Author Archives: Jeff

Jan 21

What Girl Scout camps have in common with school consolidation

Today, a trial starts in Scott County to stop the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois from selling four camps in the state, reports the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa also intends to … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on What Girl Scout camps have in common with school consolidation
Jan 20

So, um, about those Cyclones

Since Baylor coach Scott Drew said Iowa State “is a team that can win a National Championship” the men’s team has gone 0-3. The women are now 0-2 all-time to West Virginia in their own house and laid enough bricks at … Continue reading →

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Jan 18

Two of Iowa’s shortest state highways may be on way out

September 8, 2010 Iowa Highway 98, a road that serves little purpose except to provide a state-maintained bridge across the Des Moines River to the unincorporated village of Leando*, was the only spur highway that was not decommissioned on July … Continue reading →

Posted in Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Two of Iowa’s shortest state highways may be on way out
Jan 17

Contractors, wide shields, and the 2009 MUTCD

The presence of wide shields on the north extension of IA 196 to new US 20 has been documented here already. It’s not a good look. Notably, these shields were not put up by the state, but by a contractor. … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction, Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Contractors, wide shields, and the 2009 MUTCD
Jan 16

At least the moon shot worked

Since the day John F. Kennedy gave his historic moon speech at Rice University, Rice football is 2-42-1 against Texas…and Iowa State football is 1-42-1 against Oklahoma. (Link goes to my Oklahoma essay.) This convergence won’t last, though, because Rice-Texas only … Continue reading →

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Jan 15

Fort Dodge business route pages updated

I’ve cleared out the “proposed” section of the Fort Dodge Business 20 page, and replaced it with a lot of pictures of the new interchange at the west end. My previous rough sketch, based on the DOT’s 2005 proposal, ended … Continue reading →

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Jan 13

Three school story links

It’s the slow season for the blog; outside of whatever might pop up in the Legislature, road and school news is pretty quiet. Posts may be more sporadic. But here are some stories that caught my eye: Iowa City Press-Citizen: … Continue reading →

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Jan 10

Iowa precinct maps

As the Register reported Wednesday, the Iowa Secretary of State’s office has a page with links to all 99 county voting precinct maps. However, not all the maps are locally hosted. Some links go to maps hosted on the individual … Continue reading →

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Jan 09

Southwest Arterial update

From KWWL. KWWL – Eastern Iowa Breaking News, Weather, Closings

Posted in Construction, Highway Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Southwest Arterial update
Jan 08

NIT final all over again

I guess Iowa State will need to win a few more games to avoid trip-ups like this on SI’s website. (It’s right in the header, wrong in the sidebar.) Meanwhile, there’s this nice AP article about ISU’s teams, mostly focusing … Continue reading →

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