Author Archives: Jeff

Jul 13

Iowa’s oldest active school building in line for replacement

Posted on Friday, July 13, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

September 27, 2015: This part of Bellevue Elementary has been a school for 157 years — 65% of the time since U.S. independence. Its construction in 1848 is closer to the late 17th Century than the present day. A building … Continue reading →

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Jul 12

Locust School’s place in history rapidly usurped

Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

September 28, 2015: Locust School, Winneshiek County. In northern Winneshiek County, closer to the Minnesota state line than Decorah, is the Locust School. It’s a one-room school historic enough to be maintained by the Winneshiek County Historical Society and get … Continue reading →

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Jul 11

Matt Campbell is Tim Cook

Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The nicest response I can think of to Iowa State’s new outfits is “furious.” Matt Campbell’s disgust for the color gold (never worn as anything other than an accent in 2017) has reached its logical end with three solid-color options … Continue reading →

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Jul 10

The last outs for CAL

Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

February 19, 2001: A screencap of a video pan across the wall of CAL’s gym in Latimer. The teams depicted were Dows-CAL (the junior high when CAL and Dows were sharing, keeping Dows’ nickname of the Tigers alive), Sheffield-Chapin (sharing … Continue reading →

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Jul 09

Keokuk’s different climate zones

Posted on Monday, July 9, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone map “is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location,” the website explains. Three sub-zones — 4B, 5A, and 5B — cover Iowa except … Continue reading →

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Jul 06

Mall between two school districts

Posted on Friday, July 6, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

A not-particularly-trumpeted but governmentally significant thing happened July 1: The tax increment financing district for Coral Ridge Mall expired. The mall opened 20 years ago at the end of this month. The city of Coralville’s website explains: At that time, … Continue reading →

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Jul 05

Dubuque highway chronology, heavily revised and corrected

Posted on Thursday, July 5, 2018, at 10:06 AM by Jeff

Sometimes better information throws your settled pattern for a loop. Part of what I have stated on this website for IA 3’s history in Dubuque is wrong. The maps never would have distinguished the difference, but the online route description, … Continue reading →

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Jul 03

In defense of rest areas

Posted on Tuesday, July 3, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

June 5, 2014: Various methods of getting places are shown at the I-35 southbound Story City rest area. Inside is a historic look at the highways of Story County — the Lincoln Highway, US 30, and I-35. Rest areas are … Continue reading →

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Jul 02

Even with grant, historic bridge replacement too expensive

Posted on Monday, July 2, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

A closed connection in Iowa’s Great River Road looks like it will remain that way, and perhaps permanently. The Iowa DOT offered $1.5 million to the city of Burlington to go to repairs of the Cascade Bridge, but the city … Continue reading →

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Jun 30

Country music has an alcohol problem

Posted on Saturday, June 30, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Finally, someone else noticed. The beginning of the bro-country era can be pegged to mid-December 2012, when Florida Georgia Line displaced Taylor Swift at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country charts, stayed there for five of the next six weeks, … Continue reading →

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