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 state lawmakers are calling for Gov. Chet Culver to overhaul leadership at the Department of Natural Resources after an audit revealed the department has been ignoring 16 state laws.
But the director of the DNR — who was appointed by Culver — defended the department against the scathing audit. Richard Leopold told The Des Moines Register the violations don’t endanger the public and that previous reports have found even more non-compliance.
“I think having this short of a list actually speaks to progress,” Leopold said. “This, to me, is a couple of pages of things we can work on. … That’s not to say that everything is perfect and we’ve got everything we need. There are always ways to improve.”
Leopold’s failure to comply with a slew of state laws marks the second time this year that an appointee of the Democratic governor has faced criticism for alleged corruption or mishandling. In February, John McCalley resigned as the director of the Department of Aging over allegations that he and Culver administration officials had muzzled the state’s long-term care ombudsman.
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