May 17

Huskers still have a spot for Iowa State

Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2012, at 4:51 PM by Jeff

…but Northwestern is starting to make itself feel right at home there. Northwestern’s dominance against Nebraska in the latter’s first year in the Big Television Big Ten Conference has Husker fans scratching their heads in “this shouldn’t happen to us! We’re Nebraska!” mode.

Check out this blog post to see what I mean, complete with giant picture of Cy at the end.

Congratulations Northwestern, you’re basically an expensive version of Iowa State. Trust me, this is not a compliment. This is not a moral victory… this is just plain sad.

Aww, you still care!

So there you have it. The gnats can still bite once in a while. (Just ask Kirk Ferentz.)

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May 17

About those KU plates in Missouri

Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2012, at 1:57 PM by Jeff

Maybe not. (Lawrence Journal-World)

Note at the end, again, a Missourian suggesting that it’s all Kansas’ fault that the teams won’t play each other anymore.

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May 17

No varsity football for South Hardin in 2012

Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2012, at 12:24 PM by Jeff

Wow. I never would have expected it.

It’s a gender-balance issue: “If the state would take a boys’ count, we’d be a medium 1-A school,” the Register quotes coach Randy Tjaden as saying. The merged ENP/HR district plays in 2-A.

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May 16

Conferencepocalypse III?

Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 12:36 PM by Jeff


Seneca Wallace was IN!

Until a few days ago, the notion of Florida State and Clemson hauling themselves over to the Big 12 was only on the level of “infinite monkeys on infinite college sports message boards.” Then, suddenly, there were clouds of smoke.

I’m not believing any of it yet. The Big 12 hasn’t signed the $2.6 billion contract and the teams haven’t extended the grant of rights. The BCS hasn’t decided what the new postseason structure will be. The conference presidents meet later this month and Bob Bowlsby doesn’t take over until June 15. Conferencepocalypse III: The Clemsoning is very early in the production stage and can still get spiked. Unlike the last times, Iowa State is not in mortal peril. Yet. Continue reading →

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May 15

Rochester reroute of US 63

Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at 12:17 PM by Jeff

Since the opening of the Ottumwa and Kirksville bypasses, Waterloo has had more stoplights on US 63 than the entire route from I-90 to US 50/54 in Jefferson City combined. It was the only highway in the Waterloo area that did not get an upgrade from surface street to four-lane, although there is a project to make the situation on the north side better.

After reaching I-90, a US 63 traveler encounters the last big slowdown on the route: Broadway through downtown Rochester, Minnesota. That will cease to be the case next year.

US 63 is going to be rerouted around Rochester. I first saw this in the application to the U.S. Special Committee on Numbered Highways, and it was corroborated by two recent articles in the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Like nearly all such cases in the 21st century, the reroute will become longer in length but shorter in travel time. The timetable set in one article is “by the middle of next year.”

Continue reading →

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May 14

Sabula bridge scheduled to be replaced

Posted on Monday, May 14, 2012, at 12:40 PM by Jeff

One of the new components in the DOT’s 2013-17 construction plan is the replacement of the US 52/IA 64 bridge at Iowa’s far eastern end in 2016. It would be the third major river bridge in Iowa to be replaced in the past ten years (US 275/IA 92, IA 394/27) but the first across the Mississippi since the US 34 Great River Bridge opened in 1993.

The existing bridge has a steel deck and is very narrow. The question of whether the new bridge will have a superstructure is an interesting one because the existing bridge uses two massive piers to let barges and other river traffic underneath. If it does, it’s not likely to be this elaborate, but I have not seen any designs.

The Savanna-Sabula Bridge will be 80 years old at the end of this year. It is the third-oldest Iowa bridge still in use across the Mississippi River but the second-longest in continuous operation, due to the Black Hawk Bridge being closed for 12 years. Only the Government Bridge in Davenport, which no longer carries a signed highway, and the IA 2/IL 9 toll bridge in Fort Madison are older.

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May 13

Court clears way for Preston, East Central vote

Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2012, at 4:41 PM by Jeff

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday (QC Times), months after the initial case and after East Central started a sharing agreement with Northeast.

The Preston-East Central combination, which supporters would like to call Easton Valley*, has had its viability called into question. Consultants from UNI recommended a Northeast-East Central matchup, similar to what happened while the court case worked its way through, but didn’t study Preston-East Central or a tripleheader. The tripleheader would conceivably be the best option simply because it would give all three districts control of their own destiny rather than be forced into merger or dissolution. (No matter what, of the four buildings involved, at least one would close, likely the 1882(!) elementary in Sabula.)

*I suppose that as far as artificial portmanteaus go, it could be worse. Or does it count as a form of adaptation decay, in which the sense of the original gets lost? There’s no “Easton River,” which the “Valley” implies. I’d suggest “East Iowa” since it will be the state’s easternmost district, and would work with either proposed combination or the tripleheader. (East Central is actually northeast of Northeast.)

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May 11

Border War license plate?

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012, at 6:12 PM by Jeff

A Missouri representative has agreed to sponsor the process to get a University of Kansas specialty plate in the state of Missouri.

Missouri is already offering one for the University of Arkansas.

If the wrong bumper sticker could get your car into trouble in some places, imagine what this would do to one in Columbia and Jefferson City.

(h/t CBS Sports)

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May 11

Post offices saved, but too late for Buckingham

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012, at 2:33 PM by Jeff

A day late and a dollar 45-cent stamp short, I know. Kyle Munson has been on it.

This is the list of reduced hours. (PDF, organized by ZIP code and state abbreviaion) It includes a lot of those places that were on The List, and more — Aplington, Dike, and Reinbeck are also going to have their time cut.

Although Lincoln lost its final appeal, the final decision was late enough that it fell under the closure moratorium. It will, however, have its hours per day reduced from six to two. It is too late for Buckingham, which now has a “For Sale” sign on its empty building. The only sign it was a post office are the naked flagpole and the town name and ZIP code written on the window.

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May 10

License plate countdown — ZIJ

Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2012, at 11:00 PM by Jeff

On April 2, I said, “It’s possible a driver with an A/B/C/E plate could renew this year and bookend the series.” I have now seen it happen — an E vehicle became a Z (with different letters than the combo in the title).

 

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