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.
Several sources have confirmed that longtime Des Moines Register editorial cartoonist Brian Duffy is the latest victim of job cuts in the paper’s newsroom, although it is unclear whether he was laid off or accepted a buy out.
The paper is expected to lay off several more people today.
Duffy’s departure could mean the end of a tradition at the paper of front-page editorial cartoons dating back to 1906. The paper has won numerous Pulitzers for its editorial cartoons, including work by Jay Norwood Darling and the legendary Frank Miller. The Register is currently the only paper in the country that still runs a cartoon on its front page.
According to Duffy’s profile on The Register’s Web site:
Brian Duffy has been the Register’s editorial cartoonist since 1983. He has been working as a cartoonist and illustrator for more than 30 years. He has received two Best of Gannett awards, two World Hunger Media awards and was a finalist for the prestigious John Fischetti Award for editorial cartooning. His two books are “A Decade of Duffy” and “More of Duffy,” published in 1995. His cartoons are syndicated by King Features Syndicate. Duffy attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. He lives in Des Moines with his wife and four children.
The names of the others let go by the paper are still not available.
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