Posted October 09, 2013in Civic Skinny
The resignation of Republican Kent Sorenson and the arrest of Democrat Tony Bisignano last week are screwing things up for both political parties in central Iowa. First, Sorenson: He resigned under pressure Wednesday after special investigator Mark Weinhardt reported to the Senate Ethics Committee that Sorenson probably broke ethics rules
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Posted October 02, 2013in Civic Skinny
Some questions apparently aren’t as easy as they look. On Aug. 9 — that’s seven weeks ago — Cityview asked the office of Gov. Terry Branstad whether he knew in advance of a bonus and big deferred-pay package that the Board of Regents gave its executive director, Bob Donley, a
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Posted September 25, 2013in Civic Skinny
WHO…. …is teaching your children at the state universities? Not necessarily the faculty. At the University of Iowa, only 45 percent of total undergraduate student credit hours were taught by tenured and tenure-track faculty in the fall of 2012, the latest period for which there are figures. Non-tenure-track faculty —
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Posted September 18, 2013in Civic Skinny
Kay Runge is resigning as chairwoman of the board of Iowa Public Radio and is leaving the organization, and the other two remaining original board members — Art Neu and Warren Madden — also are leaving at the end of the month. Two former Republican legislators will join the seven-person
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Posted September 11, 2013in Civic Skinny
A reader writes: “You have to credit Governor [Terry] Branstad for using his national recruiting resources and making full consideration of hiring females and minorities when he swiftly named Larry Noble as public safety commissioner after a 24-hour search.” News: Don’t spend your utility-tax refund yet. The lawyers who won
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Posted September 04, 2013in Civic Skinny
Two homes in the suburbs have recently sold at big prices. On July 19, Marcus Hasting paid David E. Short $1,520,000 for a 5,122-square-foot home at 1732 Glenleven Terrace in Glen Oaks, the most anyone has paid for a house in Polk County this year. The four-bedroom, four-bath home was
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Posted August 28, 2013in Civic Skinny
The 17-member Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission met last week to interview the 22 persons who want to succeed Larry Eisenhauer on the Iowa Court of Appeals. It sent three names to Gov. Terry Branstad, who will pick the judge from among those three. The three are Assistant Attorney General Jeanie
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Posted August 21, 2013in Civic Skinny
It looks like the renovation of the Younkers store downtown — rumored for what seems like decades — is really happening. Two bond issues, totaling $24,450,000, are coming to market this week to finance the project, a construction loan has been arranged and construction is supposed to start next week.
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Posted August 14, 2013in Civic Skinny
Eric Branstad, the governor’s son, and his wife apparently have their own inexpensive medical-care plan. It’s called the “Why Bother to Pay?” plan. In January of this year, Associated Anesthesiologists P.C. sued Adrianne and Eric Branstad in Polk County district court for an unpaid account balance of $345.20. A process
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Posted August 07, 2013in Civic Skinny
The Des Moines Register is making more news than it is reporting — and it isn’t reporting the news it is making. The newspaper last week laid off five persons in the newsroom, including assistant sports editor Mark Emmert and city and county reporter Jeff Eckhoff. Both are what pass
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