas I just want a surname. A new washing machine would be great, but it’s … Continue reading →

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Dec 21

Utah edges Iowa in population, ahead of schedule

Posted on Friday, December 21, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

I said it was going to happen. I just thought it would take a little longer. According to census estimates, Utah has 5000 people more than Iowa. At the beginning of the 20th century, Iowa was the 10th-largest state in … Continue reading →

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