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.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said today that the Army's relatively new $20,000 signing bonus and rapid deployment or "quick ship" plan sounds "kind of fishy" to him.
"Are we now reaching a situation where our military is made up only of people from the lower social-economic class of America?" Harkin said on his weekly conference call in response to a line of questioning from Iowa Independent. "That's a real concern. There are a lot of poor kids out there that go in the military because that's the only way they can pay for college."
According to the Associated Press, the new bonus comes with a "quick ship" provision. Here is more from The AP:
That cuts the average 40-day wait time between sign-up and departure for basic training.
Since the bonus was unveiled in July, more than 6,200 recruits have signed up to begin basic training before Oct. 1, a move that boosts end-of-fiscal year recruiting numbers, Army officials said.
"People are calling here saying $20,000 is more than they've made in the past two years," said Staff Sgt. Brent Feltner, 27, commander of a strip-mall recruiting station in this central South Carolina town.
Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, said the rapid deployment element of the plan is potentially troubling.
""My question is are they getting the adequate training necessary?" Harkin said. "Are we rushing people into battle situations?"
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