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.
President Barack Obama and key Illinois elected officials will announce Tuesday that roughly 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will soon be housed at a revamped Thomson Correctional Facility just across the Mississippi River from Iowa.
The plan, which was floated as a possibility in late fall, has already drawn criticism from Iowa’s Republican delegation in Congress. Democratic representatives for the state have taken a more measured approach, but also have not automatically signaled their support.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. D-Ill., Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and federal officials who will take part in the announcement are expected to tout the potential economic impacts of locating a super-maximum-security federal prison in the small town of Thomson. A Colorado newspaper publisher from the area of the nation’s only existing supermax facility told The Iowa Independent that although economic benefit is possible, local residents shouldn’t expect an immediate influx of funds.
The state correctional facility, which has been mostly idle since its recent construction, will need to be significantly renovated in order for it to function as a federal supermax correctional facility. The White House is expected to call on Congress to approve the funds necessary for renovation and management of the facility.
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