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.
Although the big news out of the U.S. Senate over the weekend was that Democrats garnered enough votes to bring health care reform legislation to the floor for debate, something else that happened might have a more immediate impact on Iowa.
Nick Klinefeldt & Stephanie Rose
Saturday, the full Senate voted on President Obama’s U.S. attorney nominees for Iowa, confirming Nick Klinefeldt for the Southern District and Stephanie Rose for the Northern District. That means that Iowa’s two U.S. Attorney offices will soon be under new management.
Although both incoming U.S. attorneys have taken some public criticism on the road to confirmation, Rose, who has worked for more than a decade in the Northern District as a federal prosecutor, was a common target of those who believed her role in the prosecution of several hundred immigrant workers at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville tainted her recommendation to lead the office.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, who recommended both individuals for their new jobs, said such criticism was misplaced, even while he applauded a judicial ruling stating the criminal prosecutions of the workers were inappropriate. Harkin’s confidence in Rose also recently received an added boost when U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley noted how admirable it was to see a career prosecutor rise through the ranks of the Department of Justice and be recommended to take over the post.
Despite all of the concerns that have revolved around Rose’s role in the Postville prosecutions, she is most well known within the Justice Department for investigating and prosecuting Internet pharmaceutical companies. She will become the second woman in state history to serve as a U.S. Attorney, and the first Senate-confirmed woman to lead the Northern District office.
Both Klinefeldt, whose recommendation was of a more traditional political nature since he had previously served as a Harkin aide and attorney for the Obama campaign, and Rose will replace individuals selected by Grassley and placed before the U.S. Senate by then-President George W. Bush.
Matt Whitaker, who has served the Southern District of Iowa, was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in June 2004. Matt Dummermuth, who has served the Northern District, was appointed to the post by Bush, but despite being nominated for the post in December 2008, never stood for Senate confirmation.
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