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Fleet Farm has been named the new arena partner with the Tyson Events Center. A multiyear partnership agreement will mean the Gordon Drive facility will now be called the Tyson Events Center/Fleet Farm Arena.
Tyson event center general manager Tim Savana said today that this new partnership complements the event center naming rights with Tyson, replacing Gateway as the arena name. Savana works for Spectra, the providers of Venue Management, Food Services & Hospitality and Partnerships for the facility.
A state panel has approved the latest bill for former Gov. Terry Branstad's fight against a jury verdict that found he discriminated against a former state executive.
The Iowa Executive Council approved payment today of a bill for over $488,000 to a Des Moines law firm. That raises the taxpayer costs of defending Branstad to $2.4 million.
Jurors unanimously found in July that Branstad, now U.S. ambassador to China, and his former legal counsel Brenna Findley discriminated against former Iowa Workers' Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey in 2011 because he's gay.
State taxpayers also may end up paying Godfrey's legal costs of $3.5 million.
Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer says she will not seek re-election next year and plans to resign as speaker before lawmakers return in January.
Republican lawmakers in 2015 chose Upmeyer to be the first woman in Iowa to hold the job as speaker of the House, the presiding officer over the legislative chamber.
The GOP lawmaker of 17 years says Monday she wants to step away from the legislature to spend more time with her family.
