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 race for both governor and the U.S. Senate appears to be getting tighter, according to two polls released Thursday by Des Moines CBS affiliate KCCI-TV.
In the race for governor, Republican Terry Branstad leads incumbent Democrat Chet Culver 48 percent to 41 percent, with 11 percent undecided. That’s in stark contrast to a poll released in February showing Branstad up by 20 percentage points.
Before taking on Culver, though, Branstad must win his party’s nomination. Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats and state Rep. Rod Roberts are also in the running.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley has also watched his lead over his closest Democratic competitor plummet. The KCCI poll found Grassley leading Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin 49 percent to 40 percent, with 11 percent undecided. In February, KCCI found Grassley with a 21 percentage point lead.
Conlin, too, must emerge from a primary, where she faces two Democrats hoping to unseat Grassley: former state lawmakers Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause.
KCCI’s political analyst and Drake University professor Dennis Goldford points out that Grassley has never won with less than 65 percent of the vote.
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