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.
Of the 41 Des Moines Register staffers who lost their job this week, nine came from the editorial department. Read on for the names of some of those affected.
Wednesday's edition of The Des Moines Register.
The most prominent staffer laid off was Brian Duffy, the editorial cartoonist at the paper since 1983 who followed in the footsteps of Pulitzer Prize winners Jay Norwood Darling and Frank Miller. Duffy’s dismissal ends a century-long tradition at “The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon” of running an editorial cartoon on its front page.
The others laid off this week from the newsroom include Tim Brown, a company librarian; Cindy Lane, who works on the paper’s calendar; Conrad Schmidt, a photographer for the paper’s suburban editions; Juli Probasco Sowers, a suburban and outdoors reporter; Jamie Suhr, a copy editor on the sports desk; Ken Seeber, a copy editor on the news desk; Stephanie Cox, a member of the online staff; and Tammy Cole, a graphic designer.
Todd Bailey, the paper’s online sports editor, and Randy Witke accepted accepted the company’s offer of a voluntary buyout.
“Some people will receive new assignments so that we fill positions internally,” said Register Editor Carolyn Washburn in a memo to staff. “It was important to us to find the best fits possible for the unique requirements of each job.”
She added: “These decisions are very tough not only on the people impacted, but on all of us, I know.”
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