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.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver became the latest in a string of state governors to receive a suspicious letter today. Few details are available, but Culver did issue the following statement:
“Today, the Office of Governor Chet Culver and Lt. Governor Patty Judge received a suspicious letter that appeared to be similar to those received recently by other Governors’ Offices around the country. The matter is being investigated by the US Postal Inspection Service, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Iowa Department of Public Safety. As this is an ongoing investigation, our office cannot comment any further, and all inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
More than 20 state offices have now received suspicious letters since the beginning of the month. Offices in Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming have reported such letters. In addition, officials in the Virgin Islands also received a suspicious letter. Field tests of the white powdery substances in those cases have all returned negative for dangerous substances, but further lab tests are underway.
Officials in the Omaha office of the FBI are expected to make a statement regarding the incident later today.
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