DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds has appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court a jury verdict that concluded former Gov. Terry Branstad discriminated against a former state commissioner because the official is gay.

A jury in July awarded former Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey $1.5 million, finding he was the victim of discrimination and retaliation when Branstad tried to force him to quit in 2011 and then cut his pay. Jurors found against Branstad, one of his staff members and the state.

Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said Friday that Reynolds made the decision after consulting with attorneys. Branstad attorneys have argued the verdicts weren’t supported by substantial evidence and conflict with state law. Reynolds says she believes the additional legal costs will be minimal and winning the appeal would save taxpayers millions of dollars.

Godfrey’s attorney Roxanne Conlin says appealing is “deeply dumb” because the best outcome for the state is the Supreme Court orders a new trial.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two people have been killed in a two-vehicle crash just southeast of Council Bluffs. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that the crash happened just before 1:30 p.m. Friday. Deputies sent the scene say a pickup truck and car had collided, and two people inside the car were pronounced dead at the scene.

Their names have not yet been released pending notification of family members. The occupants of the pickup were treated for minor injuries at the scene. The crash remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) — Due to year-end budget constraints, some road repair crews are having to stop working on flood-damaged highways in southwest Iowa. While water remains in parts of Fremont County closest to the Missouri River, retreating floodwaters have wreaked havoc on the county’s secondary roads. County Engineer Dan Davis says the county has started making repairs, but funding remains an issue.

“It’s just been very slow,” Davis says. “We’ve done a few contract repairs on FEMA projects. Our crews have done a lot of repairs with local funds. By the end of September, we were over 50% of our budget, which shouldn’t happen until December, so we had to cut some of that off.” Davis says his department remains in a holding pattern on major repairs until the county’s coffers are replenished by the federal government for work that’s already been done.

“Now, we’re in the waiting mode of getting reimbursed by FEMA for those projects that were either contracted done or that our crews did,” he says. In the meantime, Davis says his crews have worked to keep up with regular maintenance on other county roads so the problem isn’t compounded next spring.  “We’re still doing some patching to finish up the year and the weather’s cooperating,” Davis says. “Hopefully, we’ll get that completed and we’ll try to get as much open as we can this year until the weather changes. Then, we’ll hit it in the spring and hopefully we’ll be back caught up with our reimbursements is the big thing.”

County officials recently closed J-10 or Waubonsie Avenue between Bartlett and the Loess Hills following its collapse due to undermining from floodwaters and repeated heavy equipment usage for levee repairs.

(Radio Iowa) — The legislature is NOT likely to make wholesale changes in the state’s tax credit system according to a panel of lawmakers who spoke today (Friday) at a meeting of the Iowa Taxpayers Association. Representative Dave Jacoby of Coralville, a Democrat, used a barnyard epithet — which we have edited — to share his opinion.

“I’ll admit this: there are people on both sides of the aisle that are chicken____ to review some of them because they help some of their communities and they afraid that they may not perform as well as they should,” Jacoby said. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, says it took two decades to create a wide range of tax credits and legislators shouldn’t shy away from unraveling some of them.

“Eat a little humble pie here and actually think what’s best for a competitive tax code and for Iowa,” Dawson says. Dawson says some of the credits should remain, however, and Dawson points to the tax credit for restoration of historic properties, which he says is popular in rural areas. Dawson was not one of the small group of lawmakers who met three weeks ago to begin reviewing the dozens of credits available to Iowa taxpayers.

A lawmaker who WAS on the panel says the state will award 434 million dollars in credits in the current tax year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An 18-year-old Ankeny man has been arrested after being accused of recording men in bathrooms at Des Moines Area Community College and Principal Park, a minor league baseball stadium in Des Moines.

The Des Moines Register reports the man was arrested Friday morning and faces a charge of invasion of privacy after a man reported to police that he saw someone stick a device under a divider of a bathroom stall he was in while urinated on Sept. 9.

Police say the victim confronted the suspect, and a police search of the suspect’s cellphone revealed numerous videos of men being recorded in restrooms.