A recently divulged casualty of the Iowa floods (previously covered on Mefi here) is the Mighty Wurlitzer organ at the Paramount Theater. The pictures are pretty awful, and the video is even worse. If you grew up in Cedar Rapids any time in the last 80 years, you'll have heard the Wurlitzer on at least one occasion. Cedar Rapidians are vowing to "Return and Rebuild".
posted on Jun 20, 2008 - View this thread

Hoping for the best for Mefites in eastern Iowa. I was CR born and raised, and just watching the feed on KCRG is ...disturbing. It looks like the height of the Cedar River is estimated at 25.4 feet, and it hasn't crested yet. They've lost a railroad bridge downtown so far, and the news feed keeps tracking the rise of the river by standing outside the studio and watching the water approaching.
posted on Jun 12, 2008 - View this thread

The (U.S.) National Weather Service has released its report on a strong tornado that occured in Iowa the evening of May 25th. On the evening of May 25th, 2008 a tornado rated at EF5 (estimated wind speed was around 205 MPH!!) obliterated half of the town of Parkersburg, Iowa. Eight people have died, and 70 were injured. Here is a PDF containing incredible pictures of the damage (taken by employees of the NWS during their survey).
posted on Jun 4, 2008 - View this thread

…you are brilliant and subtle if you come from Iowa and really strange and you live as you live and you are always well taken care of if you come from Iowa.
posted on Dec 18, 2007 - View this thread

The times, they are a-changing? [pdf]: A Survey of Iowa State University Students' preferences in the presidential primaries. [spoilers inside]
posted on Nov 27, 2007 - View this thread

Undular Bore Waves
posted on Oct 19, 2007 - View this thread

The latest victory for gay rights occurs in ... Iowa?
posted on Aug 31, 2007 - View this thread

Blandlands. Videoblogger Aaron Valdez (previously) has entered his minimalist phase. These short, wordless scenes of suburban landscapes are quiet meditations on beauty and decay. Great for people who don't have windows in their offices. Other Valdez offerings include The Life and Times of Robert Kennedy Starring Gary Cooper, America's Way, and Subterranean Homesick 41 Frame Delay Blues.
posted on Feb 9, 2007 - View this thread

Paco Rosic is nearing completion of a one-half scale replica of the Sistine Chapel in Waterloo, Iowa - all painted with about 2,000 cans of spray paint.
posted on Oct 1, 2006 - View this thread

"I would have your wife right in front of you. I would smoke the last of your glaucoma medication. Then I will surely drink your liquor cabinet dry. However, know this my friend. I will never break an oath to uphold the public trust. My affidavit will be signed in my own blood. A Pirates crimson mark, with real binding effects into my after life. Laugh if you will then ask yourself if you could do it." James Hill is running for congress in Iowa's first district. He accepts no money from anybody.
posted on Aug 25, 2006 - View this thread

Why did I annoy that black squirrel in Council Bluffs? I hope they don't put me in their special haunted jail.
posted on Aug 21, 2006 - View this thread

Explosion at Iowa Army Ammunition Plant Interesting to note, this plant which is just a few miles from my hometown remained relatively dormant after the cold war ended.
posted on Jun 13, 2006 - View this thread

The Oxford Project: in 1984, Peter Feldstein photographed every single citizen in the town of Oxford, Iowa (676 pictures in all). In 2006, he attempts to do it again.
posted on Jun 6, 2006 - View this thread

The vision: a federally funded 5-acre enclosed rainforest, supposedly the world's largest, will make Coralville, Iowa into a world-class destination city and ignite the imagination of its heretofore benighted citizens. The problem: a federally funded rainforest. In Iowa. Read some entertaining background and analysis on the inspiring project here and here.
posted on Jan 13, 2006 - View this thread

Whatever happened to Howard Dean?

"He was assassinated by Bill and Hillary with the assistance of Chris Lehane, the political hit man who first worked for Kerry and now backs Clark.
Desperate to keep control of the Democratic Party, the Clintons used their negative researchers and detectives to the ultimate and generated a story-a-day savaging Dean. The Vermont governor, not ready for prime time, cooperated by being thin-skinned, surly and combative. "

caveat: I'm not trolling, but as a democrat I find this interesting. Ok, nauseating.
posted on Jan 24, 2004 - View this thread

Exit polls are back from the dead. After a total failure in both the 2000 and 2002, exit polls return to the national election scene, with the Iowa caucus exit poll results (PDF). But can the new team overcome the strong distrust of the previous organization?
posted on Jan 19, 2004 - View this thread

Scott County, Iowa A very informative website about Scott County, Iowa. Including, but not limited to, Meet Meet Your Motor Grader Operator and Scott County's most wanted.
posted on Oct 7, 2003 - View this thread

For students in one Iowa school district this year, it's "sit down, shut up and eat your lunch." The principal says it curbs the noise level and makes sure kids eat all of their meal. Because if there's one thing this country (not to mention the rest of the world) needs, it's more fat kids.
posted on Aug 21, 2003 - View this thread

RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). Perhaps a better way to experience Iowa than the CornCam... or consider smaller rides.
posted on Jul 24, 2003 - View this thread

No winner in MoveOn primary... but Dean places first, with 4387%. No candidate getting over 50% means no endorsement for now. But more people voted in this virtual Democratic primary than voted in the New Hampshire, Iowa, and North Carolina Democratic primaries/caucuses in 2000.
posted on Jun 27, 2003 - View this thread

For decades, Iowans found jobs making atomic bombs and non-nuclear weaponry at the Middletown Ammunition Plant. Now their bodies are paying a heavy price.. According to today's installment, the US government and other groups denied knowledge of this plants' role in our nuclear history.
posted on Dec 23, 2002 - View this thread

Remember this thread regarding Planned Parenthood of Iowa, confidentiality and a murder investigation? The county attorney has now dropped the case due to lack of resources. I was looking forward to the ruling on this one.
posted on Oct 9, 2002 - View this thread

"we're good at growing hogs, and we ought to be selling our hogs all across the world." Bush stumps at Pork Party about nixing the Estate Tax.
posted on Jun 8, 2002 - View this thread

The 14th annual World Pork Expo starts today in Des Moines. 50,000 visitors and people from 50 countries are expected to be in attendance this weekend. Also in attendance will be George W. Bush.
posted on Jun 6, 2002 - View this thread

Ronald Reagan is joining the war on speeders in Malvern, IA. "Someone had put a dummy in there with a uniform and he has a big smile on his face," City Clerk Julie Powles said. I don't think it's very nice to call a former president a dummy, though.
posted on May 22, 2002 - View this thread

Mailbox bomber at large. "More than a half-dozen pipe bombs were placed in rural mailboxes in Illinois and Iowa on Friday, and at least two people were injured in explosions, the post office said." Part of the note that accompanied the bomb said "PS. More info. will be delivered to various locations around the country." If you live in the midwest, be careful.
posted on May 3, 2002 - View this thread

Art Fights Back — an exhibit of poster art at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa — displays images dedicated to the memory of September 11 and support of the Unites States and its troops. Seems like a typical thing to do around war time, right?

Take a close look at the actual poster design. Don't they seem rather non-American in their artistic style? In fact, they recall an era of poster design for a dramatically different context than what was typically thought of as U.S. patriotism.
posted on Mar 11, 2002 - View this thread

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack received a bill Wednesday that would make English the official language of the state May be in violation of US law, but that aside for the moment, is this a good or bad idea?
posted on Feb 28, 2002 - View this thread

Iowa Businessman Bob Vander Plaats announced his campaign for governor saying he wants to "run government like a business," according to the Des Moines Register. The Quad City Times notes that Vander Platt says his management experience "forms the foundation of his run for the GOP nomination." Taegan Goddard and Chris Riback say in an essay from their book that you can't run government like a business. Who is right?
posted on Oct 24, 2001 - View this thread

Bush could ask for Iowa recount / Des Moines Register web site uses something other than ASP/WinNT
Describes possible moves and legal requirements for a recount in Iowa. Did you know that there's nothing in the Constitution about voting for president? A new state could come up with some other method of choosing electors!
posted on Nov 8, 2000 - View this thread

Gore pulls even with Bush in the Iowa Electronic Markets.
posted on Sep 1, 2000 - View this thread

This is the most action-packed webcam site I've seen in ages. Look at it grow! I think I saw a seedling sprout! It's hours and hours of fun, you can't see it all in one visit...
posted on Jun 3, 2000 - View this thread

It looks like Dan Savage is in a bit of trouble for that stunt he pulled and wrote about for salon. He volunteered for Gary Bauer's campaign in Iowa before their caucuses and attmpted to infect the candidate and his staff with the flu he was suffering from. Now he may be charged with voter fraud and assault. Also see salon's reader's reactions. So was Dan just kidding in the article or did he really lick doorknobs? Think he's going to get in serious trouble?
posted on Feb 1, 2000 - View this thread

Bush and Gore won their respective Iowa primaries. Excuse while I let out an enormous yawn. I was talking about Bill Bradley to a friend the other day, and he thought I was a crackpot. So I dug up the old Select Smart URL, and made him fill out the form. Given his stance on issues, Bill Bradley came up as his first choice too. He went nuts, and said instead of punch cards with names in the voting booth, we should answer questions like the Select Smart site, and submit a vote for the candidate that most matches our stances on issues. Instead of pointless political advertising, candidates' positions on real issues would determine who would vote for them. Wouldn't that be great?
posted on Jan 25, 2000 - View this thread