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.
Racial bias plays a role in why Iowa’s minorities — particularly African-Americans — fill prisons and juvenile centers and face disproportionately stiffer discipline in public schools, said an expert who organized the sixth annual Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Conference being held on Thursday in Des Moines.
“We need to get others engaged in this effort to address the real racial bias we have in this state in so many areas — child welfare, prisons, juvenile justice; the list just goes on and on,” said Brad Richardson, coordinator of Iowa’s DMC Resource Center, which is part of the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice.
About 400 people are expected to attend the conference, scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and at the Downtown Holiday Inn. Some preconference activities began Wednesday.
Iowa tops the nation for imprisoning blacks and suspending black students from public schools, according to national reports. Blacks account for 5 percent of Iowa’s public school enrollment, but 22 percent of school suspensions. Blacks account for just 2.3 percent of Iowa’s population, but 25 percent of its prison population.
The DMC conference was originally designed to increase awareness and find ways to reduce the racial disparities in Iowa’s juvenile justice system. Topics were expanded this year to include inequalities in school discipline, said Richardson, who is also a research scientist and adjunct professor at the University of Iowa.
“We have the worst record on school disciplinary action in the country,” he said. “Now we’re the worst state in overrepresentation in the adult prison system.
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