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.
Lt. Gov. Patty Judge announced Thursday that the administration of Gov. Chet Culver was taking no position on whether or not campus police officers should be armed at Iowa’s three state universities.
At a Statehouse press conference, a security panel set up by Culver released its findings on arming campus police officers and improving campus security, but declined to offer a recommendation to the Board of Regents on the issue. The Cedar Rapids Gazette provides a link to the full PDF of the findings here.
The issue arose after the April shooting massacre at Virginia Tech University, where a student gunman killed 32 students and himself. In the aftermath it was revealed that the University of Iowa was the only school in the Big 10 athletic conference not to have armed campus police officers and that Iowa State University was the only school in the Big 12 athletic conference not to have armed officers. The University of Northern Iowa also does not arm its officers.
The Board of Regents, which oversees the three state universities, announced in April that Culver and the board consulted with the leaders at the three universities and asked for a comprehensive analysis of campus security policies and a discussion about arming officers.
Also appearing at Thursday’s briefing were the three campuses’ security heads as well as state Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer. Meyer and the security heads emphasized their desire for arming campus police officers. The executive director of the regents, Gary Steinke, said the decision to arm the police forces would come from action on whatever the three university presidents recommend.
A recommendation is not likely to come soon as new University of Iowa President Sally Mason won’t take office until Aug. 1.
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