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October is Health Literacy Month!
It just so happens that October is Health Literacy Month. It was founded in 1999 by Helen Osborne, an occupational therapist and health literacy expert. The main idea is that health information should be communicated in clear language. How she started it is quite a story. She first learned about health literacy from reading a…
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Hey, It’s Active Aging Week!
OK, it’s the first day of National Active Aging Week and I’m urging you to stop that right now! No kidding, that title is comical because it suggests you should actively age, meaning adopt the attitude and habits of sedentary old fart—hey, everybody, let’s all get older right now! Actually, that’s the real name for…
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Svengoolie Show Wizard of Oz for Upcoming October BOO-Nanza
Did you look at the movie schedule for Svengoolie BOO-Nanza this October? The Wizard of Oz has several airings, so there’s almost no excuse for missing it—unless you’re a zombie! That means it’s time for Wizard of Oz jokes which I’m doing today in a modified version of Svengoolie’s Too Drawn-Out puzzle. Instead of guessing…
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Today is National Ghost Hunting Day!
Today is the last Saturday in September and that makes it National Ghost Hunting Day. While Iowa City is not generally known as a hot spot for haunts, there are a few places in town which you could call a little spooky. These include a place called Gaslight Village and the Black Angel. You can…
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Walking Man Sculpture and Other Sights at the Iowa City Sculptors Showcase
A couple of days ago, Sena was out and happened to be driving by Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. She saw some guy doing something with a greenish scarf on Walking Man sculpture. She couldn’t tell if he was trying to put it on the sculpture or take it for himself. By the time she got…
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Funny Thing Happened on the Bigfoot Trail
By now, everyone has seen the story about the Bigfoot sighted in Damariscotta, Maine. The local police found out way too fast that it was just a guy in a costume. An interesting sidelight was that the people in Damariscotta (Damariscottamans? Damariscottites? Damariscottimanians?) all came together to make sure friends and neighbors were safe from…
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You Must Visit the Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza!
Yesterday, Sena and I had the pleasure of visiting the newly dedicated Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza, located just outside the front entrance of the Johnson County Administration Building, 913 S. Dubuque Street in Iowa City, Iowa. The dedication ceremony was on August 29, 2026. Although we missed the dedication ceremony, the visit was very…
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Iowa City Sculptors Showcase Round 3!
The artists are keeping us running. This morning we went to the Johnson County Administration Building to check out the statue of Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson (on the outside gorgeous Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza, which is fantastic!), another big story, and thought we’d just check on the plaques for the Iowa City Sculptors Showcase.…
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Upcoming Civil Rights Exhibit at the African American Museum of Iowa
I saw a KCRG news item and an announcement about an upcoming exhibit opening at the African American Museum of Iowa on September 4, 2026. The title is Right Where We Belong: Black Resilience, Culture, & Community, 1964-1999. The summary on the museum website reads: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 marked a major milestone…

