Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
State environmental officials are still reeling from a silage spill in August that they believe killed more than 30,000 fish. According to the Associated Press, those same officials are pushing the Iowa Attorney General’s Office to impose an exceptionally stiff penalty against the pollution perpetrator — the brother of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.
The current maximum fine for such a spill is $10,000, but environmental officials are hoping that the fine amount could be increased based on past issues, a prior unpaid fine and the severity of this incident. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has said the spill at Monroe “Monty” Branstad’s farm ranks among the 40 deadliest that has been experienced in Iowa since 1995.
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