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.
The man who shot and killed Kansas doctor George Tiller last May now faces life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder Friday.
The jury took only 37 minutes to come back with their ruling against Scott Roeder.
The ruling does not come as a surprise, since Roeder openly admitted he shot and killed Tiller in the hopes of arguing the necessity defense, which would claim that he did so to prevent the doctor from performing abortions. Roeder’s defense was crafted for him by Des Moines anti-abortion activist Dave Leach.
Leach’s hope was that the Roeder trial could set a precedent, whether victorious or not, that could then be applied to other acts of civil disobedience against abortion.
“The very existence of legal abortion, and even the existence of this discussion [of the necessity defense], as well as any hope the prosecutor has of convicting Scott, relies upon their success in keeping the slaughter of millions of human beings ‘irrelevant,’” Leach said before the trial’s conclusion. “Political correctness requires that we not care about their shed blood.”
The judge ruled out the necessity defense, and later instructed the jury that it would not be allowed to to consider any lesser charges than first-degree murder, which ruled out voluntary manslaughter or second-degree murder.
Sentencing is set for March 9. Leach, who has kept in contact with Roeder throughout his incarceration and has helped organize supporters to attend the trial in Kansas City, was not immediately available for comment.
Follow Jason Hancock on Twitter
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter