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.
Iowa has become the 17th state to refuse Title V, Section 510 funding for abstinence-only sex education.
Courtney Greene, press secretary for Gov. Chet Culver, said the decision has been made and federal monies will continue to be refused unless changes are made to the program. Iowa currently receives roughly $319,000 in matching funds from the federal funding stream.
FutureNet, an Iowa network for adolescent pregnancy prevention, parenting and sexual health, held a policy briefing Thursday morning that took aim at the abstinence-only funding. Today, Rhonda Chittenden, executive director of the organization, applauded Culver’s decision to dismiss the funds.
The funding received by Iowa is administered by the Iowa Department of Public Health. Title V abstinence-only funds required states to provide three dollars (or the equivalent in services) for every four federal dollars received. In addition to disseminating the funds to regional groups, the IDPH also conducted a statewide campaign dubbed “I am” or Iowa’s Abstinence Mission. At least one of the program’s outreach efforts — a billboard featuring a pregnant woman without a wedding ring and the words “Wait for the bling” — drew the ire of both feminist and comprehensive sex education advocates.
IDPH has provided Title V funds to eight Iowa organizations. The awards for fiscal year 2006 are as follows:
In addition to the Title V abstinence-only funds, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States reports that two Iowa organizations receive Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) non-matching grants. Bethany Christian Services was announced as a recipient of a $600,000 grant last fall. Sexual Health Education, Inc. (doing business as Equipping Youth) also has received a $600,000 grant. Since this federal funding stream is not administered by the state, today’s decision by Culver will not impact these two programs.
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