Godfrey bills now near $770,000. Van Orsdel home sold.

Your tax dollars at work: The cost to the state in defending the lawsuit filed by former Workers’ Compensation Director Chris Godfrey now tops $750,000. The state Executive Council this week will consider — and surely approve — an invoice from the LaMarca law firm for $120,135.43 for defending Gov.

Anonymous fellow Democrats pile on Matt McCoy.

Some of his fellow Democrats are anonymously stabbing Matt McCoy in the back. Or maybe in the front. McCoy, the 49-year-old state senator who represents sections of Des Moines and West Des Moines, is considering running for Congress against Republican incumbent David Young. McCoy would be a strong candidate —

Brownell sends blistering memo — and wishes he hadn’t.

Bob Brownell, the usually mild-mannered Republican Polk County supervisor, sent an intemperate email six weeks ago blistering Democratic legislator Tony Bisignano (“Senator Boozehound”) and plotting how to use a Bisignano-backed bill to embarrass Democrats and take over the state Senate in the 2016 election. He sent it to seven Republican

The resume inflation of the Regents’ Bob Donley.

Bob Donley, the executive director of the Board of Regents, is a finalist to be chancellor of the North Dakota University system. The list of eight finalists was pared from 21 last month and will be cut further this week. Donley’s letter of application says he is “chief executive officer”

Tirrell: A divorce, a lawsuit — and another bankruptcy?

Marty Tirrell update: 1. A $350,000 suit against him has been reinstituted in Houston, Texas. 2. His wife was granted a divorce on March 24. He did not show up in court. 3. And, according to the divorce papers, he plans to file bankruptcy again. First, the suit. Gow Broadcasting

Klinefeldt for Congress? Byers’ and Meyer’s salaries.

Nick Klinefeldt for Congress? The U.S. Attorney is the guy that the Democratic Party in Washington wants to run against first-term Republican Congressman David Young. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee thinks Klinefeldt could win — he’s young and smart and solid and has no known political baggage — and the

Feds sent in big gun to prosecute abusive ex-cop.

The government wasn’t taking any chances in the second — and successful — trial of former Des Moines cop Colin Boone last week. The feds sent in Barbara (Bobbi) Bernstein to argue the case in senior judge Robert Pratt’s courtroom. She’s the deputy chief of the criminal section of the

Judge list is cut to 11; Eric Branstad buys a house.

Eleven people apparently have made the cut for second interviews with the Grassley pals who are screening applicants to advise him on whom to back for two open federal judgeships in Iowa. Yes, Chuck Grassley is a Republican and Barack Obama is a Democrat, but Grassley isn’t just any Republican;

Civic Skinny has taken a much needed vacation and will be back next week.

Some questions and some answers about AIB deal. State stops some refunds. Channel 8 deserves credit.

Some questions: Who owns AIB? Every Iowan. What if the AIB-University of Iowa deal falls through? Who knows. Does the AIB board have to keep the school alive? No. Can the trustees decide to sell the site to a developer? Under some circumstances. What circumstances? If they use the proceeds