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 Gov. Chet Culver issued a lengthy statement today that affirmed his personal belief that marriage should be between one man and one woman but signaled a lack of appetite to change the state’s constitution.
“As I have stated before, I personally believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Culver said in the statement. “This is a tenet of my personal faith. The Iowa Supreme Court’s decision has, in fact, reaffirmed that churches across Iowa will continue to have the right to recognize the sanctity of religious marriage in accordance with their own tranditions and church doctrines.”
Adding that the decision does not require churches recognize or officiate over same-sex marriages, Culver said that he, as governor, must respect the authority of the Iowa Supreme Court and uphold the Iowa Constitution.
“After careful consideration and a thorough reading of the court’s decision, I am reluctant to support amending the Iowa Constitution to add a provision that our Supreme Court has said is unlawful and discriminatory,” he said.
In closing, Culver pointed to the current economic recession, lack of jobs and disaster recovery.
“That is where, I believe, my focus and energies should lie,” he said.
Now that Culver has announced his intentions in the wake of the court’s decision, it’s quite likely that several Republicans will keep tentative promises to mount their own gubernatorial election campaigns for 2010.
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