Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

May 08

Circumnavigation detour: State lines

In my circumnavigation report I split off a story dedicated to oddities in Iowa’s state borders. Did I put “Day 5 1/2” on here? If not, despite being 11 months old, it’s new to you!

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May 02

Who wants chili and cinnamon rolls?

Iowa schoolkids, and former schoolkids, want chili and cinnamon rolls. I even looked up old lunch menus for a story about this Marion Historical Society fundraiser.

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Apr 30

An unusual problem in the news business

There are times when newspapers aren’t delivered because of a blizzard, but at least we know where they are? I admit loving that the description on Seymour Herald’s Facebook page is “A weekly OFFICIAL WAYNE COUNTY NEWSPAPER, with hometown local … Continue reading

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Apr 28

Really delayed spring cleaning

OK, so some of the info from this month-old post is outdated, but the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative additions list is important, and it’s another picture from Pi Day in Springville. (Me? A procrastinating mess? Never.)

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Apr 21

Swan to disincorporate

September 30, 2014: Swan, in far northwest Marion County, was bypassed by the state highway system when what today is IA 5 was realigned in 1928. The IA 316 bridge over the Des Moines River at Runnells was decades in … Continue reading

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Apr 14

Pi Day, delayed

Pie is always in season, not just March 14! Pi Day in Springville is a local holiday.

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Apr 14

Colona-oscopy

In Sunday’s print Des Moines Register, on the “Around the State” page, there was this curious item: In a page that is about stories from the state of Iowa, the Register ran a brief from a city in ILLINOIS — … Continue reading

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Apr 01

Windsor Heights got a Casey’s

You might think that news about a Des Moines suburb getting another gas station isn’t too notable, but in this case, I found something. Land was cleared last fall for a Casey’s at the northeast corner of University Avenue and … Continue reading

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Feb 24

Watching TV is so hard nowadays

About a month ago, Mediacom shut off its unencrypted cable signal. That means my favorite way to watch TV — on the computer — couldn’t work with cable anymore. Ironically, even as I write this now, the signal to my … Continue reading

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Feb 17

Headline goes here

January 8, 1883, was the last Monday that residents of Cedar Rapids didn’t have a hard-copy newspaper sold at stores or delivered to their doorsteps. Until today. Tuesday will be 600 days since I lost my job there.

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