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.
Lyon County in northwest Iowa is the best prospect for a new casino, according to two studies of the state’s gambling market organized by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
A 90-page study by GVA Marquette Advisors pointed to Lyon County as the only market where additional gaming seemed feasible. While a casino might be successful in another part of the state, it would be more likely to lower financial gains of other casinos as opposed to creating a new market. A new casino in Lyon County could draw from the Sioux Falls, S.D., market, and would have only a modest impact on other nearby Iowa casinos, the study said.
A 188-page study by The Innovation Group of Littleton, Colo., also said a new Lyon County casino would be the most profitable of all the counties they studied, which included Webster, Wapello, Franklin and Tama counties, all of which passed gaming referenda in hopes of building a new casino.
However, the Innovation Group study also found that the Des Moines metro area could support an additional casino. The market is currently served by Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, just east of the capitol city. The study suggests a second casino in the city’s southwest area could generate between $100.7 million and $159.6 million in gaming revenue annually.
Iowa currently has 20 casinos, including 17 state-regulated gambling operations and three American Indian casinos.
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