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.
Gov. Terry Branstad named three new members to the Iowa Board of Regents Friday, among them a businessman who gave more than $160,000 to his campaign in 2010.
Bruce Rastetter is currently the CEO of Hawkeye Energy Holdings LLC, an ethanol company based in Ames. In addition, the wealthy businessman provided the seed money to start the American Future Fund, a controversial conservative nonprofit that spent nearly $10 million around the country trying to elect Republicans to Congress.
Many of Branstad’s key advisers are closely associated with AFF, and Branstad himself served as chairman of American Future Fund’s Lecture Series before re-entering politics. The group is currently the focus of two formal complaints — one to the Internal Revenue Service claiming the group violated its nonprofit status and another to the Federal Elections Commission demanding the group register as a political action committee and disclose its donors. The group’s president, state Sen. Sandy Greiner (R-Keota), sparked controversy when she refused to step down from her position after winning a seat in the Senate in November.
“Bruce’s knowledge he brings from being a CEO in the private sector will be an asset to the board as he works to create strategic plans, monitor progress and approve the budgets of the Regents institutions,” Branstad said in a statement.
Rastetter donated $162,712 to Branstad’s campaign last year. A close associate of Rastetters and founder of American Future Fund, Nick Ryan, donated $67,197 to Branstad’s campaign.
The Regents acts as the governing board for the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa, the Iowa School for the Deaf and the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School.
Picked along with Rastetter were Katie Mulholland, superintendent of Linn-Mar community School District, and Nicole Carroll, an attorney and native of Carroll. If confirmed by the state Senate, all three will serve six-year terms from May 1 through April 30, 2017. They would replace three Democratic members: Bonnie Campbell, Michael Gartner and Rose Vasquez.
Follow Jason Hancock on Twitter
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter