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 Linn County Auditor’s Office will soon be conducting a recount of an extremely close race in Iowa House District 37.
Art Staed, Democratic incumbent for the seat, requested the recount of all affected precincts late Friday afternoon. When Linn County Supervisors certified the vote on Wednesday, Staed trailed Republican Carolyn Renee Schulte by 14 votes.
In documents filed with the county office, Staed named Cedar Rapids attorney Steve Jackson as his representative during the recount. As of Friday evening, Linn County Auditor Joel Miller was in the process of notifying Schulte of the recount request. She will also be allowed to choose a representative to oversee the recount. The third member of the oversight team will be a person that is mutually acceptable to the representatives of both candidates.
A total of 11 precincts in primarily northeastern Cedar Rapids make up the district. The totals certified by the Linn County Supervisors were 8,612 votes for Staed, 8,626 votes for Schulte and 29 write-in votes.
“I request that any, and all, rejected ballots be re-examined to determine if any voter was improperly or illegally denied the right to have their vote counted in this election. And, if found to be improperly or illegally denied, be counted,” Staed wrote in a letter requesting the recount.
The recount, now that it has been requested, must begin according to state law no later than 9 a.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 19.
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