Three siblings of Eddie Tipton took the stand yesterday in his Hot Lotto fraud trial. The three all said the person in the video buying the winning ticket could not have been their brother. Tipton is accused of rigging a lottery computer so he could get the winning ticket, and having someone else claim it…… MORE
Iowa’s medical pot oil program is costing the state 115-thousand dollars so far. That’s what it paid Morpho Trust to design and create the cards needed to register for the program. The card program has faced criticism that it’s cumbersome and largely useless.… MORE
Former lottery IT security director Eddie Tipton’s former coworkers looked at the video from the store at which a winning Hot Lotto ticket was purchased and said it was Tipton buying the ticket. One of the witnesses said the video made him feel sick because he had helped Tipton get a job with the lottery.…… MORE
University of Iowa administrators are tabling three energy conservation projects in order to focus on the school’s upcoming budget. The projects would have improved energy efficiency at numerous sites on campus…but officials say they want to decrease student expenses first.… MORE
The head of IDOT says they’re waiting on 600-million dollars’ worth of transportation projects that are supposed to be funded in part with federal highway dollars. Congress has an August 1st deadline to make a decision on the highway funding program.… MORE
The defense in the Hot Lotto trial this week in Des Moines says there is no evidence that Eddie Tipton had contact with the two people involved in trying to claim a winning lotto ticket. They also told the jurors there’s no proof that the former lotto IT security chief tampered with the lottery computer…… MORE
The Iowa Air National Guard has another reprieve from getting kicked off the Des Moines Airport campus. The Des Moines Airport Authority voted to delay the termination of its lease agreement with the guard, temporarily. Under the aeronautical mission rules, the Guard was just charged a dollar a year for the lease…but the government removed…… MORE
There will be no special session to override budget vetoes, according to Governor Branstad. The governor says Republicans in the legislature do not want to go back to a special session to argue over education funding. The governor also told school administrators to tighten their belts and use their money more wisely. Story County Republicans…… MORE
Perry and Norwalk are among the latest communities named to the state’s Certified Site Program. IEDA director Debi Durham says in addition, Woodward Eco Business Park was named a pilot site for the new Green Certification program. … MORE
AFSCME and nearly two dozen state legislators have joined in a lawsuit against the governor and the state director of Health and Human Services. The suit is trying to compel Governor Branstad and Charles Palmer to reopen the mental health institutes at Clarinda and Mount Pleasant.… MORE
