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.
It’s illegal for landlords to refuse to rent to people with children or people who belong to a minority group. Yet even in 2008 discriminatory classified advertising on Internet sites such as Craigs List have sparked controversy and are contrary to the 40-year-old Fair Housing Act.
That’s why the 22nd annual Des Moines Human Rights Symposium “Forty Years of Fair Housing: Moving Forward with Civil and Human Rights” will celebrate and emphasize the importance of the housing legislation. The conference, which covers a wide variety of human and civil rights issues, will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 16 at the Hotel Ft. Des Moines.
“The symposium is a way to take the blood pressure of those laws and see whether or not they’re still functioning and making a difference in people’s lives,” said Mikel Johnson, an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer at the Des Moines Human Rights Commission who is organizing the conference.
About 300 people are expected to attend the conference, which has 16 workshops and an awards ceremony. The workshops will cover immigration, school alliances for gay and straight students, anti-bullying surveys, housing markets and foreclosure, workers with disabilities, school suspension and dropout trends, what constitutes a family, proposed changes to marriage laws and homelessness, among other topics.
Keynote speakers include Gov. Chet Culver and Gretchen Eure, director of the Omaha office of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission.
The conference offers continuing education credits, but isn’t just for professionals, Johnson said. Community members, educators, employers and many others will want to learn and share their knowledge at the growing conference, she said.
“It’s an exciting day,” she said. “There’s lots of good stuff. It’s all in a user-friendly format. I don’t care who you are — you can take it home and use it.”
The conference is being sponsored by the Des Moines Human Rights Commission, Greater Des Moines Friends of Human Rights, Inc., and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
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