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.
A detention hearing scheduled in federal court this afternoon for Sholom M. Rubashkin, former chief executive of Agriprocessors in Postville, has been delayed until 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 26.
Detention of Rubashkin, ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jon Scoles in December, has been a subject of controversy due to the use of the Israeli “Law of Return” as part of the government’s argument.
Rubashkin appealed the decision by Scoles that would have otherwise kept him in prison until a September court date, and was he was granted an evidentiary hearing by U.S. District Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.
Immigration-related and other federal fraud cases against Rubashkin were recently updated by federal prosecutors in a fourth superceding indictment to include money laundering. Guy Cook, attorney for Rubashkin, maintains that his client is innocent of the charges, looks forward to his day in court and is not a flight risk.
Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacking plant located in Postville, was the site of a massive immigration raid on May 12, 2008. The company, which never fully recovered from the loss of nearly half its workforce in the raid, has limited production while under the supervision of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee. The trustee is hopeful a buyer will be found in the first quarter of 2009.
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