Winners

Leading the nation in biofuel production, Iowa's ethanol boom has, to date, stretched across the state's upper half. But if Lincolnway Energy has its way, Polk County may begin to defy that top-heavy trend with a 100-million-gallon-per-year plant that would turn corn into fuel, potentially within the urban confines of Des Moines. However, while cashing in on a booming industry may cause local officials to instinctively flash public dollars and lucrative tax breaks as an incentive, the state's Economic Development Board suggested last week that the state is revaluating its role as the ethanol industry's sugar daddy. Already outpacing the rest of the country in pumping out more than a billion gallons of green fuels annually, the ethanol industry has seen skyrocketing success in Iowa, with local residents lining up to front the cash for new production facilities and farmer-owned plants catching the eye of investors on distant continents. So, having jumpstarted the industry with more than $6 million in grants over the past three years, the economic development board noted last week that, instead of every new plant getting its requisite government handout, officials will be looking to shift public dollars toward the "second generation" of renewable fuels, focusing on increased efficiency and heightened environmental integrity. Talk about fuel for thought.

The ticket scams and ungodly traffic snares were all but forgotten last week when the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines announced that the recently concluded six-week engagement of "The Lion King" had a voracious effect on local coffers. Shredding previous attendance and sales records, the Broadway blockbuster brought in more than $13 million to the metro economy, with more than 113,000 people attending the production and spending, not just $6.5 million at the box office, but pumping an estimated $2 million into downtown restaurants alone. Undoubtedly singing "Hakuna Matata" and feeling the love every night of the nearly two-month run, local vendors can only hope the 2006-2007 Broadway Series announced this week has even half the bite of this king of productions.

Losers

The CIETC scandal has provided its fair share of whoppers, but Laurie Rieck's explanation of why she was trashing documents in the middle of the night - and just before a federal investigation into the scandal was launched - take the cake... at least, so far. Rieck, who was former Iowa Workforce Development Deputy Director Jane Barto's secretary, wrote to legislators conducting hearings on the matter that she wasn't trying to destroy evidence of alleged wrongdoings, but rather could not sleep and so she decided to go in and do some "organizing" because of her overwhelming desire to have a "clean" office. Rieck has been called to appear before the so-called oversight committee, but her dog, apparently, ate her homework. As of press time, legislators on the committee have seemingly received zero straight answers.

The mainstream media had a field day last week when it was announced that, shockingly, the Des Moines School District is lagging behind its suburbs' districts when it comes to graduation rates. Never mind that 60 percent of DMPS students are on the reduced-free lunch program, there is actual diversity in the city center, and not everyone enrolled in the system uses English as his or her first language, the white kids with two parents in Johnston and Waukee are really kicking Des Moines' ass.

With many pressing issues on the table at such a critical time for Des Moines, city council members rolled up their shirt sleeves and got to work earlier this week to figure out if ice cream trucks should be made legal again. The trucks were banned in 1967 when a distracted 9-year-old named Donna Lynn O'Callaghan was killed by a car when trying to cross a street with her frozen treat. In an interview with the daily, councilman Chris Coleman said of the sensitive issue: "I'd like to see them. I think it builds the kind of community that you want." Right, sex offender magnets that lead to morbidly obese children who ignore heavy traffic sprinting for bomb pops. Exactly what we want. CV

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