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.
U.S. Senate candidate Roxanne Conlin told supporters in Iowa City last week that she decided to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley after his infamous “pull the plug on grandma” line, and because nobody else wanted to.
“For him to be standing there talking about pulling the plug on grandma in the face of the truth and in the face of the great need of millions of people made be very angry,” Conlin said. “And I thought ‘Somebody ought to run against that guy. Somebody ought to take that guy on.’ And I looked around and there wasn’t anybody else really willing to do it so I thought ‘why not me?’ “
Conlin’s opinion that no one was willing to challenge Grassley is unusual since former state lawmaker Bob Krause was already in the race when Grassley delivered his controversial comments. By the time Conlin formally entered the campaign, there were two other people vying to take on the 30-year incumbent. During the Democratic primary, Conlin focused almost all of her campaign energy on beating Grassley, rather than on winning the nomination.
Her primary opponents — Krause and Tom Fiegen — both expressed frustration that Conlin was overlooking the primary and avoiding issues. Conlin ultimately won the Democratic nomination, garnering more than 75 percent of the votes cast.
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