Pair mistakes station for strip club

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Authorities in Des Moines say a woman was arrested after she and another person accidentally drove to a police station looking for a strip club.

The female passenger was arrested early Friday for possession of a controlled substance after officers stopped her and the male driver. The pair had driven their vehicle into a private area of the police station after looking for a strip club in West Des Moines.

The Des Moines Register (http://dmreg.co/WpNo4x ) says officers reported the pair had bloodshot, watery eyes. They also say the vehicle smelled of marijuana. Officers did not find anything illegal in the car.

The newspaper says the passenger was arrested after she reportedly admitted to having prescription painkillers in her purse.

Iowa football coaches searching far and near to complete 2013 recruiting class

The Iowa football coaches are searching far and near to complete their 2013 recruiting class.

Decorah linebacker Josey Jewell was the latest recruit to commit to Iowa, announcing his decision in a press release late Sunday night. His commitment came just hours after New Jersey running back Akrum Wadley and Texas receiver Anjeus Jones picked the Hawkeyes.

West Branch linebacker Bo Bower also decided within the past 24 hours to accept Iowa’s offer to be a preffered walk-on over a full-ride scholarship offer from Northern Iowa.

Iowa now has at least 19 players committed in the 2013 class, including 18 high school seniors. The one exception is junior-college receiver Damond Powell. Those commitments will become official when the players sign national letters of intent on Wednesday, which is the start of the national signing period.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Jewell combined to rush for over 3,200 yards as a junior and senior, making all-state both times. He also had 190 solo tackles and 120 assisted tackles as a linebacker.

Jewell picked Iowa’s scholarship offer over another full-ride offer from Northern Iowa.

“I am very thankful and excited for the opportunity to become a Hawkeye,” Jewell said in the release. “My teammates, coaches and teachers have done a great job to help me reach this point. I am hopeful that the lessons learned thus far from them will help me contribute as much as I can to the Iowa program.”

Iowa is still in the running to land linebacker Reggie Spearman, who attends Simeon High School in Chicago. He is expected to announce his decision Tuesday. Spearman was previously committed to Illinois, but is now also considering Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana.

St. Louis running back Jonathan Parker also is expected to choose between Iowa and Tulsa before signing day on Wednesday. Parker has been committed to Tulsa since September, but wanted to take a closer look at Iowa before making a final decision. Parker visited Iowa this past weekend, along with Wadley and Jones.

West Branch linebacker Bo Bower is also trying to decide between accepting Iowa’s offer to be a preferred walk-on or to accept a full-ride scholarship from Northern Iowa. Bower said last week that he was leaning towards picking Northern Iowa, but still wasn’t ready to make a final decision.

GOP plan would make it harder to pass tax hikes

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Republican lawmakers want to require a three-fifths majority vote for any state tax increase.

Legislation discussed Monday by a subcommittee in the state House would change the Iowa Constitution to require a three-fifths majority to approve any tax hike or new tax. Rep. Mark Lofgren, 1 of the sponsors, says he wants to make it difficult to raise taxes in Iowa.

Lofgren argued that Iowa needs low taxes to compete with other states. But Democratic Rep. Tyler Olson says he was concerned that changing the voting rules could make it harder for future legislators to respond to budget matters, such as a drop in revenue during the 2008 recession.

Leprechaun Chase comes to Iowa

Considered one of the best races in Nebraska, the Leprechaun Chase is making its inaugural appearance in Des Moines, IA on March 16, 2013.

It's a St. Patty's day race with a twist. The women start in waves, 5.5 minutes before the men. If a woman finishes first, all the female participants win free beer. If a man wins, all the men will get to drink for free.

According to its website, "This is the one event of the year where you can run a PR while wearing your favorite Irish gear, drink a few adult beverages, get really weird and fit right in! So go ahead, pull up your striped green socks, wear a silly hat, bust out your finest argyle, dye your side burns orange and slap on a ridiculous bow tie. Just don’t forget to bring a healthy dose of Irish swagger."

Following the race, the Green Beer After Party gives the participants a chance to refuel with food and drinks, as well as an awards ceremony. Overall winners, age group winners and Best Dressed Lads and Lasses will be recognized.

The Des Moines race will start and end in Downtown. The course is flat and fast with dash over Grays Lake. The Green Beer Block Party will be held at the Royal Mile immediately after the race.

Pella cooperative awarded $5.6M federal grant

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - An electric cooperative in Pella has been awarded a $5.6 million grant to improve its power lines.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the funds will be used to replace and strengthen more than 120 miles of lines to better withstand storms. The Pella Cooperative Electric Association lines are in Jasper, Mahaska, Marion, Polk and Poweshiek counties.

Sen. Tom Harkin announced the grant Thursday. He was the chief sponsor of legislation that expanded FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Program which is funding the grant.

The purpose of the program is to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster.

State review faults Iowa teacher evaluations

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A state review says most Iowa teacher evaluations don't help administrators identify their top performers.

The report released Thursday says that of the nearly 17,600 teachers evaluated during the 2011-12 school year, 98% received a positive rating.

Jay Pennington wrote the report for the Iowa Education Department, and he says 58% of the Iowa school districts reported using a system in which teachers either met or didn't meet evaluation standards.

Pennington says that evaluation system isn't providing "that spread that says who are your good, who are your great, teachers."

Gov. Terry Branstad's education reform package under consideration in the Legislature would include a three-tier performance scale and would factor in student performance.

$14.3M Jackpot Abandoned

(DES MOINES, Iowa) -- It is too late to collect on the $14.3 million Iowa Lotto ticket, but the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation is still trying to determine who owned the ticket that was claimed and then abandoned to make sure no one was killed or blackmailed, officials told ABC News.

The ticket was purchased in December 2010 at a Des Moines, Iowa, gas station, but a claim for it only emerged nearly a year later, just hours before the deadline to claim the jackpot expired.

It was claimed by Crawford Shaw, 77, of Bedford, N.Y., who said he represented a trust that owned the ticket. He sent the ticket via FedEx to a law firm in Des Moines whose attorneys tried to collect on Shaw’s behalf.

When Iowa officials challenged Shaw’s ownership, he abandoned the claim and the ticket became worthless because the deadline to collect the winnings had passed.

Nevertheless, the probe into who was the owner of the bonanza continues.

“The possibilities of what could have occurred here really are endless,” said Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer. “It could have been as serious as someone being killed, or someone being blackmailed. It’s all within the realm of possibility. The whole situation is just strange.”

The Iowa Lottery balked at paying Shaw because the owner would not come forward.

“Our security ran all the checks,” Neubauer told ABC News. “There was no question that it was actually the winning ticket, but they couldn’t answer some very simple security questions.”

Neubauer said Shaw and his attorneys were unable to identify who bought the ticket, where it was purchased, and where the ticket had been for the year until the claim was made.

“In most instances, the people who come in to claim the prize answer the questions off the top of their heads in just a few minutes, so this was unusual the whole way through,” she said.

According to Neubauer, Shaw said he didn’t know the winner’s identity and that the trust’s proceeds would go to a corporation in Belize, a country that has a reputation as a tax haven.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has subpoenaed phone and email records in an effort to get to resolve the mystery. Officials say they are running down a couple of leads, but added no new information has emerged that would move the case forward in a significant way.

“The ticket could have been stolen or somebody might have been blackmailed,” Jessica Lown, communications manager at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation told ABC News. ”The important thing is that we want to sure there is nobody in physical jeopardy or that there is no financial crime going on.”

When contacted by ABC News, Shaw refused to provide details on how he came into possession of the ticket.

“As far as I am concerned, this is old news,” he said. ”I’ve totally discussed this with the people in Iowa. They have a full record of the case. I have no comment.”