DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The director of the Iowa Public Information Board has quit so he can become secretary of the Iowa Senate. The Des Moines Register reports  Charlie Smithson told the board’s nine members in an email last week that his resignation is effective Thursday.

The board enforces the state’s open records and open meeting laws and began operation in July 2013. Smithson has been its director since Dec. 1, 2014. Margaret Johnson will be interim director while the board looks for someone to replace Smithson.

Ed Failor Jr. is an aide to Iowa Senate Republican leader Bill Dix, and Failor confirmed Wednesday that Smithson will be named secretary of the Senate when the GOP takes majority control in January.

The Iowa Department of Corrections reports a man who failed to return from Work Release on Nov. 19th and was listed as escaped, has been apprehended. 30-year old David Michael Evans was arrested Wednesday and was being held in the Polk County Jail.

Evans had been placed on escape status after failing to return to the Fort Des Moines Work Release Facility from his place of employment. He was transferred to Work Release on Oct. 12th.

Evans’ 40-year sentence out of Polk County for Assault While Participating in a Felony and two counts of Prohibited Acts/Drug related, began Jan. 18th, 2013.

David Michael Evans

The Iowa Lottery’s top management is shooting to “make” 70 million dollars for the state treasury every year. “Powerball” and “Hot Lotto” ticket sales grab the headlines, but sales of scratch tickets are the steady, consistent money-maker for the Iowa Lottery. Terry Rich, the organization’s C-E-O, says that’s why the Iowa Lottery “refreshes” its scratch ticket line-up more than 40 times a year. “These are all basic, block-and-tackle, year-in-year-out business practices we do to make that $70 million base,” Rich says.

Sales for the Powerball, Hot Lotto and Mega Millions drawings are driven by how high the jackpots climb. “We have highs and we have lows,” Rich says. “Last January was huge, the largest jackpot ever and that really drove money to the bottom line. Now, we’ve had some good runs. We’re $12 million ahead year-to-date on sales already, but that was a $17 million dollar in January.”

Powerball ticket sales in a normal January are about 10-million. Rich says focusing on more than just those jackpot drawings, though, is important. He compares it to farmers who plant both corn AND beans. “One year you’ll have a good run with the corn — Powerball or Lotto — and one year you’ll have a good year with the scratch ticket and other operations that we have, so we work on all those,” Rich says. “And diversity of products is very important.”

During the last state fiscal year, the Iowa Lottery sold nearly 234 MILLION dollars worth of instant scratch tickets. That was more than twice as much as total sales for the Powerball, Hot Lotto and Mega Millions jackpots. Iowa Lottery retailers sold 100-million dollars worth of tickets for those drawings.

According to the Iowa Lottery’s website, the first ticket sold by the lottery back in 1985 was for a “Scratch, Match and Win” game. The Lottery is currently offering 49 different “scratch” ticket games for sale in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak say a traffic stop this (Thursday) morning at the intersection of N. 4th Street and Commerce drive resulted in the arrest of 51-year old Tina Ruthann Mendel, of Red Oak. She was taken into custody at around 12:35-a.m. for Driving While Suspended, and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where her bond was set at $300.