Posted July 10, 2014in Iowa Watchdog
JOHNSTON, Iowa — Most of what Tim Maher knew about the renewable fuel standard came from TV commercials. “They all talk about how it’s good for the environment and good for the country because we won’t have to import so much oil from the Middle East,” Maher said as he was
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Posted July 03, 2014in Iowa Watchdog
Jerri Andersen wasn’t impressed by the Fourth of July fireworks display at her local Hy-Vee in Urbandale. “Of course, it’s not their fault,” she said. And it isn’t. The supermarket was displaying the only types of fireworks people can buy or possess in Iowa without a special permit: sparklers and snakes.
Read More →DES MOINES, Iowa — The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors voted to borrow $927,000 for a road project which, the county engineer says, will be little used after 2016. CF Industries, which is expanding its Port Neal fertilizer plant, asked the county to extend 240th Street to provide another route for trucks
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Posted June 27, 2014in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES, Iowa — Employees of the Des Moines Public Schools can forget about “no pain, no gain” when it comes to working out. Next school year, both the fit and flabby will be eligible to receive a Fitbit, one of the trendiest pieces of workout gear, and the only
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Posted June 20, 2014in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES, Iowa — When it comes to incompetence, losing money and union muscle-flexing, the U.S. Postal Service always delivers. A recently released audit by the USPS Office of Inspector General shows Postal Service officials failed to follow proper procedures and wildly overestimated potential savings when it awarded a contract for
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Posted June 17, 2014in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES, Iowa — The way they tell it at Judy’s Country Curl, Brenda Simmons was nice enough, but she hadn’t done much in her 22 years as city clerk of Menlo, Iowa. The Country Curl crowd couldn’t have known how wrong they were. From 2001 through 2013, Simmons spent
Read More →DES MOINES, Iowa — Paper or plastic? Shoppers in Sioux City may be hearing that question a lot less in the near future. “We’re looking at all possible options to get people to use plastic bags less and reusable cloth bags more,” city environmental analyst Melissa Campbell told Iowa Watchdog.
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Posted June 05, 2014in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES, Iowa — After approving a tax increase without having given the public notice or taking a formal vote, the Muscatine Community School District has pulled back — for the time being. After objections were made, the School Board, which had at least twice before passed tax hikes without taking
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Posted May 29, 2014in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES, Iowa — Only one quarter of Iowans without health insurance have opted to get coverage since the introduction of Obamacare, despite millions of dollars in federal spending encouraging them to sign up. Approximately 230,000 of the 305,000 Iowans who were uninsured prior to the implementation of Obamacare remain
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Posted May 23, 2014in Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES, Iowa — Woodbury County’s new contract with the union representing its deputy sheriffs will cost taxpayers more than twice what the county board of supervisors had previously estimated. At this week’s board of supervisors meeting, Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill informed the board and the public that instead
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