Posted June 18, 2013in Rap Sheet
Posted June 17, 2013in Iowa Watchdog
Former presidential candidate alleges Santorum paid $1M for Iowa endorsement
DES MOINES – A former Republican candidate has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against one of his rivals in the 2012 presidential race alleging he paid $1 million for the endorsement of a prominent Iowa conservative. Republican Fred Karger asked the commission to investigate allegations that the
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Posted June 17, 2013in Iowa Watchdog
Pushback builds against EPA ethanol mandates
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering upping the ethanol requirement in gasoline this summer — a move that threatens to ignite a new fuel war. “The dialogue should be to repeal the renewable targets and let the market decide,” Charles Drevna, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical
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Posted June 12, 2013in Iowa Watchdog
Iowa disability claim costs nearly double within nine years
DES MOINES – The number of Iowa workers on disability has only slightly increased during the past nine years, while the federal government’s monthly payments to the state has nearly doubled, according to figures from the Social Security Administration. Claims in the Hawkeye State grew 8 percent from 2003 to 2011,
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Posted June 12, 2013in Sound Stage
Shabby royalty
“I listen to the tramp, tramp of my feet and wonder where I was going and why I was going.” Bart Kennedy said that back when he was fighting and writing his way across the United States 110 years ago. And while most of us today are too soft and
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Posted June 12, 2013in Political Mercury
Branstad could seek two offices in ‘14
Let’s play a word-association game. When you hear “governor,” what’s the first word your mind summons? Come on, Democrats, admit it, “Branstad” is likely in the category advertising professionals term “top of mind.” The five-term governor’s name is mentally fused with the office. The Des Moines Register’s recent Iowa Poll
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Posted June 12, 2013in Your Money
Paid for by taxpayers in… Des Moines
Amount: $855.20 To: General Binding Corporation For: Purchase of 10 rolls of gloss laminating paper for the library. Amount: $856.64 To: TMC Auto Body For: Payment for a settlement claim after a May 3 incident where Police Officer Charles Negrete changed lanes and struck the claimant Charles Maddex’s right
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Posted June 12, 2013in Sore Thumbs
‘THE LAST OF US’ (M) ***** Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation 3 There are few video game settings as ubiquitous as the post-apocalyptic world, so gamers inundated with fallen civilizations rarely lower their guns long enough to mourn the millions who lost their lives or ponder the moral implications of indiscriminately
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Posted June 12, 2013in Book Review
‘The Orchardist’
Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Cathryn Lang HarperCollins 3/05/12 $15.99 426 pp. Are you a fan of John Steinbeck? If so, you and I have probably read everything he ever wrote. I was hungry for more literature of his style. I have finally found it with Amanda Coplin’s debut
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Posted June 12, 2013in Locker Room
Release your inner animal at Rhino Rampage
There’s nothing better than getting outside on a gorgeous day and working up a sweat — not that uncomfortable sweat that makes a person feel he or she ought to be rushing home to change a shirt and reapply the deodorant. This is the sweat that happens all over after
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