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.
Criminal charges surrounding the investigation into alleged misconduct in the state’s film tax credit program are certainly possible, but are not likely, Chief Deputy Auditor Warren Jenkins said.
The Des Moines Register reported Monday afternoon that “criminal charges could be forthcoming” in the investigation, citing comments from Jenkins. However, in an interview with the Iowa Independent, Jenkins said his statement was more hypothetical than a prediction.
“When I was talking to the reporter from The Register, we had been involved in this for probably all of two hours,” he said. “The reporter was asking me ‘Where could this go? Could there be criminal charges?’ Basically, I said based upon not really knowing anything about this yet and what is involved, I wouldn’t take criminal charges off the table.”
The idea of criminal prosecution is always on the table when the auditor’s office gets involved in an investigation, Jenkins said.
“If we find something that could be criminal, we will refer it to the county attorney, and the county attorney will make a determination as to whether criminal charges would be filed,” he said. “I certainly would not say it is likely in this situation, but as we go into any investigation, we keep our eyes open and we look for all possibilities.”
Gov. Chet Culver asked Auditor David Vaudt and Attorney General Tom Miller to assist in an investigation of the Film, Television and Video Promotion Program after allegations of misconduct and lax oversight emerged last week.
Jenkins said at this early stage, it is still unclear exactly where the investigation will go and how long it will take to finalize. To start, staff at the auditor’s office will organize a meeting with the attorney general’s office and the Department of Revenue.
“One of the first things is to figure out what has already been done,” he said. “As far as any details, we haven’t been involved long enough to know what’s already been done and figure out where to go from there.”
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