DES MOINES – Iowa officials handed out more than $274 million in incentives to land 163 new companies or the expansion of others in the past two years, according to an Iowa Watchdog analysis of state figures. In exchange, the companies have agreed to add 5,386 jobs and retain another
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Posted July 05, 2013in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – Iowa public colleges overpaid staff, failed to safeguard university and student information and implemented a new student information system riddled with errors, according to newly released audit reports for the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. Additionally, auditors found the Iowa Board of Regents,
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Posted July 03, 2013in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – Iowa has handed out nearly $30.3 million in tax breaks to attract two tech companies that rank among the top in the nation for their offshore holdings, which allow them to drastically reduce their tax burden in the United States. The companies – Microsoft and Google –
Read More →DES MOINES – A small town in southeast Iowa gained initial approval Tuesday to become home the nation’s second horse slaughterhouse that will produce meat for human consumption, officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Tuesday. Responsible Transportation of Sigourney met the USDA’s initial requirements and will have to
Read More →DES MOINES – Sex offenders, school workers and ice cream truck drivers in Iowa beware: Monday marks the day that a slew of new state laws go into effect. All school employees will now have to undergo background checks that will include a search of the state’s sex offender and
Read More →ALEXANDRIA — Gov. Bob McDonnell’s recent decision to automatically restore some felons’ voting rights in Virginia may not survive past this year. A plan to follow a confusing road map laid out by Iowa could further cloud the issue. In January, a new governor will take control and could reverse the
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Posted July 01, 2013in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – One year after the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the nation’s largest social net expansion in decades, its impact still remains unclear. Iowans, however, have begun to get a clearer picture of what Obamacare will mean for them, despite the questions that remain. Here’s what
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Posted June 28, 2013in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – Former Des Moines Superintendent Nancy Sebring is filing a lawsuit against her former employer alleging district officials tipped off the Des Moines Register to the sexually explicit emails that led to her resignation. The lawsuit alleges district spokesman Phil Roeder and former board president Teree Caldwell-Johnson informed
Read More →DES MOINES – Want to know what Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s $130,000 yearly salary gets in other states? The Hawkeye State could afford nearly two governors in Maine, which pays Republican Gov. Paul LePage an annual $70,000, the lowest in the nation. Add in Branstad’s more than $50,000 per year
Read More →DES MOINES – Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad vetoed a bill that would pump an additional $91.3 million of taxpayer dollars into an insolvent pension system for retired peace officers. The appropriation expedited a pledge from the state to provide a two percent increase in funding to the Peace Officers’ Retirement,
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