So the final campaign spending numbers are in on the March 5 Linn County gambling referendum. Thanks to our quirky campaign finance system, we don’t get a complete picture of who was spending how much on what until more than two months after the vote. Helpful. Turns out it was a $3.4 million battle [...]

  The governor’s state salary bill is out, including some proposed raises for elected officials. The Gazette’s Rod Boshart sent us the numbers: Proposed state salaries Office Current salary New salary effective Dec. 19, 2014 Governor 130,000 141,710 Lt. Governor 103,212 112,510 Sec. of Agriculture 103,212 112, 510 Sec. of State 103,212 112,510 State Treasurer [...]

  We had our casino referendum fun in March. But Warren County voters will go to the polls a week from today to decide on allowing gambling in their county just south of Des Moines. And things are getting interesting. Sure, no one’s promised a water park for a no vote. But still, interesting. Wild [...]

  Linn County supervisors were warned about side effects. They put their salary on steroids anyway. Now, a couple of local guys unhappy with that decision, Richard Bice and Mike Engelken, are starting a drive to collect 10,000 signatures needed to call for the appointment of a county charter commission. That commission could recommend changes [...]

  We’re in the tea leaves-reading phase of Linn County’s casino odyssey. The referendum passed. Planning is under way. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission is preparing to pass judgment after it receives a license application from local investors this summer. On Friday, commission chairman Jeff Lamberti dropped a few more leaves during an appearance [...]

IOWA CITY — Lisa Sedlacek walked to the end of the long gravel road, her family’s farm on three sides of her. There’s a hayfield to the north, grazing cattle to the south and cropland to the east behind the farmhouse guarded by a row of evergreens — all on a combined 210 acres owned [...]

With the warm-up in temperatures, the Iowa Department of Transportation is preparing to tackle road construction projects in Eastern Iowa and other parts of the state. Depending on the outcome of bid lettings through June, the DOT will have approximately $600 million of primary highway construction work this year. Iowa’s cities and counties also will [...]

    “Parties find common ground at Statehouse” was the above-the-fold announcement in Friday’s Gazette. It’s not a great day for democracy when legislative cooperation on minor items merits a banner headline. Never mind that we’re still gridlocked on the big stuff like Medicaid expansion, property tax relief and education reform. Legislators seemed to be [...]

Iowa’s unemployment rate was unchanged in February, but fell in Linn and Johnson counties when compared with January. Iowa Workforce Development on Friday reported Iowa’s adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent in February even as more workers entered the labor force. The February jobless rate compared favorably with 5.4 percent in February 2012. The [...]

  Linn County supervisors appear determined to hang an asterisk on the results of the 2012 race for county auditor. In November, Auditor Joel Miller won re-election by 25 points. Now, in March, the board is poised to hand a chunk of his duties over to the guy Miller defeated, County Construction Services Manager Garth [...]