(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Lottery C-E-O, Matt Strawn, says the fiscal year is ending Thursday on a very good note. “The Iowa Lottery will post its second-highest gross sales total in history, as well as delivered the second-highest amount of proceeds ever returned to the state of Iowa, trailing of course only last year’s record performance that saw lottery revenues rise 22 percent and lottery proceeds rise 25 percent from the previous fiscal year,” Strawn says.

Strawn told the Lottery Board this completes the most successful two years of sales in the 37-year history of the Iowa Lottery — with only two years in which total lottery sales have surpassed 430 million dollars.  “This positive news does come with a note of caution for the future, as the Iowa Lottery is not immune to the strong economic headwinds generated by higher gas prices and inflationary pressures on Iowa households,” he says. He says things started to slow near the end of the fiscal year.

Iowa Lottery chart showing gas and scratch ticket sales.

“The month of May was the first month this fiscal year and the first month since March 2020, which was the onset of the pandemic, in which actual lottery sales failed to exceed that five-year monthly sales average,” Strawn says. Scratch tickets make up two-thirds of the Lottery’s revenue and May scratch ticket sales were down 17-point-five percent compared to the previous May. Strawn says that closely coincides with rising gas prices.

“May of 2022 was the first time this fiscal year that average fuel prices in Iowa exceeded four-dollars per gallon. And I can share with the board that this downward year over year trend and scratch sales has continued into June as gas prices cleared the four-dollar and 50 cent per gallon threshold,” Strawn says. He showed the Lottery Board a chart comparing gas price increases and the drop in scratch ticket sales.

“This data helps validate what we have been hearing anecdotally, from Iowa retailers regarding reduced store foot traffic as gas prices have increased. You know, essentially fewer folks are coming into the store after they’re filling up. And as you all know, the only way in Iowa can buy a lottery product is by walking into the store. Strawn says a June survey in Convenience Store News shows 53 percent of convenience retailers surveyed expect sales to be lower this summer compared to last summer.

Strawn says this is a note of caution that the Iowa Lottery will continue to face a challenging economic environment in the new fiscal year.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected the appeal in the first-degree murder conviction of a Davenport man in his fourth trial. Stanely Liggins was found guilty in the 1990 death of nine-year-old Jennifer Lewis after her burning body was found in a field near Jefferson Elementary School in Davenport. The Supreme Court denied Liggins’ claims there were jury misconduct, due process violations, and some witness testimony should not have been included in his fourth trial. Scott County Attorney Mike Walton is pleased with the court’s ruling and hopes it might end the case.

“The legal proceedings will probably go on forever, or as long as Mr. Liggins is alive or incarcerated, but this ends the current matter. There are proceedings called post-conviction relief that can pretty much continue forever,” Walton says. He credits the Davenport Police Department for its thorough investigation that made the latest conviction possible, and Thursday’s court decision, 32 years after Lewis’ death.

Liggins’ first two convictions were overturned. A third trial ended with a hung jury, and he was again convicted during a retrial in 2019.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two recent arrests. At around 1:30-a.m. today (Thursday), 31-year-ol Shane Jamal Peterson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested following a traffic stop on I-29 at the 39 mile marker. Peterson was charged with Driving Under Suspension, with a $300 bond. And, at around 7:30-p.m. Tuesday, 58-year-old John Paul Scott, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. Bond was set at $5,000.

One person suffered suspected minor injuries during an accident Tuesday afternoon, in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Office said a 2009 Pontiac driven by 21-year-old Linley Chickering, of Malvern, was traveling east on Highway 34 and entering a construction zone. A 2007 GMC truck driven by 58-year-old Dennis Greene, of Malvern, was stopped on the highway, waiting for the construction pilot car. The Pontiac hit the rear of a trailer being pulled by the truck. Chickering was transported to the hospital.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Thursday (today), received a request for ARPA (Covid relief) funds to purchase a new pickup for the Dive Team, which has eight certified members. Eric Steffensen appeared before the board to make the request for $50,000. He said their current truck is 20-years old. Their current one-ton, 4 wheel-drive truck is used to respond to water incidents in southwest and western Iowa, as well as for training dives. Because the County’s first-half ARPA funds are already spoken for, the Board agreed they would take action on passing a Resolution for the Dive Team when the second-round/second-half funding is received. That could take six-months or more.

Board Chair Steve Baier….

The Board did approve a request for $10,000 in ARPA funds from the Cass County Emergency Management Agency, for two portable radios. Baier explained why this request was approved and the Dive Team’s request, was not.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors approved a 2022 ISAC HIPPA contract. Cass County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall requested the Board approved of a person for the potential position of driver’s license examiner or some other purpose that was not made clear, at a rate of $20 per hour, since the candidate is making $40 per hour in her current position. The Board was adamant that the person should be hired at $18/hour. Supervisor Mark O’Brien…

Marshall told Baier and Board they are responsible for her office being short-handed and forced to close to train new staff.

The Supervisors approved a rate of $18/hour for the candidate, with the required 90-day probationary period and the other requirements. Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken reported a low bid for a box-culvert construction project from Gus Construction of Casey, was $443,631.64. The culvert will installed on Boston Road, about one-half mile east of Olive Street. The Board passed a Resolution authorizing awarding of the project. They tabled action on the Natural Resources Conservation Service request for a pipe replacement project on Crooked Creek, due to the fact their was only one bidder that met the deadline, but the total bid was much higher than the engineer’s estimate. Labor alone in the bid came in at nearly $22,500. The piping was an additional $23,000.

The Supervisors approved a three-year employment contract for Engineer Wolken. And, they approved a contract for a Secondary Roads Department employee.