Winners

Voters in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties who overwhelmingly rejected “Project Destiny” July 10 sent a loud and clear message to our local CEO oligarchy and its pawns — Greater Des Moines Partnership, The Des Moines Register, participating mayors and city councilmen, etc. — that the “common” taxpayer would not be fooled by their poorly devised 1-cent sales tax. Eighty-five percent of the voters in all three counties rejected “Yes to Destiny.” Not even the most optimistic opponent of the plan could have predicted that kind of margin of victory. In Polk County, the proposal received no more than 21 percent of the votes in any single community. Backers said the 10-year plan would improve Greater Des Moines’ quality of life, reduce property taxes and spur job growth. But voters who were savvy enough to dig deeper and learn the truth about the regressive tax that was plagued by in-fighting, loopholes and public distrust since day one — despite the efforts of The Register and the Partnership’s slick advertising campaigns — knew better. But don’t throw away those “no tax hike” yard signs yet. Despite overwhelming public opposition to “Project Destiny,” we wouldn’t be surprised if the same greedy CEOs behind the failed 1-cent sales tax scheme devise another proposed bill [like the one to extend the 1999 Schools First tax] that looks even better on the surface the next time around, but could prove to be just as costly to taxpayers [including the cost of holding another special election] as “Project Destiny” would have been.

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone not in favor of Judy Bradshaw being sworn in last week as Chief of Des Moines Police. Bradshaw, the first female police chief in Des Moines, replaces William McCarthy.

They say she might be the best the United States has. Last weekend, 15-year-old West Des Moines gymnast Shawn Johnson lead the U.S. to a gold-medal victory at the Pan American Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Johnson, the overall leading scorer at the competition, will be a sophomore at Valley High School in the fall. “I still think that I am still pretty normal,” she told the press after last week’s victory. Talented and humble — a winning combination.

Maggie Moss wins stuff. She was an equestrian champion as a youth, and prosecutors have known for years that going up against Moss in court carries a maximum handicap. She’s been cited nationally for her astute reading of juries and her creative defenses — she once plead a “Munchaussen Syndrome-by-proxy defense on “Oprah.” But lawyering was just practice for her real vocation of studying the Daily Racing Form, a talent she picked up attending the University of Kentucky. Last week, Moss stood under the hallowed twin spires of Churchill Downs to accept that venerable track’s award as its leading winner among owners. She was not only the first Iowan, but also the first woman since 1976 to win that honor. With a furlong to go, she’s also on course to become the nation’s leading winner among horse owners — for the second year in a row.

Losers

Avid readers of The Des Moines Register are probably accustomed to The Register’s style-over-substance approach to journalism by now. But just in case you need a reminder, get ready for an onslaught of hard-hitting coverage of RAGBRAI starting this week.

What’s this, long term insurance policyholders are facing claim denials and unanticipated increases in their premiums? What took Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller so long to finally investigate?

Police will tell you that warmer weather brings out the violent tendencies in us, but what’s the deal with the rash of homicides, suspicious deaths and gunplay of late? First, Franco Ivan Martinez Ventura jumps a bridge near the Scott Street dam on July 4 and his body is later found in the river. A week later, the body of Margaret Gottschalk is found partially clothed on the front steps of a vacant house, 1109 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. Three days after that, Dennis Stigler was shot in the head and killed near the Double Deuce Bar, 2222 Forest Ave., and his relative, Zuedon Knox, was also shot. Finally, on July 10, two teens report to police a bullet hole in their home in the block of 2500 Logan Avenue. Cool out people.

Russell Rota of Michigan was sentenced to 30 days in jail for taking his daily run while wearing only a stocking cap, gloves and reflective tape. Rota said for years he would rise at 4 a.m. for his nude six miles through open fields and wooded areas away from roads, and that it wasn’t for sexual gratification. He was arrested in April after a running along a highway. No word on whether he had an extra spring in his step. CV

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