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 growing rift within the Republican Party of Iowa could take centerstage next Friday, as two Republicans vying for the Iowa House District 8 seat will face off for the first time.
Tom Shaw, a former chair of the Pocahontas County Republican Party, announced last year he was leaving the party to run as an independent, saying the GOP had walked away from its values. Shaw has become a darling of the Tea Party movement and earned the formal endorsement of Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bob Vander Plaats.
Last month he changed his mind and came back to the Republican Party, saying his change of heart stems from the Iowa Family Policy Center (IFPC) and state Rep. Kent Sorenson, R-Indianola, publicly endorsing Vander Plaats, and in doing so, vowing never to support his chief rival for the party’s nomination, former Gov. Terry Branstad.
Shaw is running against Steve Richards of Algona, who The Des Moines Register called “a more establishment Republican.” Richards is a doctor and an Air Force veteran. He ran for the seat in 2008, losing by only 42 votes to Democratic state Rep. Dolores Mertz, who has held her seat for more than 20 years but has not announced whether she will run again this year.
The two men will share the same stage Friday in Pocahontas.
The forum is also well timed, as it will take place just a few days after The Des Moines Register’s latest Iowa Poll is released. The paper has already begun promoting the poll, scheduled for release Sunday, which it says will be a “measure of Tea Party support in Iowa.“
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