Posted February 20, 2017in Civic Skinny
Good news for Steve Leath: Auburn University, where he will be the new president, owns at least 15 airplanes, according to records at the Federal Aviation Commission. … Drake University has ousted long-time trustee Tom Rossley after he claimed that his son was expelled after being unfairly treated in a
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Posted February 01, 2017in Civic Skinny
A big payday for Vilsack. Is Marty Tirrell job-hunting? Iowa State University the other day gave a rich new contract to Athletic Director Jamie Pollard. The press release noted “Pollard and his team of coaches and staff have reshaped nearly every aspect of the athletics department of the last
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Posted December 28, 2016in Civic Skinny
Marty Tirrell’s settlement deal with Charles Gabus Motors lasted about a month. At the end of November, Tirrell and Gabus told the Bankruptcy Court that Tirrell had agreed to pay Gabus $45,000 to settle a $72,000 claim it had against the blustery radio sportscaster. If Tirrell made his payments, Gabus
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Posted November 30, 2016in Civic Skinny
Twelve drummers drumming… …to recognize the great work done by Anawim Housing…and Margaret Toomey, who has done so much for so many…and the folks at Art Force Iowa, who change the lives of young people…and Anne Starr and the people at Orchard Place, who try to mend the lives of
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Posted October 21, 2016in Civic Skinny
The Iowa State University Foundation has spent more than $1.1 million to buy out the contracts of two foundation presidents fired by university President Steve Leath. The two men were fired for no cause — other than the fact that Leath apparently didn’t like them. Both raised millions for the
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Posted October 02, 2016in Civic Skinny
That huge new contract the University of Iowa has given football coach Kirk Ferentz has a new wrinkle or two. Besides paying him a minimum of $4.5 million in its first year — that’s a bit more than 11 times the salary of the President of the United States —
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Posted August 31, 2016in Civic Skinny
UPDATE 8/29/2016: Steve Luebke was arrested for parole violation and sent back to Polk County jail on Saturday, Aug. 27. On Sunday, the court ordered him to be transferred to the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Oakdale with the order that he ultimately be sent to corrections facilities in Newton or
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Posted August 10, 2016in Civic Skinny
For the first time in close to 100 years — since the early 1920s — fewer than 100,000 people across the state now are getting the Des Moines Sunday Register delivered to their doorsteps or mailboxes. Sales at newsstands are declining, too. For the quarter ended March 31, paid circulation
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Posted July 27, 2016in Civic Skinny
John Pappajohn and the late Robert Noyce will be given the Iowa Award later this year. The Iowa Award is the highest honor the state gives to a citizen, though most citizens have never heard of it. It’s given by the Iowa Centennial Memorial Foundation, and most Iowans haven’t heard
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Posted July 20, 2016in Civic Skinny
The Gabus Family Foundation — that’s Gabus, as in Gene Gabus and Gabus Motors — wants back the $300,000 it donated to build a new YMCA in Grimes. Plans for the Y were scuttled earlier this year after finances couldn’t be worked out, and the nine-acre site was sold
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