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 move by the state Department of Natural Resources to cut the budget of one of its enforcement divisions by nearly a third has drawn the ire of a liberal activist group.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) said cuts to the Animal Feeding Operations budget leave it with only 13 field officers to regulate and respond to pollution create by thousands of factory farms across Iowa.
“This is a disastrous decision for the state,” said Hugh Espey, executive director of Iowa CCI. “Iowa has some of the most polluted water in the nation, our list of impaired waterways recently doubled, and fingers have all been pointing at us for our contribution to the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s no coincidence that Iowa also has the highest number of factory farms in the country. We need to expand our ability to enforce regulation of factory farms and crack down on polluters – not cut our reach off at the knees.”
CCI member Jayne Clampitt of Independence said last year it took DNR field officers two days to respond to a report she filed about a manure spill that reached a creek flowing through a wildlife conservation area. By then, the evidence had already traveled downstream and no enforcement or clean up action was taken, she said.
Kevin Baskins, communications bureau chief for the Iowa DNR, said the agency had no comment.
Follow Jason Hancock on Twitter
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter