Apr 20

2020 Lincoln Highway conference cancelled

Posted on Monday, April 20, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

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June 13, 2011: I-55 exit for US 30/Lincoln Highway in Joliet IL.

It was pretty much inevitable.

The 2020 conference was to be in Joliet, and it will be pushed back a year, to 2021. The 2022 conference will be in Sacramento.

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Apr 17

Iowa’s dominoes

Posted on Friday, April 17, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

A simple expression, in simple form. Not shown: the extinction-level-event domino called “football season”.

dominoestoon

At least they didn’t have to cancel Veishea this year.

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Apr 15

Back-to-back ‘Iowa Almanac’ moments

Posted on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

From last week, heard on KXEL, in Jeff Stein’s “Iowa Almanac”. Go to near the top of the April archives to hear more about these two events:

  • On April 9, 1913, the Iowa Highway Commission became a state agency separate from Iowa State University.
  • On April 10, 1994, the Iowa Firefighters Memorial was dedicated in Coralville. The idea came from Traer firefighter Mike Reuman.
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Apr 13

Wapello connection debate solved?

Posted on Monday, April 13, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

I guess ramming your head into a brick wall/plain old obstreperousness sometimes DOES work.

The Iowa DOT is prepared to allow an intersection with future four-lane US 61 and a side road south of Wapello, the Muscatine Journal reported nearly two weeks ago. This is what (or reasonably close to what) Louisa County supervisors and local residents have been demanding.

The plan, according to the story, involves a “J-turn” intersection. A J-turn is similar to a Michigan Left, except that no traffic on the cross road is allowed to go straight through. They have to cross two lanes of traffic to get to the U-turn, then cross two lanes again.

The J-turn concept was floated and shot down at both the US 65/IA 330 intersection, now an interchange, and the US 30/US 218 intersection, soon to be an interchange. This would be the first J-turn location in the state.

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Apr 10

Last Sioux City I-29 project begins

Posted on Friday, April 10, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

The Iowa DOT says it started repairing a fire-damaged bridge on I-29 this week. The project will last about two months.

This unexpected repair issue prevented I-29 from being open to six lanes throughout the city and “completing” the decade-long reconstruction project.

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Apr 08

A civic duty that can still be done

Posted on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Fill out your census forms! (Because it’s the right thing to do, darn it.)

Or rather, take the code that the Census Bureau put in the envelope that was mailed to you and go online and do it. (Doing the whole thing online was a bad idea in 2018, but now…) The document says a paper version will be sent “in a few weeks” to those who do not respond online.

Please. I like having new data sets to play with, and I want them to be as accurate as possible.

(This was scheduled for last week, but WordPress gave me a “Missed Schedule” notice, which I’ve never seen before.)

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Apr 06

Uni-Watch blog explores 1968-69 girls’ basketball

Posted on Monday, April 6, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Paul Lukas’ Uni-Watch, which deals in the history and minute details of sports uniforms, recently did a feature on Iowa girls’ basketball. His starting point was a recent New York Times story about Denise (Long) Rife. Most of the post looks into her Union-Whitten uniforms in 1968 and 1969, but then starts looking at what the other girls were wearing, which was very varied.

This may have been Lukas’ first encounter with six-on-six, as he dubbed the video of the 1968 championship game “interesting!”. We Iowans are always glad when someone discovers “our” game.

(h/t Dan Drackley)

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Apr 01

Highway Gothic

Posted on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

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I apologize for nothing.

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Mar 31

Joe Diffie, 1958-2020

Posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Joe Diffie, who died Sunday from coronavirus, was one of THE definitive singers for 1990s country — for me at least.

Third Rock From The Sun was the first CD I bought. I have 85% to 100% of it memorized. Below is one of the “deep cuts” from that CD, a song that never made it to the radio, but exemplifies the blue-collar attitude of both Diffie’s own life and the era.

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Mar 27

US 30 bridge to be built, then moved into place

Posted on Friday, March 27, 2020, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

To reduce the time US 30 will be closed northeast of Woodbine for a bridge replacement, a different tactic is going to be tried. The new bridge will be built beside the existing one, then slid into place. This will cut down on the time necessary for a very long and winding detour through Earling.

There’s a video explaining how it works. No sound.

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