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 Iowa Civil Rights Commission is studying the design and construction of Des Moines-area rental properties to determine if the apartments are in compliance with housing laws, which require accessibility to people with disabilities. The study will help the commission determine if more efforts are needed to enforce housing laws and help increase awareness about the issue, according to the commission's web site at http://www.state.ia.us/government/crc/index.html.
"It's an important tool to measure compliance," said Ralph Rosenberg, executive director of the commission. "And, it helps us fulfill the mission of increasing awareness to reach the goal of inclusive communities."
The commission plans to send people posing as prospective tenants into selected apartment buildings in Des Moines and surrounding communities. Rosenberg said Des Moines was not selected for any particular reason, other than its close proximity for those posing as tenants.
Once inside, the testers will make notes and observations about whether the properties are accessible to people with disabilities and in compliance with housing laws. They will look at accessibility of entrances for a disabled person, width of door entrances and height of electrical outlets, among other things. The commission will also use county records and other documents to assess properties in the study, which is under way. Results of the study will be released later this fall, Rosenberg said.
Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color and national origin, among other things. In 1988, people with disabilities were added to the list of those protected against housing discrimination, according to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development at http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/FHLaws/.
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