The End of ‘Looking in at Iowa’ November 22, 2008
Posted by John in Uncategorized.6 comments
For nearly a year I’ve enjoyed monitoring the Web for lesser-known (or not yet widely known) information tidbits of possible interest to Eastern Iowans and sharing those with readers of this blog. As a news referral blog, I haven’t written much from my own voice, but instead have let the sources speak for themselves through key excerpts, smaller photos, and links pointing back to the sources, which offered complete text and larger images.
Now, because of other important commitments, I’ve found that I need to stop tracking, skimming and posting information for Looking in at Iowa. I hope you have found this blog to be a useful and interesting complement for your regular consumption of Iowa news. And for those around the world who have found LIAI posts only from searches, I hope this blog helped you find the precise information you were looking for – or quickly pointed you to one of the best online sources for that information.
I’d like to thank readers for showing your interest in such an unconventional blog. Traffic for Looking in at Iowa greatly exceeded my expectations and reinforces my belief in the importance of what has been called link journalism. (Read more about link journalism from Jeff Jarvis, Scott Karp)
Please feel free to leave any final thoughts about this blog in a comment here or by sending me an e-mail. I am especially interested in learning what you liked and disliked, any favorite posts or subject areas you appreciated seeing here, or what ways Looking in at Iowa could have been better.
Thanks everyone!
Variety: Meryl Streep to star in ‘Dewey’; Fact-based film about stray cat’s impact on town of Spencer, Iowa November 14, 2008
Posted by John in Uncategorized.Tags: Books, cats, Dewey Readmore Books (cat), Films, Movies, New Line Cinema, Public Libraries, Spencer (Iowa), Spencer Public Library, Vicki Myron
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From Variety:
Meryl Streep is purring over “Dewey,” a fact-based film about a stray cat’s impact on the town of Spencer, Iowa. The project has landed at New Line Cinema.
Streep is attached to star in the adaptation of the Vicki Myron book “Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World.” … Streep intends to play the author, who works at the library and …
From October 5 Gazette article:
There already is talk of adapting the book into a movie, and Myron says she would love to see an actress like Meryl Streep , Jodie Foster or Helen Hunt play her role. …
Nebraska boy pulls toy metal badge (from Winterset) out of eye; Spaghetti feed to benefit this University Hospitals patient November 13, 2008
Posted by John in Uncategorized.Tags: Dawson Holverson, eye injuries, Iowa City (Iowa), John Wayne, toys--injuries, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Winterset (Iowa)
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From The Fremont Tribune (Nebraska):
“I was watching TV and I fell asleep. I started to wake up when I was falling out of bed and I hit my eye on the toy sheriff’s badge,” he says. [7-year-old] Dawson [Holverson] holds up the bronze-colored, metal badge that he got while visiting actor John Wayne’s birthplace in Iowa. …
In April, it started to detach again. That’s when he was referred to specialists in Iowa City, where his retina was re-attached via a laser procedure. … Dawson will need to return to Iowa on Tuesday for another checkup and on Dec. 16. …
Iowa banker’s 3-cent stamp sells for over $1 million at New York auction October 31, 2008
Posted by John in Uncategorized.Tags: 1868, auctions, hobbies, Perry Hansen, stamp collecting, U.S. postage
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From Associated Press via Washington Post
:
This photo of an 1868 three-cent denomination “B Grill” variety U. S. postage, was provided by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, Inc., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 in New York. The stamp, one of only four known to be in existence, sold at auction for $1,035,000 during a three day sale of Iowa banker Perry B. Hansen’s stamp collection. (AP Photo/Siegel Auction Galleries) …
Reno shows support for Cedar Rapids flood victim, known to them as ‘The Waver’ August 8, 2008
Posted by John in Kindness, Medicine, Nature, Uncategorized, Weather.Tags: Cancer, Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Ed Carlson, flooded areas, Flooding, floods, Floods of 2008
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From Reno Gazette-Journal:
Ed Carlson, known in Reno as “The Waver” for a three-decade stint walking along western Nevada roads and waving to motorists, thanked people for all the letters of support and the money they sent when his life took two tragic turns in June.
Within a few weeks, Carlson found out his wife had terminal cancer and they lost their Cedar Rapids, Iowa, home to Midwest flooding. …
More about Ed Carlson, including a Gazette article, in this post:
Reno icon ‘Waver’ returned to Cedar Rapids, becomes flood victim; Wife learned of terminal lung cancer a week before flood
Asian American Press on Cedar Rapids native: ‘Captain David Harold Kouba – hero of Hmong Secret CIA War dies’ July 29, 2008
Posted by John in Deaths, Military, Uncategorized, War.Tags: Alburnett (Iowa), Alburnett High School, Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), David Kouba, Fayette (Iowa), Harold Kouba, History, Hmong community, Long Chieng (Laos), pilots, Upper Iowa University, Vida Vernon
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Image via WikipediaFrom Asian American Press:
David H. Kouba was born on July 11, 1938 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was the oldest son of Harold Louis Kouba and Vida Eileen Vernon.
Upon graduation from Alburnett High School in 1957, Kouba entered college at Fayette, IA. …
By May 14, 1975, he was among the few remaining American civilian pilots in Southeast Asia. A Top Secret mission was given to Captain Kouba and chopper pilot Jack Knotts. They were given the task of flying the last “upcountry” mission to evacuate Jerry Daniels (Hog), who was a CIA Case Officer, and Major General Vang Pao (VP), commander of Military Region 2 of the Royal Lao Army, out of their headquarters at Long Cheng. …
Kouba placed this entry in his log book: “Arrived at Long Chieng at dawn to evacuate General Vang Pao and head customer “Hog”. All was in turmoil. Danang, Vietnam all over. Meos were beginning to mob aircraft. We took off at 10:47 and this ended the Secret CIA base of Long Chieng, Laos.” …
More from Guardian (UK) on Kouba’s Iowa family:
Kathy Sankey and Rick Langguth, Kouba’s half-brother and half-sister, travelled from Iowa to attend the Hmong community’s homage to Kouba. Sankey, who was 11 years younger than Kouba, said in an interview that she, like most Americans, had known little about his exploits during the secret war. He returned to Iowa in 2004, but her account Sunday was still sketchy. This was, after all, a secret war.
“We didn’t know he was in the secret war,” she said. “We were aware he was dropping food and supplies for the people.” …
RIAA rep tells how they catch alleged music pirates (incl. accused at University of Iowa?) May 15, 2008
Posted by John in Business, Education, Music, Uncategorized.Tags: copyright, file sharing, higher education, Intellectual Property, Iowa City (Iowa), LimeWire, Media Sentry, P2P, Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, University of Iowa
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From Chronicle of Higher Education:
To catch college students trading copyrighted songs online, the Recording Industry Association of America uses the same file-sharing software that online pirates love, an RIAA representative told The Chronicle at the organization’s offices during a private demonstration of how it catches alleged music pirates. He also said the group does not single out specific colleges in its investigations. …
Here’s how the process works: The RIAA maintains a list of songs whose distribution rights are owned by the RIAA’s member organizations. It has given that list to Media Sentry, a company it hired to search for online pirates. That company runs copies of the LimeWire program and performs searches for…
For the University of Iowa connection, see this Looking in at Iowa post from March: Record companies suing 20 University of Iowa Internet users accused of file sharing.
2 Cedar Rapids church members hope to sell 1 million ’1M4JC’ T-shirts April 24, 2008
Posted by John in Business, Religion, Uncategorized.Tags: 1M4JC, Antioch Christian Church (Cedar Rapids Iowa), Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Christianity, clothing, Jim Mayhew, Marion (Iowa), One Million for Jesus Christ, Rob Gettemy, T-shirts, Vinton (Iowa)
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From Christian Newswire:
Two men from Eastern Iowa have faith that a T-shirt will unite Christians across the country while raising money for Christian ministries. Through the project, co-founders Jim Mayhew of Vinton and Rob Gettemy of Marion plan to sell one million black T-shirts with white type that proclaim “1M4JC” or “One Million for Jesus Christ.” Says Mayhew, “It’s a simple idea that has the potential to have a huge impact.” According to Mayhew, the idea came to him while he was on his way to church one Sunday. “Right then and there I believed 1M4JC could have a tremendous influence on our world through something as simple as a T-shirt.”
Energized by the inspiration, Mayhew approached a friend, Rob Gettemy, at Antioch Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they both are members. Gettemy, a former executive in the corporate world for many years, was captivated by the idea of helping to launch a Christian business with the potential for touching millions of lives. The men soon became co-founders of 1M4JC and began planning the introduction and sale of their signature T-shirt on their new web site, www.1m4jc.com, when it officially launches May 1. “This is more than a Christian T-shirt business,” says Mayhew. “This is our opportunity to glorify God by putting our faith into action.” …
Data Link Solutions of Cedar Rapids being awarded $25.8 million contract April 6, 2008
Posted by John in Business, Military, Uncategorized.Tags: military contracts, Rockwell Collins
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From U.S. Department of Defense:
AIR FORCE …
Data Link Solutions Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is being awarded a contract for $25,814,110. This action will provide repair of 26 National Stock Numbers (NSNs) for the multifunctional information distribution system. Platforms associated with the NSNs include, but are not limited to Joint Interface Control Officer Support System, F-15, F-16, F-22, B-1B and B-2. At this time no funds have been obligated. Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8539-08-D-0002).
See front page of Gazette one day after Martin Luther King assassination April 4, 2008
Posted by John in Biography, History, Race, Religion, Uncategorized.Tags: Cedar Rapids Gazette, civil rights, digitized microfilm, historic newspapers, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King Jr, MLK, newspaper archives, speeches
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To view a PDF of the page, click the following: The Gazette’s front page for April 5, 1968.
Also, something related from Grinnell College:
King delivered his final Iowa speech, “Remaining Awake During a Revolution,” on October 29, 1967 in Darby Gymnasium on Grinnell’s campus. We are unable to publish the speech online due to copyright rules, but King gave a very similar speech, Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, in 1968 at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
The Stanford site they link to also offers 2 audio clips from that speech:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/multimedia/680331A.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/multimedia/680331B.htm
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