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.
An Iowa City event that had drawn a great deal of national attention has been partially postponed to allow presidential hopefuls who are also U.S. senators to travel back to the beltway for debate on a bill.
The Iowa Professional Fire Fighters State Convention was to host presidential hopefuls Tuesday and Wednesday. Gov. Bill Richarson, Sen. Barack Obama, former Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Chris Dodd and Sen. Hillary Clinton confirmed they would be in attendance. Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden was also scheduled to appear and represent his father, Sen. Joe Biden. There was also speculation that former President Bill Clinton would appear beside his wife for the event.
The firefighters decided to postpone this portion of their convention when it was learned the event conflicted with debate in the U.S. Senate on the Employee Free Choice Act. This piece of legislation is considered to be one of the highest priorities for labor this year. Debate on the bill began last week, and a cloture vote is expected this week.
The House version was passed by a wide margin in March. In the Senate, however, much more resistance is expected.
A rescheduling date is not known at this time. It is anticipated that non-senatorial hopefuls — Gov. Richardson, A.G. Biden and former Sen. Edwards — will address the convention as scheduled.
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