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.
Two Republican legislators and the state’s largest labor union are calling on the University of Iowa to cancel a planned trip to the Disney Institute in Orlando, Fla., saying the price tag is too high at a time when the state is facing huge budget deficits.
In a statement last week, Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, R-Wilton, and Rep. Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said the $130,000 trip is “well intentioned” but ultimately a bad idea.
That criticism was echoed on Monday when Danny Homan, president of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 61, called on the school to cancel the trip.
School officials defended the trip to The Des Moines Register, saying the university’s hospital has scored poorly on patient satisfaction surveys and the trip aims to turn that around, saying it is important to “reinvest in the business.”
Homan said in light of Gov. Chet Culver’s recent decision to cut 10 percent from the state’s budget, and the fact that the decision will result in hundreds of layoffs, the timing of the trip is bad.
“Even more insulting is that this trip includes a free visit to Disney World, so that these attendees can enjoy a day at a theme park while others right now are sitting on pins and needles worrying about whether or not they will have a job as the holidays approach,” he said.
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