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.
Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety said Iowa residents receiving e-mail or text messages that warn of a planned gang initiation should not worry. The messages, they say, are not believed to be credible.
“While smart phones and the internet are important communication tools, there are opportunities and drawbacks,” said Russ Porter, director of the Iowa Fusion Center. “Technology allows information to be disseminated to large groups of people almost instantaneously. In law enforcement, that can have advantages and disadvantages. If a child is missing, an Amber Alert gets information out to hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of seconds.
“But, on the flip side, it also allows misinformation to spread very quickly. We take every threat seriously, and, after investigating the claims, there is no intelligence to corroborate these e-mails and text messages.”
The messages warn that during “the next two or three weeks” three women or girls will be shot at a Wal-Mart as a part of a gang initiation ritual. A variation of the messages warns that the victims will be mothers and their small children. Yet another variation warns that the victims will be black and/or Hispanic women at either Wal-Mart or Target stores.
Such rumors have been spreading via the Internet since at least the summer of 2005. They will often lie dormant for several weeks or months before surfacing again. Typically this happens when a rightfully concerned person receives one, doesn’t realize it is a hoax and mass forwards it to friends, family and co-workers.
A good site for determining the validity of such messages is Snopes.
“Whether you shop at Wal-Mart or any other store, if you see something suspicious, contact store security or your local authorities right away,” warned Eugene Meyer, Iowa Public Safety Commissioner.
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