Winners

It's quite a stretch to say that anyone came out of the Jetseta Gage murder trial a winner; but if all the little girl's mother, Trena Gage, has to worry about is whether or not she'll regain custody of her two other children who are currently in foster care, we'd be somewhat slipshod to not insist she ended up smelling like a rose. Trena, you'll recall, not only allowed her daughter Jetseta to stay at the apartment of her molester, James Bentley, but also left the child alone with Bentley's brother, Roger, who was eventually found guilty of suffocating and raping the 10-year-old. That's what the legal world could refer to as an "accessory." And while dozens of her family members squealed like hogs for TV cameras following the verdict in Roger's trial, demanding the death penalty in Iowa for those cloaked in the little girl's blood, their fat fingers forgot to point in the direction of the one person who could have put a stop to all of it - Trena.

To the casual observer, the "slot machine" debate between House Speaker Chris Rants and Iowa Lottery President Ed Stanek was a smoking gun, minus the gun. Rants said Stanek deceived legislators. Stanek said he didn't. To insiders, though, the TouchPlay fury of last week was a significant political ass kicking. By calling for Gov. Vilsack to bring the Lottery under control of the Racing and Gaming Commission, Republican Rants forced his Democratic nemesis into the unlikely positions of opposing regulation of an unhealthy industry and supporting price gouging (TouchPlay profit margins are some five times higher those of casino slots). More significantly, Rants realized that the minority of Iowans who oppose Touch Play machines are far more passionate about this issue than the majority who aren't bothered by them, and guess which of those groups tends to vote more?

Losers

We hate to be the ones to say "we told you so," but in Dan McCarney's case, we'll do it anyway. McCarney, who sold his soul in an attempt to escape mediocrity with his also-ran Ames College football squad, was paid back in spades last week when convicted felon Jason Berryman broke the law yet again and was finally booted from the team for good. McCarney, who had continually entered an "Alford" plea ("Come on, guys, I know he's a no-good crook who can be cruel to women, but he's really, really good") on behalf of the hotheaded Berryman, despite the thug doing a fairly healthy stretch in the pokey for theft and assault, said, "We run a program built on integrity, following the rules and doing the right thing." It's a philosophy that could have come in handy when dealing with Berryman following any of his first three strikes. Berryman, McCarney said, will be allowed to stay in school and will remain on scholarship. Ames, don't put away that Veisha riot gear just yet.

Des Moines city officials got red in the face when the list of original applicants for city manager was leaked last week and (shocker!) there was a significant cast of potential candidates far more capable than the final trio. So, with some of the best and the brightest individuals cut early in the game, what did taxpayers get in return for the $29,000 the city has spent on the Dallas headhunter? One guy whose top gig has been as the deputy executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission in Minneapolis; one guy who left his post as the city manager of Colorado Springs with his credibility shrouded by a $200,000 settlement that allowed him to walk on his own instead of being kicked to the curb; and one guy who's been publicly reluctant to take on the post and was recently charged with drunk driving. And with citizens clamoring for more public input and a wider field of more-qualified candidates from which to choose, the city council voted unanimously to go with the guy who already had the job. Way to go, team! CV

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