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.
A nearly $70 million recreation center on the University of Iowa campus is nearing completion, but the new facility lies just a block away from the Iowa River, which flooded much of the university’s campus two years ago. The location is just barely outside the official 500-year flood plain.
U of I officials have hyped the 215,000 square foot facility as a draw for prospective athletes and an alternative to drinking for underage students.
In 2008, flood waters crept very near the plot where the U of I’s new recreation center has been built. Other buildings in the area were evacuated for weeks and sustained millions in damage from flood waters. In all, flood reconstruction projects are costing the university, the state, and the federal government more than $700 million.
The 3-year construction project has been funded by both public and private funds, including donations channeled through the University of Iowa Foundation, the university’s philanthropic arm. The U of I athletics department — which is funded solely by athletics revenue — contributed $9 million of the building’s $69 million pricetag.
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