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.
[Exclusive] The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) is set to announce its endorsement of Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd in the 2008 presidential race later this week. As Ben Smith at the Politico reports, “The endorsement comes as something as a surprise. Labor insiders had expected the union, one of labor’s big endorsements, to go with one of the front-runners.”
Because Iowa labor does not always follow the lead of its national representatives when it comes to supporting candidates, Iowa Independent interviewed Wayne Sawtelle, political director of the IAFF’s Iowa organization.
Asked if the Iowa firefighters would follow their national organization’s endorsement and support Dodd in the caucuses, Sawtelle said, “I haven’t heard.”
“We typically have followed what the international’s lead is,” he continued. “We do have a meeting later this week…I’m guessing that might be a topic of discussion then.”
In 2004, the IAFF endorsed Sen. John Kerry. The endorsement was credited with much of Kerry’s eventual success in Iowa.
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