Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is asking the Executive Council to appoint Des Moines attorney Larry Scalise as a special prosecutor to look into allegations of improper donations to Governor Chet Culver's campaign from Fort Dodge gambling interests.

"After careful consideration I have concluded this office has no actual conflict of interest in this case," Miller said in a May 5 prepared statement. "However, I have also concluded that there is an appearance of a conflict of interest in this matter that is sufficient to lead me to seek a special prosecutor for this action."

He said his determination was "not an easy decision." But he said he believes "the need for public confidence in the criminal-justice process outweighs any other consideration."

Budget bills, an increase in traffic fines, and a bill that would take away the discretion of county sheriffs in issuing weapons permits are among key bills approved by the 2010 legislature that Governor Chet Culver must take action on before next Thursday's deadline.

By the end of this week, Culver will have already signed into law roughly 79 percent of the 196 bills approved this year, according to an IowaPolitics.com review of enrolled bills. Approximately 41 remain, including most of the budget bills, which Culver has the authority to line-item-veto.

Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats came out swinging in this year's first Republican gubernatorial debate, attacking opponent and former Governor Terry Branstad on everything from raising taxes to bringing gambling to the state to appointing two of the Supreme Court justices who wrote the decision legalizing same-sex marriage in Iowa.

"Leadership is also about being honest," Vander Plaats said Wednesday. "Governor Branstad, some of the results are: raising taxes not once but twice; increasing fees 30 times; bringing in gambling, parimutuel betting, the state lottery; growing the size of government two and a half times. Those are also results that we need to be honest with the people of Iowa about."

The Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) announced the termination of Executive Director Maxine Kilcrease, while the Legislative Council voted to authorize the legislature's government-oversight committees to meet jointly during the 2010 interim to conduct an investigation, issue subpoenas, and take other actions relating to the IASB.

IASB Board President Russ Wiesley said the board voted Thursday to terminate Kilcrease's employment, citing her decision to request and accept a salary increase of more than $100,000 without board approval. The board said Kilcrease also gave raises to several employees at the same time other employees were being terminated for financial reasons; prevented the IASB's auditing firm from providing information to the board; and directed an attorney to threaten the firm.

"We believe this to be in the best interest of the association," Wiesley said. "As a board we feel we were misled and blocked from information, and it has caused a huge amount of distress for this critical Iowa organization we so deeply care about."