Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Apr 19

100th anniversary of Iowa’s Primary Road Act

  May 19, 2004 / September 7, 2006: There are only two places in Iowa where original 1920 numbers still meet in 2019 — IA 9/51 in Allamakee County and IA 13/56 in Clayton County. Neither intersection is in the … Continue reading

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Apr 17

Webster County Museum in trouble

The roof of the former Otho Elementary is in horrible shape and has put the Webster County Museum’s future in question, reports the Fort Dodge Messenger. The museum also has mold. One of the museum’s volunteers was killed in a traffic … Continue reading

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Apr 15

Fictional candidate places real newspaper ad

And may be polling higher than John Delaney. Iowa would do themselves the honor of selecting me as their candidate for president! Join me!! #newselinanow #veep #hbo #selinameyer pic.twitter.com/cv8vf3xKd9 — Selina Meyer (@OfficialSelinaM) April 13, 2019 One of the other … Continue reading

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Apr 08

Slater ice cream shop lost in fire

May 31, 2017: Cole’s in Slater sold more than ice cream. (Yup, I happened to have a photo.) Cole’s ice cream shop, a little eating place in Slater at the corner of IA 210 and R38, burned down this weekend. … Continue reading

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Apr 05

Analysis of 2019 RAGBRAI route

Perhaps the strangest thing about this year’s RAGBRAI route map release, now that the day-by-day trickle is an established thing, is that the Register‘s website didn’t really say anything about it. On that Sunday morning, there was nothing except the … Continue reading

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Apr 02

The Not Daily Times Herald

As of this week, Iowa has one fewer daily newspaper. The paper that from World War II until now was known as the Daily Times Herald is becoming the Carroll Times-Herald, with publication on Tuesdays and Fridays. The announcement also … Continue reading

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Mar 30

An unfortunate closing in the nick of time

In 1978, as enrollment in the South Page school district was falling*, the district closed its attendance centers in both Braddyville and Coin. It was a far cry from the optimism of just over a decade earlier, when voters approved … Continue reading

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Mar 25

Shopko is toast

The deep bleeding that was already coming out earlier this year is complete, as the Shopko retail chain filed for bankruptcy and liquidation last week. The remaining dozen stores in Iowa that had escaped the earlier closures — based on this … Continue reading

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Mar 21

Marking the Marathon to Marathon

July 23, 2009: Welcome sign for Marathon at the south end of former IA 390. Nearly a decade later, the paint on the church sign had noticeably faded. It’s 16 years to the day since I set foot in Marathon in the … Continue reading

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Mar 08

Four, count ’em four, visits to Dows

September 11, 2014: Eight years after starting its partnership with CAL, Dows started sending students to Clarion-Goldfield, one of the few times a school switched sharing arrangements before eventual consolidation. (TLDR: I added a bunch of photos to the IA 72 … Continue reading

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