Top 9 of Iowa: Dog Stolen from Pet Store Found, NBA's Royce White Back on Court, 550 Pot Plants = 5 Years+ in Prison, $18K Raises for Elected Leaders

Why nine? Because the Patch community includes nine sites in Iowa: Ames, Ankeny, Cedar Falls, Iowa City, Johnston, Marion, Urbandale, Waukee and West Des Moines.

9. The one-story portion of the former Waukee Elementary building will be demolished, with work to take up to six weeks. That will clear the way for renovations to the remainder of the school, which will house fifth-graders in the fall.

8. After 43 years, the Ankeny Hawks have a new head football coach. Brad Zelenovich, offensive coordinator for rival Southeast Polk, said he will take over head coaching duties for the Ankeny Hawks football team for the 2013-14 school year.

7. Thin Mints, Carmel Delights, Shortbread, Lemonades and other Girl Scout Cookies took the place of hot dogs in an Urbandale eating competition.

6. A Johnston man pleaded guilty to running a marijuana growing operation in Des Moines federal court on Thursday. Timothy Lantz confirmed in federal court that he was growing more than 550 marijuana plants.

5. The IRS released $3.1 million in tax liens filed against troubled West Des Moines payroll outsourcer John Vratsinas, who is the principal of Iowa Construction Logistics and its subsidiaries, InFocus Partners and ILC Staffing Inc. Last year, the IRS filed $3.8 million in tax liens, seeking to recover taxes Vratsinas’s companies allegedly collected on behalf of client businesses, but never paid.

4. In a front yard in Cedar Falls sits a tiny house full of books. On any given day, passerby may be seen peeking through the plexiglass door, pulling it open and taking out a book. Rachel Braunigan, 43, decided she wanted to get involved in the Little Free Library project, so she and her husband ordered a library box and set it up outside their home. The Little Free Library project aims to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.

3. What would you do if you could give yourself a raise? If you're the Linn County Supervisors, you make the most of it. The Linn County Supervisors voted to give themselves a 25 percent annual pay bump - roughly a cool $18,500 extra a year.

2. Royce White, a former Iowa State Cyclone basketball standout in Ames, returned to the court in February after a months long dispute with the NBA Houston Rockets over how to treat his anxiety disorder. White has joined the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the Rocket's D-League.

1. The Iowa City Police made an arrest in a case where a female suspect allegedly stole a dog from a local Petland store.

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