What is up with the I-80 mileage signs?
Q: Why is it when I exit Interstate 80 on Middle Road, the exit sign says Bettendorf is 7 miles away. Then, a few feet later, I see the entrance sign to the city?
— Quad-Citian
A: Sometimes folks ask questions that uncover information that makes me say, “No kidding?” This is one of those times.
Doug Rick, field manager for the Davenport office of the Iowa Department of Transportation, said the “distance” signs list the number of miles to the center of town, or the central business district. “We have used a post office as the center point, as well as a county courthouse.”
Q: The roller dam at Lock and Dam 15 had a lot of debris — driftwood, etc. — up against it after the ice melted. I was wondering how they clean that out.
— Melissa, Rock Island
A: Ron Fournier, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the Corps generally raises the rollers and gates to let the debris flow downstream. If debris becomes stuck in the rollers, gates or dam, they use the crane on top of the dam to lower personnel in a basket to dislodge it. Usually the debris is in the form of very large trees or limbs and requires the use of a chainsaw to cut it up.
“They do not pick up the debris with a crane, as that is very hazardous,” Fournier said.
Q: Will the mailboxes be left in the parking lot of the former Joevan/ShopKo site?
— Carol, Bettendorf
A: The mailboxes have been moved to the Hobby Lobby parking lot during demolition of the Joevan site and ensuing construction of a new shopping center at that location, a clerk at the Bettendorf Post Office said. When the new shopping center is complete, postal officials hope to put the boxes back at that location.
Q: I found a dead, white pigeon in my shed the other day. It appeared to have been dead for some time. It had bands around each leg. I still have the bird intact with the bands still attached. Who do I contact to let them know what happened to their bird? Are there local groups with one contact point?
— Thom, Davenport
A: We talked to Mark Graham, manager of Wild Birds Unlimited, hoping he might know of such a group. Unfortunately, he does not know of a homing pigeon clearinghouse. He said there is a pigeon club in the Quad-Cities called the Q-C Rollers, but we could not find a contact person. Perhaps a reader can help with this query.
Q: What can I do about the weed known as “creeping Charlie” that has infested my yard? Nothing seems to work for getting rid of it!”
— Quad-Citian
A: Ask the Times was at a friend’s house last weekend and also noticed that creeping Charlie had infested his yard. And boy, does that weed stink! According to a clerk at Wallace’s Garden Center in Bettendorf, the hearty vine is resilient, indeed. She recommended trying Weed Be Gone by Ortho.
Q: In the past two months, I’ve received two applications to join AARP — and I’m more than eight years away from my 50th birthday. Was this an error on their part or can I join?
— D.B., Davenport
A: The organization offers associate memberships to people under 50.