The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports an Audubon County man was sentenced to slightly more than a year in prison on drug charges. 27-year old Brock Daniel Knapp, of Exira, was sentenced by Chief United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey to 12 months and a day in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. Knapp was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

According to the plea agreement, beginning in June of 2014, Knapp assisted in the distribution of methamphetamine by delivering money from the sale of methamphetamine to methamphetamine suppliers involved in the conspiracy.

The matter was investigated by the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Lack of interest has caused dog racing in Council Bluffs to come to an end.  The Daily Nonpareil reports that the last race is scheduled for Friday at Bluffs Run by Horseshoe Casino. According to Bo Guidry, Horseshoe’s senior vice president and general manager, interest in dog racing has declined over the years.

Guidry estimates that 50 to 100 people would show up to dog races on any given weekday, and slightly more on weekends. The casino has offered jobs elsewhere to the employees who work full-time at Bluffs Run. Under new legislation, Horseshoe Casino owners would have to pay the Iowa Greyhound Association $9.3 million a year for seven years to continue dog racing in Dubuque.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports two, recent arrests. Thursday night, Deputies arrested Zachary James on an Adams County Warrant for Domestic Assault.

And, on Wednesday, Adams County Deputies received a call with regard to an individual who had entered a home without permission. Upon further investigation, Courtney Sanson was placed under arrest for Burglary of the 3rd Degree.

Additional information concerning the arrests is currently not available.

Zachary James

Courtney Sanson

Sheriff’s officials in Union County report a woman was arrested Thursday afternoon on an assault charge. 18-year old Peyten Elizabeth Spencer, of Lorimor, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, for simple assault. Spencer was later released from the Union County Jail on $300 bond.

And, 24-year old Dillon Cole Savage, of Lorimor, was arrested Thursday afternoon at the Union County Law Enforcement Center for violation of a protective order. Savage is being held in the Union County Jail awaiting appearance before the Magistrate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Investigators have expanded their inquiry into a lottery tampering scheme to determine if a former Iowa national lottery official may have rigged jackpots in more games than presently known.

Eddie Tipton, former security director of the Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, was convicted in July of fraud after buying a winning lottery ticket in Des Moines in 2010. He was accused of rigging lottery computers to allow him to determine the winning number in advance.

Tipton is also accused of rigging jackpots in Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma, which use computers or code provided by the multi-state lottery. Investigators are now looking into possible tampering with lotteries in 37 other states or territories that used association computers since Tipton joined the association in 2003.

DES MOINES, IOWA – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate continued to drop in November, falling to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent in October. The state’s jobless rate was 4.3 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 5.0 percent in November.  Beth Townsend, director of Iowa Workforce Development, says “Iowa’s businesses showed unmistakable optimism in November. This month’s increase is the highest in several years and includes job gains in virtually all industries. Additionally, Iowa’s unemployment rate trended down to the lowest level since 2001.”

The number of unemployed Iowans fell to 58,700 in November from 60,400 in October. The current estimate is 15,000 lower than the year ago level of 73,700. The total number of working Iowans increased to 1,647,500 in November. This figure was 3,100 higher than October and 6,500 higher than one year ago.

Iowa’s total nonfarm employment advanced by 8,400 jobs in November and now rests at 1,584,700 jobs. This month’s unusually large increase follows a quiet October which saw almost no change in the number of jobs. Private industries combined for all of the gain this month; government pared 600 jobs with losses at the state and local level. Overall, employment in the state has continued to trend up, and Iowa has added an average of 2,300 jobs per month totaling 27,300 jobs added over the past twelve months. Private industries have advanced by 28,200 jobs and government is down slightly (-900).

This month, virtually all private industries expanded. The largest private sector gain was in construction (+3,700) and follows consecutive months of declines totaling 1,500 jobs. Leisure and hospitality also increased this month (+3,300) with hiring being heaviest in accommodations and food services. Like construction, this sector is also rebounding from a recent loss. Elsewhere, retail trade helped fuel a gain of 2,300 in trade, transportation, and warehousing. Smaller gains occurred in financial activities (+600) and education and health services (+400). Losses this month were limited to professional and business services (-2,100) and follows three consecutive months of unusually high gains.

Since last November, the largest annual increase occurred in construction (+7,200). This sector has also added the most jobs by percentage (+9.3 percent versus +1.8 percent for Iowa). Education and health is second in terms of growth (+5,400) followed by leisure and hospitality (+4,400). Information services leads all sectors in jobs lost (-600) due to restructuring and transformation of the sector. Manufacturing is down due to cutbacks within durable goods factories (-500). These losses have been partially offset by hiring at nondurable goods locations.