Author Archives: Jeff

Mar 19

Boomers, Boomers, Boomers

In my latest column, I look with dismay at yet another presidential election matchup between candidates born in the 1940s. The only one since 1992 that didn’t include at least one was 2008 (McCain, a Silent, vs. Obama, a young … Continue reading

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Mar 14

Hamburg intersection to become 4-way stop

October 2, 2015: On southbound US 275 at IA 333 in Hamburg, you can see “Traffic from left does not stop” in yellow under the stop sign. Hamburg’s key highway intersection is getting a change. The intersection of US 275 … Continue reading

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Mar 12

Iowa schools timeline: Clay and Buena Vista

Because I was out of ideas and had to blow one of my “evergreens” wanted to give Substack readers a taste of my school research, my most recent post is a compilation of dates for schools in Buena Vista and … Continue reading

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Mar 07

License Plate Letters — OBE

There is confirmation via reader e-mail and personal observation that license plates have entered the O’s. This did not happen with the 1997 series, which skipped from N to P. It did, however, happen with the 1986 series, which began … Continue reading

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Mar 05

More about College Township

In early 2021 I wrote about “Western College” in southern Linn County and how that connected to the short-lived Leander Clark College in Toledo. Now the Gazette’s “Curious Iowa” series has a feature on College Township with more history about … Continue reading

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Mar 01

Hills could lose its school

The school building in Hills was constructed in 1965, just before the town was attached to the Iowa City school district. Six decades later, that school is in danger of closing. Iowa City has put Hills Elementary on the chopping … Continue reading

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Feb 28

Lansing bridge closed for at least two months

The replacement of the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing just got underway in November, but it does not appear it will be in time for a seamless transition. The current bridge was shut down Sunday after “unexpected movement” and it … Continue reading

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Feb 26

Circumnavigation report Day 4

Ups and downs to hit unvisited towns, plus the northwest corner tri-state marker, are covered in the continuation of my 2015 circumnavigation of Iowa.

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Feb 22

Who has the right to choose school sales?

A column by Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member Cheryl Tevis has some photos of schools in her area: Boxholm, Pilot Mound, and Paton (the last just some bricks forming a monument to itself). The column covers many school-related bills still active in … Continue reading

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Feb 19

Last part* of I-74 bridge demolished

On Sunday, the Moline anchorage to one of the bridge piers of the old I-74 bridge was blown up in an explosion. Stories and video: KWQC, WQAD. The subject of the fourth and final demolition can be seen in this … Continue reading

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