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 Washington Post has an interactive map that allows you to search for unemployment data county by county, including going back as far as January 2007 to see the trends. The statewide unemployment rate in Iowa is 6.3 percent as of September, down from 7.5 percent at the beginning of the year.
In January 2010, six counties had unemployment rates higher than 10 percent. Now only Lee County in southeast Iowa rates in that category, with an unemployment rate of 11 percent. In northeast Iowa, Allamakee, Clayton, and Fayette counties saw their double-digit unemployment rates fall to around 7 percent in less than a year.
Extended federal benefits lapse on Nov. 30, giving Congress only two days to pass an extension. If they fail, hundreds of thousands could lose benefits. Failure to pass an extension would mean nearly 44,000 Iowans will see an immediate reduction in benefits and 8,700 Iowans will be prematurely cut off completely. Every week beginning Dec. 1, another 1,500 Iowans will lose their benefits.
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