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.
The Iowa Democratic Party has postponed its 9th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards Ceremony, originally scheduled for this Friday, because of the threat of continued flooding.Brooke Borkenhagen, the party's press secretary, said the state convention on Saturday remains on the schedule.
"The party will go forward with the convention on Saturday," she said. "It will remain as scheduled."
Borkenhagen said the party will announce a new date for the event in the coming weeks.
Iowa Republican Party Executive Director Caleb Hunter said he is monitoring the situation with flooding in downtown Des Moines and across the state and is confident the GOP convention will be able to take place on Saturday as well.
"The situation could change, and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but we will proceed as planned," Hunter said.
Flood waters reached parts of Court Avenue in downtown Des Moines around noon today, forcing some buildings to evacuate tenants. That water has now been cleared from the streets, but new predictions show that the Des Moines River is expected to come within 6 inches of the record height it reached during the floods of 1993, which would be 3 feet higher than what was predicted Tuesday. The Polk County Convention Complex and Hy-Vee Hall, which both sit near the Des Moines River and will house the party conventions, have not yet been reached by flood waters.
Hunter said that even though residents all over the state could have problems even making it to Des Moines because of flooding, he is confident the convention will reach a quorum and will be conducting business, which includes picking delegates for the national convention.
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