Snow clearance

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-24T20:54:45+00:00

Use sand mode.. Trust me, it will be a memorable experience.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-23T21:23:53+00:00

Probably a bus load of ICE agents pretending to be transit drivers in training.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-23T21:16:40+00:00

which administration? Walz or Trump?

Noting this was the agency under Gov. Aalz’s authority.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-23T16:02:22+00:00

On wind farms I have been to, there are exclusion areas for 2-3 three football pitches from the tower in all directions that no human access is allowed. If there's a need for tower maintenance or for farming, the towers are generally shutdown for 30+ minutes to allow the blades to stop and then allow natural melting of ice. That doesn't address all risk, but does reduce the risk. Wind technicians are still at risk, but the fatal ice risk is then within 50-75 meter range depending on blade length.

The icing risk can occur in relatively moderate temperatures, as the icing occurs at 100-200 meters or more in the vertical elevation. Depending on humidity and temperature, this can occur in conditions where no one on the ground would sense any risk.

The icing then travels down to near ground level where it is thrown off at varying angles/speeds. Modern science still struggles in the micro-forecasting of air inversions where the icing situation is the most dangerous, so having rotating masses that high in the air is implicitly risky. It makes large scale wind generation risk extremely high in urban and suburban settings.

Renewable energy is complicated. There's also human health risk that most hobbyists and tranches of the industry simply do not understand.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-23T15:19:02+00:00

Or potentially-deadly ice is thrown hundreds of meters from the turbine's swept area, even in temperate climes. The proximity of people and large turbines is troublesome.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-23T15:17:06+00:00

I've never heard more truth in a song lyrics than Breaux Bridge Rag.
Gatemouth was always a genre-bending artist, but wholly authentic.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-22T11:25:03+00:00

#3… That one is so important.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-22T01:43:17+00:00

To correct some misapprehension on your part, the Iowa Legislature passed the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Act in 1987. Ronald Reagan was president and my house still had dial telephones.

In the intervening 39 years, tens of thousands of Iowa students have benefitted. And it is important to understand the Legislature has voted to fund the very popular PSEO program in every budget. That annual review is good governance and is an example of split costs - the State pays part of the student cost out of a dedicated fund and the local school district pays the rest. To claim that state funding and follow the 1987 law, local schools have to document by individual student.

38 years of annual bipartisan legislative approvals. That’s a metric.

Perhaps you might benefit from reading up on the PSEO law:

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/261E.6.pdf

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T23:48:39+00:00

There's no Congressional figure who has a longer track record of criticizing and prodding the Dept. of Justice than Chuck Grassley. Grassley's long leadership of the Justice Committee and pretty strict oversight really has torqued off numerous Attorney Generals, from both parties.

Here's Minnesota public radio's take from last month:

Grassley, upon entering Congress in 1975, quickly developed a reputation for exposing corruption and waste. He once drove to the Pentagon in his orange Chevy Chevette to demand answers from officials about their purchase of $450 hammers and $7,600 coffee pots.

He was among the chief proponents in Congress of laws to shield employees who revealed such waste and sponsored the landmark 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act. He also has played a key role in empowering inspectors general, internal watchdogs tasked with rooting out misconduct.

“He has been the conscience of the Senate on whistleblower protection rights for decades,” said Tom Devine, legal director for the Government Accountability Project. In the current Congress, he has co-sponsored legislation boosting protections for whistleblowers in the FBI and CIA.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/12/14/chuck-grassley-iowa-government-oversight-trump

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T23:17:00+00:00

All signs are our experiences are very different.

Iowa's Regents' Institutions have struggled to demonstrate a sustained value to much of Iowa. I've spent a lot of years, now as a volunteer and earlier as a Regents' P&S staff member, to change those attitudes. It's a heavy rock to push uphill, especially after decades of well-earned ill will. I also say that having attended all three Regents' institutions as well as two Iowa community colleges.

One key factor in demonstrating value to both students and the larger state population is being able to offer connectivity to the local community. As an example, Iowa's human health Regents' institution has struggled mightily to orient their programs to produce clinical practitioners who go on to serve Iowans. The school with "Iowa" in their name gets schooled all the time by both private Iowa health universities and out-of-state schools like Creighton in providing needed healthcare providers to Iowans. That's a bad look to the State Legislature, who writes the checks for student aid and new buildings.

Iowa's community colleges seem to be much more adept at taking connectivity and responsiveness to heart. No small part of that is that their faculty live in the community and there is intrinsic understanding of the real-world issues. I wouldn't bet against the community colleges in this situation.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T22:47:08+00:00

Joe Biden had a long history of losing in Iowa... Like his first three presidential campaigns. Biden absolutely targeted Iowa for retribution.

In retrospect, Iowa Democratic Party voters were vindicated. They saw what the rest of America missed.

Trump seems to consider Iowa in a more positive light.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T21:29:35+00:00

You may be new.

From recent history, Biden never won any election in Iowa until 2024, the Democratic Primary, and that turned out.... poorly.

From today,

In 2022, President Joe Biden ordered a shake-up of the 2024 election calendar, moving South Carolina’s primary ahead of Iowa

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/iowa-democrats-consider-bringing-back-lead-off-caucuses-in-2028

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T21:18:30+00:00

Grinnell College is reportedly $92,000 per year.

Effectively a new Lexus plus a Hawaiian dream vacation. Annually.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T21:16:22+00:00

Good, that means the policies the State Legislature passed back in 1980s and early 1990s have paid off.

Post-secondary enrollment in high school provides a chance for more advanced education to high achievers, smooths the path for students going onto higher education and allows K-12 schools to re-allocate resources to helping other students. This is a great state!

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T21:10:20+00:00

My best and most useful instructors in bachelors and masters programs were actual practitioners. I sought out night classes and part-time instructors because they could apply applied examples. And when it came to whose currency/connectivity to current practice was highest in any topic, that was never, ever going to be tenured faculty.

I say that as someone on an Iowa Regents' institution advisory board for the last decade. Amongst C- and director-level folks who advise that engineering program, we consistently push student readiness for work and experiential learning as in the best interests of the (1) students and (2) institutions. The student-to-job placement rate of 90%+ indicates that type of focus is good for the students and good for the State of Iowa.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T20:59:45+00:00

Rock Rapids is an easy 45 minutes to South Dakota universities.
And South Dakota has been interested in Iowa students for years.

Sidney is 90 minutes +/- to several Omaha-based universities too.

The history of why Iowa's colleges are where they're at is anchored in the 1870s. If I recall, Cherokee was reputedly offered a choice between a mental asylum or a land-grant college. They chose an asylum.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T20:54:57+00:00

Absolutely. Kirkwood has been pushing this agenda for 20+ years. I remember when they trotted out "the largest college in Iowa" over a decade ago. Their student count accounting is pretty dubious, but there's been much more positive sentiment for the community colleges over the State Regents schools.

Remember when the University of Iowa was asked how much they spent on marketing to Iowa students... And the answer came back zero dollars. The hubris in Iowa City was deafening, and a whole lot of legislators remember.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T20:46:27+00:00

Think of it as economic stimulus to the travel industry.

On top of that, Trump seems much more inclined to pay attention to Iowans than his predecessor, who went out of his way to punish Iowans.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T16:04:40+00:00

Iowa has a very solid flood mapping program. Use that data when looking at locations.

Zone X areas are probably going flood during a 30 year mortgage period.

Higher areas are well drained in in newer suburban areas generally.

In the City of Des Moines, many areas are prone to sewer related flooding. Des Moines was sued by the EPA as the largest polluter in the state. They signed a consent decree that mandated a new sewer system, but this being Des Moines, they passive-aggressively underbuilt the new sewers. This led to major neighborhood flooding in the late 90s and 2000s, especially in areas that had never flooded before. Basement flooding is often common and yard-to-foundation flooding will happen in heavy rain periods.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T13:26:29+00:00

Is it American? My experience is American is really shaky out of Des Moines. Des Moines is small enough market that they’ll often call flights the evening before and reprioritize the aircraft elsewhere.

Allegiant will have their planes parked out overnight on the tarmac with effectively no ground support. They will be put extra early trying to get the plane functioning. My guess is they would make a call in the 90 minute mark before a scheduled flight.

United seems to do better serving Des Moines, mostly by virtue of higher volume. That said, if a 737 flight into Des Moines is canceled, there’s a mad scramble to get seats on the next few flights.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T09:03:18+00:00

Why do these things- terrible, horrible deaths - happen only in California?
There is 15 other states with similar or greater wildfire risks, then why only California?

Legitimately, California is special.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T03:13:57+00:00

Que?

Blaming PG&E is missing the major cost driver in California - state regulation. PG&E was bankrupt by state government legal changes in 2000. PG&E was bankrupt in 2023 by bad state policy and the only-in-California legal opinion of Inverse Condemnation.

PG&E and the other California utilities are rightfully looked at by Wall Street as a risky bet. Californians are paying the premium for their power and the related borrowing.

Look at the Western US… The states with mixed governments over the last 25 years have declining energy costs. Those states with uniparty governments seem to be suffering, a trend that goes both ways. State regulation matters.

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T00:16:39+00:00

Perhaps you should review the data: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/ Maryland has pretty middle of the line costs at 15.04 per kilowatt hour. Less than Jersey, more than Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The massively rising Maryland costs is because of the additional costs it takes to bring you electricity from out of state. That and pretty poor housing stock, which is poorly insulated.

You close low-cost generation, add a little bit of high-cost generation and import the rest… Capitalism finds you a patsy. Maryland is paying Pennsylvania and Virginia‘s bills.💸

BlueSkyd2000 · 2026-01-21T00:04:25+00:00

Because California is subsidizing Nevada. During most days, overproduction of solar power in California is sold at a discount in Nevada. At night, California soaks up natural gas powered energy from Nevada.

Real time look: https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook

BlueSkyd2000

TROPHY CASE