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.
Residents of Fremont, a small city in eastern Nebraska, voted Monday to ban immigrants in the country illegally from jobs and rental homes. The American Civil Liberties Union had promised to bring legal action if the measure passed.
According to the Fremont Tribune, about 57 percent approved of the immigration ordinance. The law will require all employers within city limits to use the federal E-Verify system when hiring new employees. Those who wish to rent an apartment or home would have to get a license from the city, and city officials will have to verify they are in the country legally.
The vote ended a two-year fight sparked by an influx of Hispanic immigrants in the community attracted by jobs at local meatpacking plants. Around 165 Hispanics lived in Fremont in 1990. That number has risen to 2,060 last year. In May, Fremont had a 4.9 percent unemployment rate, about the same as the statewide rate.
From the Tribune:
City leaders said now that the people have spoken, they will do their best to enact the ordinance.
“We’ll just go ahead and follow the will of the people,” mayor “Skip” Edwards said. “We just need to implement it and move forward.”
“I’m really excited with the voter turnout,” council member Jeff Kuhr said. “The voters got to say what they wanted, I think it was a great process.”
“I’m sure the city will do a very good job in whatever those next immediate steps are,” Kuhr said. “And as we move forward, the positive thing would be that we would be a model community as far as whatever we do, we do it well. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll carry this out in a quality fashion.”
Laurel Marsh, executive director of ACLU Nebraska, told The Associated Press that the ordinance violates federal law and is out of step with “American values of fairness and equality.”
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