September 17, 2007: West side of Le Mars. US 75 keeps its pre-1984 mile numbering (from Council Bluffs) all the way through the new end of its freeway/expressway alignment, at which point it exits from itself. This is only about 30 miles into the state.
Soon after these signs were put up, the city complained that “Le Mars” wasn’t on them. “Next 3 Exits” wasn’t good enough, apparently.
The North Tama girls on the state’s biggest stage
Turnovers and cold fourth-quarter shooting ended the best season in North Tama girls’ basketball history Monday with a 47-35 loss to North Mahaska. The Redhawks finished 21-5, and this was the only loss to another 1A team.
The game was closer than the final score. The Redhawks had two leads, 2-0 and 20-19, and came within one a couple of times.
Redhawks right in it until late drought (Cedar Rapids Gazette) (w/photo gallery, video)
North Mahaska eliminates North Tama (Waterloo Courier)
North Mahaska rounds out 1-A semifinal field (Des Moines Register)
North Tama girls fall short to #1 North Mahaska (KWWL)
Quoth WHO’s Chris Hassel on Twitter: “North Tama forced to foul because North Mahaska is up 6 and attempting to run out final FOUR minutes of clock. Absolutely brutal.” The problem was, NT didn’t start doing that until there was a minute and a half left.
Although I strongly dislike fouling purely to stop the clock/force free throws, when there’s no shot clock, you have to do something.
So far, the 2010s have brought unprecedented success for North Tama athletics. Congratulations to the girls for adding another banner to the wall.
PS to the scoreboard operators: PLEASE LEAVE THE FINAL SCORE UP AFTER THE GAME. Don’t delete it 10 seconds after the clock strikes zero. Some people (cough) would like to take pictures of the final score before or during the postgame presentation. There’s 20 minutes until the next one, plenty of time to zero everything out.
The North Tama girls’ basketball team plays North Mahaska in the first game of the evening session and last in the 1A quarterfinals. NT is an unranked 8-seed (21-4) and NM is undefeated (25-0). The Des Moines Register notes this is the first year the brackets were seeded after the qualifiers were determined.
Banner Days for North Tama girls’ basketball (Marshalltown Times-Republican)
North Tama point guard forced to lead from the sideline (Marshalltown Times-Republican)
Super sophs step up for Redhawks (Marshalltown Times-Republican)
North Tama, North Butler girls prepare for state girls’ BB tourney (Waterloo Courier)
Monday game preview (Cedar Rapids Gazette) (Note: The Gazette considers NT in the area but NM not.)
Among state qualifiers, North Tama players lead in scoring, rebounds, and assists. (And we’re starting a 5’2″ sophomore! Not going to see that at Ankeny.)
On a side note, North Tama is 1-1 against North Mahaska all-time in the first round of football playoffs (2003, 2008).
Go Redhawks!
September 13, 2011: Leaving-town sign on US 69 at Davis City that does double duty at the junction of J66. This is right by the Davis City post office, one of scores across the state threatened with closure.
August 2002: One of many wrong-way multiplexes in Massachusetts. This particular picture helped me retrace a winding route through the state on a day that resulted in traveling much later than anticipated, ducking in and out of Vermont.
Not only is this location pinpointable in Google, in 2009, the shields were still the same rectangle-and-square arrangement.
June 26, 2006: Near downtown Sioux Falls. SD 115 is US 77’s old route between US 18 and Dell Rapids. The “Downtown” text on the I-229 shield is unique to this business loop. Notice the crisp, clean lines of the state route shape.
A followup to previous posts about post office hubs: Waterloo and Cedar Rapids will stay open. Carroll and Creston will not. Nothing about local post offices beyond the moratorium that was already in place.
June 12, 2006: Leaving-town sign on US 59 south of Emerson. Although there’s a county and a half to go before the state line, there’s only one Iowa town left on 59.
Segments of US 59 south of here were some of the last US route segments to be paved in Iowa.
May 8, 2007: East end of MN 113 after a quick detour to get Becker County. (I did more extensive travel there later.) This is close to the source of the Mississippi.
(Image: Waterloo Courier)
Its official name is “Malcolm Price Laboratory School” or “Price Lab.” But when it comes to sports, we know it as “NU High” (for Northern University). Its connection to UNI wasn’t that much of a concern or thought — until now.
UNI wants to close the school effective at the end of this school year, a result of severe budget issues. The Des Moines Register and Waterloo Courier are both on it. Closing requires approval from the Board of Regents and Legislature.
After a fire in the late early ’90s, NU High got a really, really nice gym. Home football games in the UNI-Dome gave visiting teams the chance to experience a playoff atmosphere even if it would never happen for them.
Although it’s not exactly like a public small school closing, the effects will be much the same.
EDIT 12/5/12: Corrected time frame of fire (1993).
