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.
Iowa’s budget shortfalls have led the Iowa Supreme Court to close all court offices on Feb. 16 and cut travel expenses by 60 percent.
Chief Justice Marsha Ternus said in a letter to administrators at each level of the state court system that Iowa’s judicial branch must take the unfortunate step of reducing services to the public.
“These necessary hardships unfortunately will be borne by the public at large and also by the employees of the Judicial Branch,” she said.
Because the courts went through downsizing in 2002, followed by several years of hiring freezes, Ternus said further job cuts are not feasible. Therefore, all court offices will be closed, and all court personel except judges and magistrats will take unpaid leave, on Feb. 16.
“It is expected that additional days of upaid leave may become necessary,” Ternus said.
Ternus said chief judges of districts around the state will be allowed to reduce the frequency of court service days in each county.
Travel by judges and court reporters will be reduced by 60 percent, while juvenile court services will see travel cut by 25 percent. This will effect several types of litigation, such as civil jury trials where a judge does not reside in the county of the proceedings. In that instance, litigants can either move the trial to another county or it will be delayed until the 2010 fiscal year begins.
Follow Jason Hancock on Twitter
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter