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.
Internet goliath Google’s official plans to build a $600 million data center in Council Bluffs is being hailed as one of the more significant economic development announcements in the history of western Iowa.
The announcement, expected for some time, was made official Wednesday by Gov. Chet Culver.
“It absolutely means something for western Iowa,” says Jim Gossett, a partner in the Western Iowa Advantage Development group and executive director of the Carroll Area Development Corp.
State Sen. Jeff Angelo, R-Creston, sees the news as a major step toward efforts to retain young talent.
“Any way you look at it, this is good news for Iowa,” Angelo writes in his blog. “I have heard some cynics say ‘the employees will live in Omaha’ or ‘it will take jobs away from other towns in Iowa,’ but we have got to diversify our economy and provide high-paying jobs (particularly in the tech field) if we are ever going to achieve our long-stated goal of keeping young people in Iowa.”
State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll, said he believes Google’s decision is tied in large part to the availability of electricity in the area — which Roberts attributes to legislative moves several years ago to encourage more power production in the state.
“We’ve done some things right in the last few years for economic development,” Roberts said.
He sees the Google announcement as having ripple effects throughout western Iowa.
“It’s like landing an anchor that others take notice of,” Roberts said.
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