IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Michelle Obama says the race for the White House could come down to a few key battleground states, including Iowa. The first lady returned to the state yesterday with stops in Iowa City and Sioux City as she touted President Barak Obama’s accomplishments.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — City officials in Ankeny have approved a contract with a gambling company hoping to acquire a license for a casino. The Ankeny City Council approved a five-year contract yesterday with Wild Rose Entertainment of West Des Moines. The company is calling for a $150 million project that would create about 600 jobs.

EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) — Friends and supporters of two Iowa girls who’ve been missing since July plan to distribute fliers to maintain public awareness. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports residents are invited to hand out copies of the missing girls’ photos on Halloween in Evansdale. The FBI believes Lyric Cook and her cousin, Elizabeth Collins, were abducted when they disappeared last July.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — Officials say vandals have damaged one of Mason City’s new sculptures in the downtown area. A Chamber of Commerce worker noticed on Sunday that one of the sculpture’s elbows had been snapped off. The sculpture, one of seven put up in September, is valued at more than $7,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa investigators are looking into absentee ballot problems in Muscatine and Floyd counties. Officials say they appear to center on voters receiving ballots without having signed a request form. More than 624,000 absentee ballots have been mailed to Iowa voters. More than 470,000 have been returned.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton will campaign for President Barack Obama this week in Iowa. Clinton will also hold events in Minnesota and Wisconsin to partially fill a void for the president, who will be in Washington dealing with Hurricane Sandy.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A businessman from Indiana has pleaded guilty to ripping off an Iowa company in a fraud scheme. Lowell Hancher admits he abused his position on the board of Spencer-based manufacturing company Cycle Country to misappropriate more than $500,000 for himself under a phony stock buyback program. He also admits defrauding Iowa investors in a Colorado construction company.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An explosion blew out windows and caused a fire at a house in Des Moines this morning. A fire inspector says it happened when a woman who needs an oxygen tank when she sleeps left it on after she woke up and then lit a cigarette. The woman, her grandson and the family dog all escaped. The home has at least $50,000 damage.