Gomers

POT HOAX:

Posters in the windows of a shuttered Cedar Rapids storefront, proclaiming a marijuana dispensary would soon open at the site, were a guerilla marketing hoax. Property owner John Wasta removed the ads for 'Iowa Marijuana Company” last week. They featured an image of ears of corn in the shape of the iconic leaf.

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STILL STALLED:

Iowa's new $132 million, 800-inmate, maximum-security prison in Fort Madison continues to go unused due to faulty mechanics. It was most recently discovered to have a flawed smoke evacuation system. State officials still have no timeline for the transfer of inmates to the facility, where workers have spent months trying to repair a geothermal heating and cooling system. Officials blame a now-defunct contractor for the sub-par work.

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BAD BEHAVIOR:

State unemployment hearings have inadvertantly disclosed a nasty secret at the Iowa Veterans Home. More than 100 employees were interviewed, five were discharged and 13 were disciplined following a hush-hush internal sexual harrassment probe. Lawmakers were not informed and a spokesperson for Gov. Terry Branstad is being tight-lipped on what the executive branch knew.