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.
State Rep. Wayne Ford (D-Des Moines) is facing questions about how money was handled by his campaign and by Urban Dreams, the nonprofit organization he heads.
File photo: State Rep. Wayne Ford poses inside the headquarters of Urban Dreams. (Dana Boone / Iowa Independent)
The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board is reportedly investigating after it was disclosed that Urban Dreams made a contribution of more than $60 to Ford’s statehouse campaign account, despite laws banning nonprofits from donating to partisan causes. The IECDB is also asking for more specific details about roughly $2,600 worth of salary and gratuity payments made to youth, whose names are not listed on filed disclosure reports. There are also questions about loans made to the campaign to pay back other loans that had previously been made to the campaign, among others. It could get sticky.
In addition to Ford’s campaign finance questions, his nonprofit, Urban Dreams, is also facing questions about whether it mishandled United Way funds earmarked for the West Side Boxing Club. In 2005 and 2006, Urban Dreams reportedly designated more than 50 percent of the funding for the club to administrative costs. The organization now says that the administrative costs included things that were necessary for the direct operation of the club, which was set to shut down before a private donor reportedly agreed to contribute enough to keep the doors open.
For more about Ford, check out our profile of him from February 2008.
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