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.
In a speech heavy on “thank yous,” Gov. Chet Culver told those gathered at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner that Iowa’s congressional delegation has worked hard to get recovery funding for Iowa in the wake of several natural disasters this summer.
“The devastation was beyond description,” Culver said, referring to the significant flooding eastern Iowa faced last summer.
“In this rescue package that passed thanks to Tom Harkin and Dave Loebsack and Bruce Braley and Leonard Boswell,” there is money for Iowa recovery efforts, Culver said. Members of “our team in Washington,” Culver said, “are getting it done” when it comes to flood recovery.
“We are very fortunate to have a great House and Senate Caucus” on the state level, Culver added. “We’re proud of our record in terms of education, health care, and renewable energy.” He acknowledged that “we have more work to do,” but he didn’t mention labor issues like collective bargaining. (Come to think of it, I don’t remember any shout-outs explicitly to organized labor tonight, even though union members typically fill a lot of seats at the J-J dinner.)
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