[UPDATED] (Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has overturned a lower court ruling awarding damages to the state Workers’ Compensation Commissioner former Governor Terry Branstad tried to fire. In 2019, a district court jury awarded Christopher Godfrey one-and-a-half million dollars. Godfrey argued he was pressured to resign and his pay was cut
because he is gay. Roxanne Conlin, Godfrey’s attorney, says the ruling is disappointing and surprising. “It is just not the role of the Iowa Supreme Court to reverse the findings of fact of a jury,” Conlin says.

The Supreme Court’s ruling states there is no evidence to prove Branstad is “anti-gay” or knew Godfrey was gay as he was seeking to replace him as workers’ compensation commissioner. Godfrey also alleged he was fired because of unfounded complaints from business groups about his rulings on workers’ compensation cases. The Supreme Court ruling states that was the perception, whether correct or not, and Branstad was entitled to take that perception into consideration.

Justice Christopher McDonald wrote that although Godfrey was widely known as openly gay, there is no proof Branstad was aware of Godfrey’s sexual orientation before asking him to resign and slashing his salary when Godfrey refused. The ruling overturned a $1.15-million dollar 2019 verdict in which Polk County jurors found that Branstad and his former legal counsel violated the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Jurors had awarded Godfrey, a Democrat who is now an official with the U.S. Department of Labor, $1.5 million in damages for emotional distress.

Branstad, a Republican who later served as U.S. ambassador to China, has argued that he sought Godfrey’s resignation because powerful business interests disagreed with rulings by Godfrey and his staff awarding benefits to injured workers. He has claimed that he acted legally in 2011 by reducing Godfrey’s salary by $40,000, to the lowest amount allowed by the Legislature for the position.

CRESTON, Iowa – June 30, 2021 – The Iowa DOT’s Creston Construction Office reports an interchange project in Dallas County intended to improve traffic flow during peak hours at the Interstate 80/U.S. 169 interchange (exit 110) will require lane and shoulders closures and an eastbound off ramp and westbound on ramp detour beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 6, until Tuesday, November 16, weather permitting.

Work on this project includes pavement widening to add turn lanes on U.S. 169 and the on- and off ramps at the I-80/U.S. 169 interchange, pavement resurfacing, and adding traffic signals at the interchange. Ramps on the west side of the interchange may be closed for a short period of time. During these closures, marked detour routes will be in place.

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, released a backlogged report on arrests and incident spanning from June 16th through the 29th. From most recent to the earliest dates:

• On Tuesday, June 29th: 27-year-old Holly Sue Warta, of ElkHorn, NE., who was being held in the Pott. County Jail serving a short term, was presented with a warrant for Driving While License Suspended or revoked. She continues to serve her jail time; 42-year-old Ralph Randall Campbell was taken into custody at the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office, Tuesday, on a warrant for Violation of Probation. He was arrested after turning himself-in.
• On Monday, June 28th: 35-year-old Rachel Suzanne McDaniel was taken into custody at around 9:05-p.m., following a traffic stop for failure to use headlights. She was arrested for Driving While Barred/Habitual Offender; 38-year-old Justin M. Anthony was arrested at around 2-a.m. Monday in Council Bluffs, for OWI/1st offense and Open Container – Driver. He was pulled over after the SUV Anthony was driving was seen a church parking lot. When a Deputy pulled into the parking lot, the SUV took off at a high rate of speed and led the Deputy on a brief pursuit.
• On June 26th: 50-year-old Donald Odell, Jr.,  was arrested near Crescent, for Driving While Barred/Habitual Offender; 54-year-old Steven Lee McKeighan was arrested following a traffic stop in Council Bluffs. He was charged with OWI/1st offense.
• On the 25th: A Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy arrested 28-year-old Ryan Mitchell Hainline on I-29 near Honey Creek. He was charged with OWI/2nd offense; 37-year-old Erasmus Luis Gonzalez was arrested in Council Bluffs, for being a Fugitive from Justice. He had turned himself-in to the S/O prior to be arrested; 24-year-old Brennan Joseph Carter was arrested June 25th near McClelland, on an OWI charge; 41-year-old Jeffrey S. Peters was arrested for being a Fugitive from Justice, after a Deputy observed suspicious activity at a fireworks tent on the Fareway Store lot on McKenzie Ave., in Council Bluffs.
• June 24th: 31-year-old Codey Thomas Thramer, of Red Oak, was served at the Pott. County Jail with a warrant for Failure to Pay Child Support.
• June 23rd: A 17-year-old male was arrested at his residence in Council Bluffs, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of Marijuana/1st offense. He was referred to law enforcement after his mother took paraphernalia from the teen; 22-year-old Chase Zachary Stewart was arrested June 23rd following a traffic stop in the Crescent area. He was charged with OWI/1st offense.
• On June 22nd: 31-year-old Darell C. Richards was arrested at the Casey’s Store in Crescent, after a Pott. County Deputy saw a vehicle that matched the description of a vehicle with a reckless driver. Richards was charged with OWI/1st offense, and cited for Failure to Provide proof of insurance, failure to have a valid driver’s license, and operating a non-registered vehicle;  38-year-old Joseph Daniel McNeal, of Council Bluffs was served with a warrant on June 22nd, for Violation of Probation. McNeal was being held in the Pott. County Jail at the time. His total bond amounts to $12,300.
• On the 21st: 42-year-old Derek Lynn Driver was arrested in Minden, following a traffic stop. Driver was charged with OWI/1st offense.
• On June 20th: 44-year-old Christopher Julius Zepeda, of St. Paul, MN., was arrested at Arrowhead Park near Neola, after he allegedly assaulted a woman. Zepeda was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault, Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order, and for being a Fugitive from Justice.
• June 19th: A Pott. County Deputy was dispatched to Walnut, with regard to a disturbance. 45-year-old Eric D. Gillpatrick and 68-year-old Michael D. Gillpatrick were arrested on charges of Assault Causing Bodily Injury or mental illness/Without intent; 22-year-old Gavin McCall Knight was arrested June 19th in Council Bluffs, for Domestic Abuse Assault 1st offense/Causing injury.
• On the 18th: A Pott. County Jail inmate, 27-year-old Dalton Luis-Marciano Rocha, of Council Bluffs, was served with warrants for Ongoing Criminal Conduct and Theft in the 2nd Degree. The Second warrant was for Criminal Trespass/1st Offense; another inmate, 21-year-old Noah Ethan Stout, of Council Bluffs, was served with a warrant for Sex Offender Registry Requirement Violation; 34-year-old Dannielle Nicole Gaudreau was arrested during a traffic stop in Council Bluffs. She was charged with Failure to Appear and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; 36-year-old Diana Lynn Seefus was arrested in Council Bluffs on June 18th, for No Valid Driver’s License and OWI/2nd offense.
• On June 17th: 27-year-old Calum Christian Stoltzfus was arrested following a traffic stop in Crescent. He was charged with OWI/1st offense; 27-year-old Jake Jacky was arrested following a traffic stop in Oakland, and charged with Driving While License Suspended or Revoked; 20-year-old Noah Donald Groves, of Council Bluffs, was served at the Pott. County Jail, with a Platte County, Nebraska warrant for being a Fugitive from Justice. Two people were arrested June 17th following a traffic stop in Council Bluffs that resulted in a pursuit. Authorities say 29-year-old Toriann M. Russ was charged with Eluding while exceeding the speed limit by more than 25mph, Open Container – Driver, Reckless Driving, Leaving the Scene of an Accident/Failure to provide aid and/or information, Carrying a weapon while intoxicated, and OWI/1st offense. A passenger in the pickup, 35-year-old Ach-Sah Rosohundra Hyche, was charged with Interference with Official Acts and Carrying a weapon/transport in a vehicle.
• And, on June 16th, a welfare check on a juvenile male resulted in the arrest of his father, 27-year-old Damion James Sadler, on a hold for another law enforcement agency.